Do you have any advice on getting valuations?

The first thing you need to bear in mind is that valuing property is not – and never can be - an exact science. In the end, your home is worth precisely what someone is actually prepared to pay for it - and that can be hard for any agent to predict with absolute accuracy, whatever the state of the market. 

That said, some agents do tend to be over-cautious in their valuations. Others, meanwhile, routinely over-value - with every intention of talking the vendor into accepting a price reduction almost as soon as they have won the instruction! 

The standard response to this conundrum, of course, is to get a number of valuations (normally three) from different agents, and then simply eliminate the highest and lowest in favour of the one in the middle. Nevertheless, it is not impossible that one of the other valuations is actually nearer the mark. 

So, how do you tell?  The important thing is to understand how each agent arrived at his or her figure. What did they base their opinion on? You need to see evidence of the prices achieved for similar properties in the area – known in the trade as comparables. And you need to understand not only the similarities the agents have taken into account, but also the differences. Is your home in better or worse condition? Does it possess additional features? Does its location compare more or less favourably? Also, you need to know the age of these comparables. Precisely how long ago did those properties actually sell for those prices? If it was a while, you need the agents to explain what has changed since, and what adjustments they have made in order to take account of those altered circumstances. 

These days, of course, you can do quite a lot of checking yourself, online: websites like www.myhouseprice.com and www.ourproperty.co.uk provide data on sale prices gleaned from the Land Registry. However, you really shouldn’t need to. Any agent worth his or her salt should provide you with all the evidence to support their valuation, without you having to ask for it. 

So – my advice is to go for the agent who makes the most convincing case for their valuation – whatever the figure they arrive at! 

I put my home on the market recently.One couple showed some initial interest, but they don’t seem in any hurry?

There has long been a belief among some people that when it comes to striking any kind of a deal, displaying too much enthusiasm is a bad negotiating tactic. This is a belief by no means limited to the property market – as you will know only too well if you’ve ever advertised a car for sale and had to endure a succession of people walking round it shaking their heads, kicking the tyres and bemoaning the fact that it’s pale blue instead of just about any other colour! 

Nevertheless, given the way the property market in particular has been over the last four or five years, buyers “playing it cool” have certainly become increasingly commonplace. This is partly due to the fact that during this period, they have been somewhat spoiled for choice – and the good news here is that this is now beginning to change, with reports from across the industry suggesting that demand is starting to outstrip supply once again. 

At the same time, however, there are those buyers who deliberately choose to play it cool, even when they have actually found a property that they really like! 

It’s hard not to regard this sort of behavior as more than a little cynical, since as often than not it is predicated on the assumption that if they hang on long enough, the poor vendor will cave in and accept a lower offer. 

Needless to say, if a buyer ever asks for my advice on this issue, I always say the same thing: when you find a place you really like, don’t mess around. Be decisive, make your best offer right at the outset – and make sure that all the parties involved know that you are genuine. If you act unconcerned, you can hardly complain if neither the vendor nor their agent takes you seriously. Other offers, sometimes even lower ones, are quite likely to be preferred to your own, if the people concerned simply act positively.   

Obviously, I don’t know the precise details of your circumstances – or that of the couple you mention, come to that – so I probably shouldn’t comment. Suffice it to say, however, that if they aren’t showing any real commitment, then I would definitely look elsewhere!