Zoopla valuations

[editha]

I'm living in Canada, but intending to return to the Uk in three years time. I've already keeping a look out for a property to buy on Rightmove, and I've been looking at the Zoopla site too, which will calculate an estimate value for any property

I've noticed that there is often a big difference between the asking price and the Zoopla valuation. For example there is a house I'm interested in in the West Midlands which is on the market for £250,000. Personally, I think that is over valued, but I wouldn't have a problem with paying £215,000, except that the Zoopla estimate is only £186,000. That strikes me as too low, but what concerns me is that if I bought at a higher figure and then wanted to raise equity on the property at a later stage, I'd have difficulty because of the low Zoopla valuation.

Does anyone know how seriously the Zoopla estimate is regarded?

[New Homes Expert]

Zoopla and other valuations offer a guide and tend to be on the low side of the true value.

With any home, the value or price attainable is what someone who wants to live in it is prepared to pay at a given time.

If you like a home and the price is what you consider fair then buy it.

Dont buy any home without seeing it and gettinga full structural survey beforehand.

[Richard Webster]

Ignore Zoopla and other similar sites completely.

They take historic prices and apply regional price changes over time to them. This just does not work for individual properties.

They get the data from the Land Registry and have to make sense of it. For instance if someone died and left a house to their two sons and one "bought the other out" he would only pay half the market value of it, so that would skew the figures!

[Dan S]

Hi Editha

Zoopla and other derisions of the land registry database are extremely useful for overviews, but you need to draw your own conclusions when it comes to the valuation side of things.

The land registry is absolutely fantastic for finding out how much similar properties in that street have sold for, but when it comes to the valuations, the price is an automated figure which draws on the averages for that area or street.

Whilst this is still helpful, you should compare the recent sale price of individual properties like the one you're looking at.

It's frustrating though isn't it!

All the best,

Dan S

[editha]

Thanks for your replies, which are helpful.

[New Homes Expert]

No problem - you are most welcome

[The Buy to Let Business]

Hi

Agree with the others. Zoopla can give a guide but should not be used in isolation.

[Dan S]

Although Zoopla does have the best iPhone App!

[yetanother]

I have found their valuations to be terribly inaccurate for the houses on our road. All the more recently sold ones have much higher values as they use the last sold price for them but any that last sold 10 years ago or so are completely undervalued and very similar houses end up with vastly different valuations on Zoopla.

[Jeannie D]

Zoopla is not always accurate about the property description either. My house (two storeys, standing on its own freehold land, with no other building above or below it, so definitely a house) is described as a flat. My neighbour's house is described as detached....and so it would be, if only it was not terraced between two other houses. I would take the accuracy of Zoopla's information with a pinch of salt.