Whether you’re looking to sell or you’re simply curious to find out how much your home’s worth, you can access and use a variety of fully integrated online databases and tools. Property evaluation is a complex and often difficult process.
With so many influencing factors and different variables to consider, you’re bound to face challenges during the evaluation process. Also, if you’re not being helped by a professional real-estate evaluator or agent, delays will become inevitable. This will only lead to your frustration, high levels of stress and convince you to give up on the evaluation.
So, to help you find out an accurate estimation of your home’s worth, here’s a list of the top 6 strategies to successfully evaluate your own home.
Identify Similar Sold Property Prices
Today, you can discover the prices of similar sold houses across the entire UK. So, you can access a variety of online platforms, which curate data from HM Land Registry and the Registers of Scotland. But also check through the official website of the UK’s Land Registry Office which offers details about the latest transactions performed in the real-estate market. And, although the databases may not include a complete list of prices, you’ll have a clear overview of how much similar houses sold for. And you can search through historical prices to assess the market’s evolution.
The Current Real-Estate Market Trends
You can find out the current status of the real estate market by analyzing the information provided by the UK House Price Index, which is part of HM Land Registry. It’s a helpful online tool which you can use to estimate how healthy the property market is in the UK. It’ll show you the monthly house inflation rate using information from HM Land Registry, Land and Property Services Northern Ireland, and Registers of Scotland. But you can also check different financial institutions and banks which provide useful information about the current property market trends.
Real-Estate Market Forecasts in the UK
Although nobody can accurately forecast how the property market will perform in the UK, you should check the Office for Budget Responsibility and other online platforms which research and analyze the real estate market. It offers forecasts based on the economic and political climate in the UK and accounts for the market’s growth rate.
Leverage Online Price Estimation Tools
You can use a variety of online price estimation tools to evaluate your house. You’ll find multiple online platforms which will provide key details about your home’s worth based on the prices for which similar houses sold in your area or region. And you can also adjust the search down to the previously sold houses on your street. For example, Property Price Advice provides a detailed report on the maximum and minimum prices for your house. But other sites will only give you a general range of prices which could apply to your house.
How Much Did Your House Sell for Previously?
You can estimate the current price of your house based on the past selling price. Use specific online calculators which use information such as the date of your home purchase to show you how much your house is worth now. But consider that these online calculators don’t account for any refurbishing or renovation which you may have performed on the house since when you bought it.
Location, Location, Location….
The location of your house has a huge impact on its value. For example, if your home presents the risk of flooding or air pollution, its value will significantly decrease. You should also check this aspect when you’re purchasing a new home. Otherwise, you may incur major financial losses. So, check the Environment Agency’s site which provides accurate details about the regions which present risks of flooding or air pollution. But you can use other online platforms which offer information about subsidence or flooding risks in the region which you select.
And, considering that families with children and buyers, in general, prefer areas with low risks of crime, you should also check local crime rates. The level of security in your region strongly affects the price of your house. You’ll find a complete database on the Police.uk site.
But, also check for what schools are in your neighbourhood. A family with children will always search for houses in areas with nearby schools. And, verify if your area has good public transportation facilities and amenities, as they’ll attract more buyers.
Wrapping It Up
The assessment of a home’s price can be a difficult process. But you can use a wide range of online and offline resources to streamline your evaluation. When you’re calculating your home’s value, you should account for similar sold houses, your home’s past selling price, the real-estate market trend, social and economic factors, and the facilities available in your location.