How to Value Your House Accurately (Not Optimistically)

Most sellers begin with a number that is too high, because the easiest figures to find — portal asking prices and free online estimates — are the least reliable ones.

Start with sold prices, not asking prices

HM Land Registry publishes the actual price paid for every registered sale in England and Wales. Portals surface the same data. Asking prices tell you what someone hoped for; sold prices tell you what a buyer, a lender and a surveyor all agreed on.

Look for sales in the last six months, on the same street or an adjoining one, of the same property type, same number of bedrooms and broadly the same floor area. Three comparables is a view. One is an anecdote.

Why online estimators are wide of the mark

Automated valuation models work from sold prices, floor area and postcode averages. They cannot see:

• A new kitchen or a 1980s one
• A loft conversion without building regulations sign-off
• Damp, movement, a failing roof or rewiring needs
• A short lease, a shared access or a busy road at the end of the garden
• Whether the extension is registered on the title at all

That is why two identical-looking houses on the same street can be tens of thousands apart.

Adjust for the things that actually move value

Work from your best comparable and adjust up or down:

• Condition. A full refurbishment need is typically deducted at more than the cost of the works, because buyers price in risk and disruption as well as materials.
• Floor area. Compare price per square metre, not per bedroom. A four-bed with small rooms can be worth less than a well-proportioned three-bed.
• Tenure. Leasehold with under 80 years remaining attracts marriage value on extension and narrows the lender pool sharply.
• Mortgageability. Non-standard construction, spray foam insulation in the roof, active structural movement or cladding without the right paperwork can remove mortgage buyers entirely. That is not a small discount — it is a different market.
• Location micro-factors. Catchment, parking, aspect, flood zone, mining search results.

Getting agent valuations right

Invite three agents. Ask each one the same four questions:

1. Which three sold comparables is this based on, and can I see them?
2. What price would you advise if I needed to be sold in eight weeks?
3. What is your average difference between asking and achieved price this year?
4. How many of your listings in the last six months fell through, and why?

An agent who quotes a high number and cannot produce comparables is bidding for the instruction, not valuing your house. The number you should plan around is usually the answer to question two.

When to pay for an RICS valuation

Pay for an independent RICS valuation where the number has to stand up to someone else: probate and inheritance tax, divorce proceedings, a sibling buyout, a company transfer, or a dispute. It costs a few hundred pounds and removes months of argument.

Understanding a cash offer against your valuation

A cash offer is not a market valuation and should not be presented as one. It reflects the market value less repair costs, the buyer''s holding and transaction costs, and the value of speed and certainty to you. Any buyer who refuses to show you that working is hiding something.

We set out the comparables we used, the deductions we made, and why. If the gap to the open market is not worth the certainty in your situation, we will tell you to go to an agent.

Get a written offer with the workings or read What Does a Cash Buyer Actually Pay?.