The biggest investment most people will ever make is the purchase of property. We all want to know how much our homes are worth, which can dramatically change over time, so it’s important to keep abreast of trends, forecasts, and property sales in your area. However, the vast majority of homeowners either underestimate or overestimate what their properties are worth. Whether or not you’re planning to sell your home now, in the near future, or not at all, it will always be beneficial to monitor the value of your home or buy-to-let properties because it has a direct impact on financial planning and borrowing, building and contents insurance, home improvement plans, and the best time to sell.

Financial planning

Before making any major decisions, it’s is always a good idea to assess your current net worth. By knowing the current market value of your property, you can determine if you are in negative equity or have made capital gains. This information is really important when making significant life choices, approaching banks for a loan, switching credit cards, remortgaging your property, investing in a buy-to-let property, or starting a new business. It is particularly useful to know how much your home is worth is you are planning to retire, downsize to a smaller home, or you hope to buy a bigger property in the future.

Home improvements

If you’re thinking of making home improvements to your property, either for your own benefit whilst living there or to increase the value of your home before putting it on the market, it’s important to know the current value of your home and of similar sized properties in the area. If your home is already one of the highest valued properties in the area, investing a significant amount of money in home improvements for the purpose of selling may not yield the desired returns. In such instances, it would be advisable to speak to a reputable local estate agent for advice before making any changes. They will be able to advise on the best way to make the most out of your investment.

Insurance

Many homeowners make the mistake of using the original purchase price or current market value of their property when getting a home insurance quote. In most instances, this will result in much higher monthly or annual premiums. Instead, you should use the rebuilding cost of the property – i.e. how much it would cost to rebuild if it were destroyed by fire – when renewing or taking out a new buildings insurance policy. Related to this, most people actually underestimate the value of their belongings for contents insurance, so be sure to take your time with calculating how much it would cost to replace everything you own, including things like CDs, records, clothes and shoes, cushions and curtains, etc.

Selling your home

This is most obvious situation when you would need to know how much your property is worth. Keeping track of the value of your home over the years means you will not be disappointed or surprised if it turns out that your property is not worth as much as you thought. This is particularly unpleasant news if you had set your sights on a larger property or a home in a more expensive area in the west of Scotland, only to discover you cannot afford it. By always knowing the value of your home, you can plan and save accordingly for a future move that requires more significant investment, thus avoiding disappointment.

Conversely, if the value of your home increases more than you had predicted, you will have more options than realised. You may choose to sell when you had not been considering it, or move a little sooner than planned because of high property values and demand from buyers, thus putting you at an advantage and perhaps releasing capital to investment or spend on other things. At the present time, we’er in the midst of a sellers’ market – mortgage approvals are up and interest rates are still incredibly low, so it is a really great time for anyone thinking of selling or hoping to make significant capital gains from their current property.

Arrange a Free Valuation

Do you own a property in the west of Scotland and need an idea of what it is currently worth? Let Caledonia Bureau give you a free no obligation valuation on your property. We’ll apply our in-depth knowledge of the property to provide you with an accurate valuation and make recommendations on ways to increase the value of your home.

As one of the West of Scotland’s longest-standing estate agents, we have had lots of experience managing the ups and downs of the housing market in recent times, so you can be confident you’ll be in safe hands when working with us. With an expert team by your side and a variety of properties on offer, including both property to let and homes for sale, Caledonia Bureau are confident that we can match you with the right home. Give our friendly team a call today, choosing from our offices in Clydebank, Helensburgh, Dumbarton and Paisley.