Do you know what your house is worth?

The true value is what someone is prepared to pay for it.

We have just pulled out of our sale due to buyers prevaricating and, we think, not really being able to buy. Not going into details.

It is interesting to find out what people viewing the house expect. A lot seem to expect their taste in kitchens, bathrooms, internal decoration to be already provided! Rather than the new kitchen and bathroom fittings a,ready there?

Some even expect you to take a very low offer because the house, despite in the area and having the space they want, does not internally reflect their taste!?

A tough skin is required! Also to be reasonably flexible on the price rather than to have a value suggested by Zoopla or the Estate agent.

X

I certainly wouldn't want to pay what houses around here are selling for, the prices are ridiculous!
We paid 19,500 in 1984 and it was valued last year at between 260,000 and 285,000!
Admittedly we've done work, new windows, extension, new kitchen and bathroom etc, but to my mind, there's just no way it's worth that much!
We'd like to move to a bungalow now, but they're like hen's teeth where we are, so it looks as though we'll be here for a while yet as we wouldn't even consider leaving this area!

If you are going to downsize or move to a cheap area then you do well, but staying in the same area negates any profit

That's the nub of it really, isn't it?

We are in our fifth house in 30+ years. Each time we moved the 'new' house cost us slightly more than the 'old' one, as it would with growing family and rising income, but there was never any particular benefit from a rise in prices as both the 'old' and 'new' rose in price at the same rate. We weren't in it to make a profit, just to buy a home. The only benefit occured if one downsized or sold without buying another property. Which is just the same now BUT, house prices have risen so crazily out of proportion to wages that far fewer people can start at the bottom as we did.

So, rising prices mean very little to those currently in the market but are very bad news for first time buyers. Which I think is utterly appalling.

You can get an idea of the current value of your house by going on Zoopla and putting in what it cost, when and what features it has. According to that, ours had quadrupled in 22 years.

Values don't always move in synch though do they? Areas come and go. The house we lived in before we moved here was sold for around the same price as we paid for this. That house is probably not worth much more now than then as it was quite near the centre of town and the parking etc is much worse that it was and the area has got quite 'studenty' which it wasn't then. But we saw that coming which is why we moved. [gloatingemoticon]

The other thing is that we have spent money adding and removing bedrooms and ensuites, we've had a new kitchen, new bathroom, landscaped the garden and had the drive redone as well as doing ongoing maintenance.

We live in prime London commuter belt property and these houses usually sell very easily, but earlier this year one stuck on the market for months and was eventually withdrawn, unsold. We thought the reason was the ridiculously high asking price. Now, we have recently been debating moving up to lincolnshire to be nearer to family, as we all age and travel becomes less of an adventure and more of a burden, so we wondered what this house is worth. DH and I disgreed by about £100,000 with his the higher figure!! So, I put our details into Zoopla and the valuation they gave was about £100,000 higher than DH's! Now we know where our neighbour got her silly price from! I agree, it's worth exactly what someone is willing to pay. We should be in a good position and able to have the bungalow we both desire now. Exciting times ahead! Watch this space

Amazingly, we paid £8,500 for this house when we married in 1974 which really stretched our budget at the time.
The one next door (similar but slightly smaller) just went for £450,000 last year. Crazy prices, but to an extent, not relevant to me now. I never want to leave as my beloved husband died in the summer and our house is brimming with 41 years of happy memories of him and of our family growing up here.
It would probably be sensible for me to downsize but helping our small grandsons making dens in the same garden in which our sons played gives me temporary relief from the raw grief. I'm far from wealthy but this is more precious than money to me.

We want to live in a house that requires. Less maintenance and is generally easier to live in than our old cottage . We are hoping to build in our garden,so will have to get our house valued with only a third of its garden. I know this will reducethevalueof the house but I am not sure. What difference it will make. People don't seem to want such big gardens nowadays.

I agree with Tanith and I keep a keen eye on what local properties sell for although I have good neighbours, worth their weight in gold but it works both ways.

We paid £16,000 for our end terraced in 1985. Hubby isn`t into DIY and decorating, so we`d probably get about £80,000 now. I`d love to move, but we wouldn`t be able to afford anything else, apart from a house just like this one.

No. It doesn't matter until we need to sell it. If we need to sell it. Otherwise, and until then, its my home and priceless.

We've lived here nearly 30 yrs. It's tripled in value since then.
Prices in this area are pretty stable.

We bought our modest end of terrace house in 1977 for £17,750,

Being the end one we have taken the opportunity to extend, add on etc.
But it is still a small house, but with a fabulous view.

We were recently offered £500,000 for it.

So I think Phil and Kirsty are right when they say 'Location, Location, Location'. Anyway it is our little house and we love it so I intend to be carried out from here, which suits me fine.

Galen yours must be worth a lot more since you spent twice as much as us at about the same time !

More or less as we only bought it 8 years ago. Where I live, prices are much more steady than in parts of UK. The only money we would make on it would be on the exchange rate if we decide to return to UK - which would add about 40% on.

Yes I always keep an eye on local sales and prices.

About 8 years ago we had our house valued. It is a one-off; a conversion of two cottages. The valuations varied from £250K to £425K. So that was helpful

One of the best things on tv at the moment; amusing but thought provoking at the same time. the man who wrote it said it was written about a certain period of time and he can't believe that years later nothing has changed.

Are any of you watching "Capital"? The price there goes up monthly!!

Not really. I bought it for £35000 in 1978 so I suspect it's a little dearer now.

Yes, it's only about seven years since we bought it, so we have a good idea.If you are going to downsize or move to a cheap area then you do well, but staying in the same area negates any profit.Only certain areas of the country are dealing with rising prices, it's static in some places.

I have a good idea judging by recent local sales.

You can check on the Land Registry what similar properties in your street have actually sold for, rather than an estate agent's valuation.

Yes, ours has more than trebled in 16 years.
DS's flat in London has more than doubled in 5 years

Yes, we have a rough idea. I agree with ana, sometimes agents suggest more than it is worth to get the business. We always get three valuations before putting ours on the market.

Yes I check occasionally but its irrelevant when all around you are rising at the same rate. I'd like to move to a bungalow but they are much more expensive than my house so unless I want to move way out of London I'm stuck, but I'm happy living here so no matter.

Haven't a clue.

It's only worth as much as someone is prepared to pay for it, no matter what Estate Agents may say.