Online House Hunter: What your house is worth | Alan Cleaver | Independent Property Blogs

Online House Hunter: What your house is worth | Alan Cleaver | Independent Property Blogs

WHAT’S my house worth? That’s usually the first question people ask when they think about moving house. And while it’s quick to get an answer online, the answer needs to be treated with great caution.

There are a number of commercial websites which offer a valuation service online – just tap in your postcode and up comes an answer. Houseprices.co.uk for example, will tell you when your property (or more importantly your neighbour’s) was sold and at what price. It also gives a current value estimate. The site, powered by Zoopla, also has sections specifically devoted to homes for sale, to rent or new homes. An advice section is also included on the site.

nethouseprices.com similarly offers a round-up of what houses in your area have achieved and acknowledges the Land Registry as its source. You can of course go straight to the Land Registry website but it’s not as user-friendly as the commercial sites and doesn’t have the ‘frilly add-ons’ such as being able to sign up for email alerts or links to houses currently for sale.

The website upmystreet.com has plenty of additional information for home sellers or house hunters. It offers a snapshot of your neighbourhood – or the one you wish to move to – which includes the average family income, the interest of your neighbours in current affairs, how many houses have a mortgage, how many of your neighbours are educated to degree level, number of couples with children and who has satellite TV. I’m not sure whether knowing most of my future neighbours have a degree or that none of them have Satellite TV would determine my decision to move there but it’s certainly a more fun way of online house hunting.