How much is my house worth: Land Registry information
A good place to start when looking for your property’s value is NetHousePrices, which allows you to input the postcode or areas of your home, then lists the value of properties that have been sold there recently. If you click on a property then you’ll also be able to see the average sale price in that area over the past few years, alongside figures for school results and crime. The valuation data comes from the Land Registry records and is updated once a month. While it won’t give you a definitive price for your property itself – as there are too many variables involving condition, age, fittings and exact location – the information does provide a rough estimate of what you can expect.
Similarly, Zoopla provides lots of the same information as NetHousePrices, and goes one step further by offering an estimate of how much your specific property is worth based on inflation. One of the advantages of Zoopla is that you can often see images of the interior of similar properties on your street and how much they last sold for, helping you asses whether your own home needs a bit of work in some rooms to bring it up to the level of competing houses in your neighbourhood. Zoopla, NetHousePrices and other valuation sites will also provide a link to a valuation booking form. You’ll then be able to book in a valuation by an estate agent who will come to your home, which is no doubt going to be the most accurate way to find out how much your house is worth. Remember that these valuations are free and you’re under no obligation to sign up to the estate agent once the valuation has taken place. Of course if you like them then they could prove useful when it comes to actually selling your home.
How much is my house worth: House Price Calculator
Another online option is Nationwide’s service called the House Price Calculator, which estimates the current value of your property based on how much it sold for in the past. You simply enter the year you purchased the house and how much you paid, then a figure will be produced using local property data. Of course, this is a rather scattergun approach and should only be used as a very rough guide, but it only takes a few seconds and can be a helpful addition to the other tools we’ve listed.
How to sell your house online: Online estate agents
Once you’ve found out the value of your house and are ready to sell, you’ll need to start advertising that your house is for sale. If you’re feeling brave enough, you can now sell your house online rather than hiring a local estate agent. It’s becoming a surprisingly popular way of selling property and can save you a lot of cash. Estate agents can charge up to 2% commission on the sale price of your property, which quickly adds up to thousands of pounds, while online estate agents tend to offer a flat fee of up to £1,000. Online estate agents such as eMoov, House Simple, Hatched and Teplio offer various packages at set prices to help you sell your house quickly and cheaply. It’s important to read all of the terms and conditions when you sign up to an online estate agent, and it might require a bit more effort on your part than the traditional approach, but when it means a potential saving of £5,000 it’s often worth it.
Martyn has been involved with tech ever since the arrival of his ZX Spectrum back in the early 80s. He covers iOS, Android, Windows and macOS, writing tutorials, buying guides and reviews for Macworld and its sister site Tech Advisor.
