What price should I sell my house for?

Wondering how much can I sell my house for? It's one of the most agonising decisions you'll have to take when selling. Marketing your home at too high a price, and you might not sell it. Put it on too low, and you might get far less than you should.

Angela Kerr Director, Editor

Deciding ‘What price should I sell my house for’ is one of the biggest financial decisions you are going to make. Once you have done everything you reasonably can to make the house more appealing to buyers (see Top Tips – How to make your home more saleable and valuable), you then need to stack the odds in your favour by doing your homework. Remember, it is you, not the estate agent, who decides the price at which to put the property on the market.

What price should I sell my house for?

There are 3 key steps to deciding the answer to what price should I sell my house for.

1. Get an idea of what you could sell for with an instant online valuation
2. Research local house prices and wider market conditions
3. Find the best local estate agents and invite at least three agents for a free, no-obligation valuation of your home

When you have all this information you can decide a best estimate of the likely sale price the house might achieve. You can then decide your selling strategy. Factors such as the speed at which you want to sell the house will affect what price you ask for it. Your estate agent should have local knowledge and expertise to advise on this. You can then finalise the answer to the question ‘What price should I sell my house for?’

How to price your house

What price should I sell my house for? Here’s how to go about it in more detail.

Get an instant online valuation

When it comes to the answer to what price should I sell my house for, start by getting a free, instant online valuation with our tool. It will give you an estimate with which to start your research. Simply enter your property address details and contact details. The results are based on up to date local data and Land Registry sold data. Your results will give a high-end valuation, a low valuation and a suggested rental income.

How to research local house prices

When you’re asking ‘what price should I sell my house for?’ you need to become an expert in local house prices. There may be a discrepancy between the price houses are being marketed at and how much they are eventually sold for. You can find out what local properties have recently sold for using the Land Registry website.

Looking at national trends can also be helpful in working out the answer to what price should I sell my house for. Our monthly House Price Watch shows that in August 2023, house prices were down -3.1% on average over the past year, transactions are at a ten year low and buyer demand is continuing to fall.

How to find the best estate agents to value my home

Once you’ve done some house price research, the best way to get an accurate valuation is to invite estate agents to value your home. They will know how much houses like yours have sold for and what the local market is like. They will be able to see first hand what your home has to offer, what home improvements have been made and what condition it is in. Many factors, from whether your home is on a busy road, has a generously sized garden or located near a Waitrose, can all impact the value.

With our Best Estate Agent Finder you can find and compare the performance of your local estate agents. It compares agents on:

• The fees they charge
• The average time they take to sell a property like yours
• How often they achieve the asking price
• How successful they are at selling similar homes

The results are instant, free and impartial and can be ranked so you can view them against the factor most important to you. So for example, you can easily compare which estate agent is the best at achieving asking price or that charges the cheapest fee.

Do I have to accept the estate agent’s valuation?

No. Some people aren’t happy with the their estate agent’s valuation. And you can of course sell your property for whatever price you want. The valuation given to you by online tools, estate agents or even valuers working for mortgage lenders is to help you decide the price. But if you price it too high, it may never sell or take a long time to do so. And you may regret marketing your home at too low a price and losing out on more money.

It’s also worth noting that while local estate agents have good local knowledge, they sometimes suggest an unrealistically high valuation in order to win your business. Once instructed, after a few weeks of little interest, you’ll be faced with having to reduce your asking price. Choose an estate agent based on their track-record of achieving asking price, an indication that they are more realistic about price.

Potential pitfalls of pricing too high

If you’re thinking you’ll take a punt at a high price and just lower it later, be warned. The first few weeks of marketing a property are so important in maximising exposure while you are fresh to market. If you price realistically you’ll get more interest and can even consider sealed bids or other options to get the price negotiated up. If you market your home at too high a price as a tactic, note that any reductions are flagged-up on your listings on Rightmove and Zoopla, which leaves you susceptible to lower offers as potential buyers wonder why it has been down valued.

