Pound per square foot -Is it worth it?

Pounds per SQ Ft…is it worth calculating?

I think this is a great question, and in fact, with the technology we now have at our disposal we can now also look at internal space and plot size amongst other things. This enables us to turn the old, ‘opinion based’ valuation, into facts lead professional property appraisals.

So, for me, when I am preparing to go visit someone’s home, their prized possession in most cases (if they haven’t got a pedigree labra-wotsit), I will research their property to within an inch of it’s life!

I need to make sure that I can narrow down their value, not only to ensure when it hits the market it creates the most demand, but also so they can make real life plans on whether it’s the right time to sell and if the price will enable their onward move.

But this isn’t the point of this blog. This is about whether doing a rough valuation on a pounds per sq ft basis is worthwhile?

 Yes, is my answer, and this is for several reasons. Firstly, maybe you aren’t ready to sell yet and so you don’t want to have three estate agents round to give you their opinion, (which will mostly turn out to be over the top anyway), and you just need a ball park figure.

Secondly, there are now some clever stats-based companies that have done the heavy lifting. So currently in my postcode - CR2 Sanderstead, the average price per sq ft is £501.00, based on the last 2 years transactions.

It can also tell me that Selsdon is £492.00 per sq ft, CR2 7 (Croham Road etc) is £479.00 per sq ft, which is the same as CR2 0 (Sanderstead station area). Warlingham is also a very close £480.00. 

Being average prices, they will differ depending on the variables we have in property, like garden size, condition, parking and so on, but they can create a really good base of knowledge that is unlikely to change much over the coming years.

Interestingly only 25% of the properties in the last 2 years have sold over these figures. So, if you compare similar properties to your own that are on the market, and if you are super honest of course, you should be able to arm yourself with a foundational figure that you can work from.

You can also use this figure to question an agent if they are just there to over price your home to get your business..shock!

Finally, this is not the be all and end all of course, and anyone serious about selling should always invite agents for an in-person facts-based appraisal.

That agent should come armed with comparable evidence, a bank of recent 5-star Google reviews behind them, and a marketing plan that stretches beyond throwing it on Rightmove and hoping for the best!

I’m veering off here, however next time you have a few friends round who have just had a valuation on their home and of course you know their square footage you can pour them a wine…..and go and grab your calculator.