Getting the right price is absolutely critical to getting a fast and profitable sale, which is why it is worth spending some time investigating the local opposition before you call in any estate agents for a valuation. Put too high a price on your house and it will languish unsold, and a house that remains on the market for more than a few months will struggle to find a buyer. Put too low a price on your house, and you may have the buyers queuing up, but you will always wonder if you could have sold if for more.
Valuation is both an art and a science and unless you have looked at the competition it is hard to judge whether you are asking the right price. In this country, houses are usually valued according to how many bedrooms they have. So in any area, an estate agent can quote you a range of prices for, say, 2 bedroom flats, 3 bedroom terrace houses or 4 bedroom detached houses.
However, valuation is not strictly scientific. There are other factors that affect price. For example, end-of-terrace houses are less secure, so less desirable, and can be cheaper. A property on a main road will be cheaper than the same house on a quite road. A south or west facing garden is more desirable than one facing east or north. A house with a clean modern kitchen and bathroom will always be worth more than one where these crucial features need replacing. A house with period features, such as the original fireplaces, cornicing, panelled doors and sash windows will always be worth more than one where most of these features have been ripped out.