If you are a property owner, you have many choices when it comes to figuring out the value of your home. Selecting the right one depends largely on which type of analysis matches up with your current home valuation objective.
For example, let’s say you are just looking for a broad estimate of your home’s value. This could be obtained in a matter of seconds, using one of several government or commercially-available instant online valuation tools.
How about if you are looking for more substantive analysis? There are several options fitting this criteria as well. Each one varies in cost and level of complexity. With this in mind, let’s take a look at several options, to give you an idea of which one may best suit your needs.
British estate agent Purplebricks offers a convenient house valuation tool, completely free of charge. While it may seem like consulting with an estate agency for home valuation leaves you on the hook for using their services, don’t worry.
There is no obligation to sell. There’s no credit check, either, in case that is an additional concern. With Purplebricks, you can also choose between a home valuation conducted live in your home by a local estate agent, or a valuation conducted online via video call. No matter the option, each one will provide you with a detailed valuation report.
Consult Publicly-Available Property Sales Data
For official government data on home prices and values, consult the Land Registry’s many property valuation tools. For example, to learn about home sale prices in your particular area, or even to determine what your home previously sold for in the past, consult the Land Registry’s “Search Sold Property Prices” tool.
Alongside this online tool, you can also consult the UK House Price Index’s interactive tool, also provided by the Land Registry. While this tool is largely used to track nationwide home prices, you can filter it as far down as the local authorities level.
In addition to these data sources, you can also search for similar information through one of many popular UK estate agent portals, although the information on these sites is largely derived from the official statistics compiled by the UK Government.
Ask Your Estate Agent for a Comparable Market Analysis (CMA)
If you are actively seeking an estate agent, you may want to consider reaching out to them for a comparable market analysis, also known as a CMA. CMAs do not provide a level of analysis on par with a full-on appraisal, but they can provide more thorough information than simply a search of official sales data.
When it comes to the cost of a CMA, your mileage may vary. Some estate agencies may charge you a small fee to produce a CMA pertinent to your home. Then again, others may provide it as a free service, as a means to entice you to engage with them exclusively for your home selling transaction.
Commission a Professional Appraisal
If you decide you want to take things one step further, consider hiring a professional appraiser to assess the value of your home. While the first two options can give you a broad estimate of your home’s worth, appraisers get into the nitty gritty, to provide you with a thorough valuation analysis.
An appraiser’s analysis includes market-based data such as location and property value comparisons, but also takes into account the physical condition and improvements made to your home. Taking both these types of factors into account, the estate agent comes up with a concrete figure for your home’s value, presented in the form of a written report.
While a professional appraisal may be only most relevant for purposes such as obtaining a home mortgage, you may still find it worth the expense, if you are looking for as accurate a valuation estimate as possible.