It must be a moment all Estate Agents go through...
You travel away for a weekend, maybe off to visit your sister, or your best friend who moved away, or to attend that big family get-together, wedding or birthday party – but you’re somewhere ‘away from home’, at any rate.
You’re minding your own business, buffet mini-quiche in hand, and someone will ask you the question: “So… what’s the market doing?”
Followed fairly quickly by: “And, er, what do you think this place is worth?”
Both perfectly fair and understandable questions, I might add…
And don’t worry – the good news is, we Estate Agents love to chat about property (obviously), and Question Number 1 will lead us into a really interesting conversation about the ups and downs and to’s and fro’s of the property market; inflation, interest rates, swap rates, what mortgages are doing (and what they will do), and of course the big one – whether property prices are going up or down…
Which is what often leads to that second question: “And, er, what do you think this place is worth?”
Like I mentioned – a fair and understandable question.
Nevertheless, one thing people don’t always quite appreciate is that we normally can’t just pluck a valuation out of the air like a magician pulling a card from behind your right ear.
That is especially the case if it is ‘away from home’.
I do know, for example, that property prices in the UK have gone up by an average of 6.4% in the year to March 2025, because UK Government House Price data tells us so (see here).
But that only tells me a national average, not a local average. And even so, it is only an average… any given property might fall above or below an average. And even then, if I don’t know what price that property was a year ago, how could I apply the metric?
Now, if this conversation were over the buffet cart at a get-together here in Edgware or Mill Hill, Barnet or Bushey… hey, probably even in St Albans or Watford, Chesham or Beaconsfield – then sure, I’d be able to venture a pretty solid idea without it being too much trouble.
Somewhere elsewhere in London, perhaps around the surrounding home-counties, I’m fairly sure I could hazard a relatively close guess.
But an instant ‘valuation’ somewhere outside of my patch… look, it really is a whole other thing.
Even here in Edgware, in fact, if you were to ask me to come and meet you to provide a valuation of your property, there’s a whole catalogue of preparatory work and research that will go into that exercise before even reaching your front door – and that’s despite living and breathing this local North London property market every day, day in, day out.
In fact, in our world, it’s not even called a ‘valuation’…
A valuation, strictly speaking, is something carried out by an RICS-qualified surveyor – someone who’s trained to provide official figures for mortgage lenders, tax assessments or legal disputes.
What Estate Agents like us provide are called Market Appraisals.
To all intents and purposes, it will look and feel like a valuation (and truthfully, many would argue it is one), but what we’re really offering is an informed assessment of how your home compares and fares in today’s property marketplace.
We look at:
But that’s just for starters. All that gives us a flavour of the market. Once we have that groundwork prepared, we take a look at the property itself – and then we go deeper, with all that research in mind…
What a good Estate Agent doesn’t do is to simply count the number of bedrooms or to apply a metric to a property’s square footage (something that feels fairly commonplace as a methodology in other parts of the world).
Instead, we take a good look at the property not just in isolation, but also in comparison to others.
For example, let’s take layout: yes, so it’s a three bedroom semi-detached house… but how is the space used? Does it suit modern lifestyles? Are there compromises that might put buyers off? Could adaptations be made to suit modern tastes if not, and if so at what cost compared to current and future value ranges?
And what about prior adaptations or additions? Let’s say a property has gained an extra downstairs room, but lost the garage in the process… is that value-adding? It might be a trade-up for some, but not for others.
Our job is to weigh up what is valuable to buyers in our area, right now – because that of course is the other point to consider here; our assessment also reflects a moment in time. Next month, it might be all change.
The condition of a property and its presentation does come into play – although they are not one and the same thing.
How much work does a potential buyer need to do, and how much will they need to invest in doing so? Is it turn-key job, or will the buyer be budgeting tens of thousands more to get it looking the way they want? If they do, does the subsequent value of the property increase to reflect that? Does the future value increase by more than the spend?
If it is only a matter of personal taste, a matter of presentation, not condition, should this affect a property’s valuation?
The answer is quite possibly ‘yes’… if most buyers are likely to be put off by the way a property is currently presented or decorated and will consider that it needs time and effort and, importantly, money invested to change it, then it probably means a knock on a property’s potential maximum price. That may well form part of my advice.
Is it worth giving a go at a price, just to see, rather than to put in the work oneself prior to marketing? That’s a different question – but again, it is an ‘appraisal’ question, not a ‘valuation’ question, and so it is a question we should explore further – and I will come to that later in this article.
For now, however, coming back to the question of ‘condition’, let’s also think about the question of ‘potential’. Can it be extended, improved, reimagined?
Even if a buyer has no intention of doing anything like this, there is a question to be asked about whether the potential alone adds value.
