The Great British Property Gamble

By Claire West

With the housing market in its most volatile state since the early 90s, 1 in 4 homebuyers (26 per cent) unduly take a huge financial gamble by not bothering to do any comparative research on the current value of homes before putting in an offer. Despite 90 per cent of homeowners saying their home was the biggest purchase of their life, 71 per cent admit they do not even check a property’s previous sale price before signing on the dotted line — potentially risking thousands...

...of pounds in overpayment.

Zoopla.co.uk, the UK’s first online property community that combines home valuation tools, sold price information and user-generated content to bring transparency to the property market, questioned over 1,000 homeowners to find out how informed people are when it comes to buying, selling and tracking their properties.

The survey found that more people carry out research on the price of blenders and toasters, cars and furniture than they do on their prospective home with 92 per cent saying they check the price of household appliances before purchase. 85 per cent say they compare the value of cars before buying them, and 78 per cent do the same for furniture, whereas only 42 per cent of people say they thoroughly research house prices before making a purchase.

Despite ubiquitous internet access throughout the UK, over half (51 per cent) say they do not use the web to check property prices with a staggering 40 per cent unaware that previous sold prices, what the neighbours paid and current values are free and easily accessible online.

One in three (29 per cent) also admitted they did no research into the local area before moving in, with only one in... continued on page two >

 

 

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