If you think the valuation from an estate agent is too high, trust your instincts. Yes you might get a buyer but if their mortgage lender doesn’t agree with the valuation, they may not be willing to lend on the property which could set you back to square one. We aren’t seeing many down valuations in 2023, but in some cases the difference in a valuation given by an estate agent and mortgage valuer can be as much as 20% of the value of the property. Read more about mortgage valuations and how they work.

However, remember buyers often presume there is space for negotiation in the asking price, so you should be prepared to adjust for that. In some markets, if you’re asking how much can I sell my house for, there can be an argument for listing 5% above what you would be happy to get for it.

Find and compare local estate agents with our free tool: compare typical fees and how quickly they sell a house like yours

Decide your selling strategy

Once you are sure there is nothing else to learn about what price you should sell your house for, you need to decide what strategy you use for selling it. Your estate agent will have experience of what works locally, and you should certainly listen to their advice – but you should not feel compelled to accept it. A big factor though is how quickly you want to sell.

What price should I sell my house for to get a quick sale?

Do you need to sell quickly because you are already committed to moving elsewhere? This is where pricing a house to sell comes in. This means setting a realistic price to sell your house for. Or even a slightly lower than market price. Estate agents often recognise this by saying a property is “priced to sell quickly”. When you’re pricing a house to sell, you are more likely to attract speculative cash buyers this way, which can make the whole transaction very quick. Inviting “offers in excess” of a certain amount is another marketing tool employed by estate agents for a quick sale.

Can you afford to take things slowly?

If you’re asking what price should I sell my house for and you can take your time, you can take two basic approaches:

• Start high, but be prepared to go lower. If you sell at a high price, great. If you do not, then you can slowly reduce the price until you do sell. You will have thoroughly tested the market. The danger of this approach as mentioned is that if the house sits on the market a long time, it might become blighted in the mind of potential buyers, asking “what is wrong with it?”
• Start low, attract attention, and try and get a bidding war going, with purchasers bidding each other up. This obviously works best in a hot market with lots of willing buyers and few properties for sale. It is usually combined with not accepting any offers for the first period (a couple of weeks or more).

Take your local market into account

If your local market is hot, or if there is likely to be a lot of interest in your property, you may opt to market your house realistically but then go to sealed bids as a way of pushing up the final sale price.

Do I need to tell buyers about problems with the house?

Yes. Consumer protection regulations dictate sellers must disclose any pertinent information they have about the property that may influence the buyer’s decision, for example if subsidence has been highlighted in a previous survey. So when you’re considering what price should I sell my house for, bear in mind that buyers may take these problems into account when deciding on how much to offer.

What percentage of the sale price do you keep when you sell your house?

If you’re asking what price should I sell my house for, you’re probably also wondering how much money you’ll get from the sale. To find out, you’ll need to factor in the costs of selling a house, including estate agent fees , conveyancing fees and removal costs. For more information, read our guide on the costs of selling a house.

What price should I sell my house for to a quick house sale firm?

If you’re using a quick house sale firm, you’ll often be offered around 75%-80% of market value although in some cases it’s up to 85% of market value. But there are other issues you may encounter. For example, some companies may offer you a certain price, then reduce it at the last minute and fee structures are not always made clear to the customer. So before considering this route, do your research and find out if there’s a better option for you. For more information, read our guide on Quick house sale firms: What to beware of.

When is a good time to sell?

Spring may traditionally be the most popular time to sell, but Autumn can also be a good time to put your house on the market. Once people are back from their summer holidays and the kids are back at school, there is often a mini-boom with people looking to find a home and move in by Christmas. Also, October is often a good time for a speedy sale (62 days on average over the past 7 years). 

However, make sure you’re ready to move quickly as in November and December, the number of potential buyers can slow down significantly. Find out more information in our guide When is the best time to sell my house?  

Choose an estate agent based on their track-record of achieving asking price using our Find the Best Estate Agent tool

Frequently asked questions