If two near-identical homes are on the market, but one has the potential for a loft conversion and the other doesn't, let’s say because the height of the roof ridges on the north side of the street is lower than the south side, despite both sides being bay-windowed 1930’s semis… do both houses carry the same value, if they are currently both in the same decorative order?
It’s a legitimate consideration.
The same goes for garden aspect. I have known buyers who would not even entertain viewing a property with a north-facing garden; I have known others who actively avoid sunny gardens because they burn at 13 degrees on a cloudy day...
And that’s the point. ‘Value’ is also subjective – and that is why it is important to consider who is looking, what they are looking for, and what their budgets are…
The real skill that a great estate agent can bring to the mix when offering an appraisal – which essentially is a discussion of what your property might be able to sell for in a given market – is not just their understanding of the market… it is their understanding of the people in the market, both sellers and buyers.
A great agent knows which buyers are looking for a shady garden, or which buyers are desperate for a garage even if they’ll possibly never even park in it. They know which buyers will push their budget to secure the property with the bay window and wood burning stove in the front room that they really desire.
This is why it is so important to know your ideal buyers, as an agent – because, for the homeowners who are looking to sell their property, it can add thousands to the appraisal price. I have to say, it is one of advantages I have after more than three decades in this property game.
Even so, appraising a property’s value is also knowing how to take the property to market in the way that will flush out the ideal buyer – by knowing the ‘type’ even if not knowing the ‘specific’ buyer, and knowing what the limit is that a price could or should be conceivably pushed up to, to attract such a buyer.
As you can see, there is a lot more that goes into an appraisal than might meet the eye, and a lot more to balance when offering a seller the advice they need.
That is how we create value in what we do – by not only having the experience and knowledge to get the price right, but having the means and methodology to flush out the very best buyer for any given property when it comes to marketing.
Once we’ve nailed the appraisal, the next step is to showcase the property to the world in order to realise the best possible price the market will offer.
For my part, I personally place a huge emphasis on the presentation of our property marketing. It isn’t about throwing mud at a wall to see what sticks – it is thoughtful, detailed and strategic, in order to get properties sold – and for more information on what we do at Petermans, please by all means take a look at our seller’s services page, here, to see what I mean.
But even so, however magical our marketing, we’ve still got to be realistic. And when I say ‘we’, this is where I’m asking for your help – because I don’t just mean ourselves, the estate agents; I also mean the homeowner.
Let’s take an example where I come armed with all the research in the world that suggests we should be listing at £600,000, plus evidence that I have several buyers that I’m working with who I feel confident I can bring round at that level. And the homeowner agrees.
Then the next agent through the door says £750,000.
Look, I get it entirely.
It sounds so tempting.
But I would urge any homeowner to also do their own research; check Rightmove, Zoopla, OnTheMarket and other sites. Look at what is really selling, what is hanging around, and how do these properties compare. Does that figure really make sense? Because if buyers don’t come through the door, what is the benefit?
I’m happy to give a property a push at an optimistic price within reason – test the market, see who pops their head up; our job is to get the seller a price they are really happy with after all.
But there have to be limits. Our reputation and the reputation of Petermans is on the line too. I don’t throw properties online to just rack up listings. If we list it, our intention is to sell it – and that is why, if I don’t agree with a price, I will certainly say so… and no hard feelings!
But get it right – price smart, market it beautifully, and work those buyers we are engaged with – that is when the viewings fly in. We’ll often have two or three buyers competing, and it is all too common to see offers at the asking price, or even going above.
All this is why, over a buffet spread at a niece’s Bat Mitzvah, I might not be able to instantly and accurately value a house in Nuneaton. It is also why, if you were to ask me to advise you what your house is worth here in Edgware, there is more that goes into it than simply plugging the square footage into a calculator – because the appraisals we do provide are about not just what we think the price is, but also who we think the buyer is likely to be, and also about explaining what we will do to get there.
No fantasy figures plucked from the sky, but considered, informed and strategic assessments.
If you would like to know what your home in Edgware is worth, of course please do give me a call. No buffet quiches required.
We are required by law to conduct anti-money laundering checks on all those selling or buying a property. Whilst we retain responsibility for ensuring checks and any ongoing monitoring are carried out correctly, the initial checks are carried out on our behalf by Lifetime Legal who will contact you once you have agreed to instruct us in your sale or had an offer accepted on a property you wish to buy. The cost of these checks is £60 (incl. VAT), which covers the cost of obtaining relevant data and any manual checks and monitoring which might be required. This fee will need to be paid by you in advance of us publishing your property (in the case of a vendor) or issuing a memorandum of sale (in the case of a buyer), directly to Lifetime Legal, and is non-refundable. We will receive some of the fee taken by Lifetime Legal to compensate for its role in the provision of these checks.