How to sell a house Your house price
Setting a realistic asking price for your home is essential
Setting your asking price too high could mean your house takes longer to sell than necessary so it’s important to get it right. Your expectations need to be realistic since a property is only worth what a buyer is willing to pay.
Your house price will also be a factor in the type of property you can afford to move to.
Three steps to your property valuation
Use these handy hints to figure out how much your house is worth:
- Look in local newspapers, estate agents’ windows and online to see how much similar properties are on the market for. Try to come up with three to five properties that are comparable to yours in size and features.
- Next, bring in three agents which have recently sold similar properties and ask them for a valuation. Don’t simply pick the highest amount – use the research you have done to work out a realistic level to set your house price at.
- Consider the minimum price that you can accept for your house and still be able to afford the property you want to move to. Be realistic but don’t forget that you may be able to recoup whatever discount you give on your own house with a similar discount on the one you’re buying.
It may be worthwhile having a survey done yourself before you put your property on the market. If there are any problems with your house this will give you a chance to fix them or, if your property gets the all clear, the report can be used to show buyers what great condition your property is in.
House price surveys
House price surveys (or indices) track the price of residential housing and can be useful for determining your house price. They were first provided by mortgage lenders but there are now also indices produced by government bodies and property websites.
There are quite a few to choose from: Nationwide, Halifax, the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG), the Land Registry, Rightmove, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and Hometrack.
They differ in the way they collect their data, which means they often come up with different conclusions.
Some use mortgage approvals, while others use asking prices, sale prices, estate agent data or surveys of surveyors.
House prices are not currently varying widely on a monthly basis but looking at them over a longer time period can show us whether house prices are rising or falling, by how much and in which areas of the country.
However, property markets work at a much more local level than most house prices indices so while they can be useful, they should not replace the research you carry out yourself by talking to local estate agents and looking at properties that have sold in the areas you are selling and buying in.
The Land Registry survey is probably the most useful as its report is based on completed sale figures, whether or not the property is mortgaged, and the report can be searched right down to postcode level.