When it comes to property valuations, Zoopla is a joke. I written this post because Zoopla values my house at just 58% of identical houses in the same street as mine. I own a 2,900 square feet 5-bedroom detached house standing on a 1/4 acre plot, 38 minutes by train from central London. Zoopla insist on valuing the house at £360,000 despite valuing my neighbour's identical house at £616,000.
The amateurs that have created Zoopla use an algorithm that relies entirely on prices recorded by the Land Registry. As we know this data is often inaccurate. In my particular case the Land Registry data ignores the fact that when I purchased my house in February 1997, I traded in my previous property, another 5-bedroom house. The Land Registry records the net transaction value and fails to accommodate the value of the traded-in house.
The real problem with Zoopla's under-valuation is that I suspect it is used by many out of area estate agents who job for mortgage lenders. In my particular case the under-valuation could have quite an impact on any remortage I undertake. Does anyone know how to shake the Zoopla people into recording a more accurate property value? Should I attempt to get Zoopla to see sense or just start a campaign to undermine their credibility as a serious property website?
I also see a problem with Zoopla along similar lines. The problem is two-fold: one is that Zoopla really serves estate agents who pay for the privilege of using and advertising on their site - and I see evidence that undervaluing may be going on to produce easy sales.
ReplyDeleteSecondly, using land registry as a baseline for property valuation cannot reflect extensions and home improvements, or detailed information about the spec of the property. In my case, Zoopla have changed the valuation 5 times in a week within a range of plus or minus 50K on a property worth around £730K. So their claims to be highly accurate are not even true within their own estimates. You have to ask, how could there be five events in a week to make that sort of difference, or could it be someone with a vested interest pulling the strings.
Basically< I'm off to find an estate agent who doesn't subscribe to them, because I think there is something very odd going on.