"not on National Grid" valuation
Discussion
I'm hoping there are some informed opinions on there that might help on this topic. My parents moved out to SW Wales (near Tenby) many years ago and bought a 9 acre plot in the middle of nowhere with a couple of buildings on it. One was a small house (2 up, 2 down) that had been gutted by fire and the other was a coach house and cow shed that was deemed to be in a better state for conversion. Fast forward to the current day and after much time, effort and money they have a decent, habitable and quite unique property now.
As it is some way from other properties, they are not on the national grid but have a wind generator and solar panels that supply most of the electricity they use. They have an advanced control system that regulates the charge to the bank of batteries and can also automatically kick in a petrol generator when required. They have a septic tank for sewage and a pump that draws fresh water through a bore hole to a spring that runs about 90ft under the property. They also use rainwater reclamation for toilet flushing. They use calor gas for cooking and have all the mod cons you'd expect in a home. Oddly they do have a normal landline telephone, courtesy of BT stiffing me with a "standard charge for all installations" to reactivate a second line at my house one day which led to me suggesting they go into a BT shop and sign up for their "standard installation". Surprisingly enough BT honoured the contract and installed the line along with about 9 telegraph poles to reach their property.
Finally getting to my question, what sort of impact should the above have on the value of the property? Sadly due to ill health it looks like they won't be able to stay there for much longer and a local agent gave them a rough valuation over the phone that's about £30k more than the value of something I found in NW Wales which looks exactly like their place before they started work on it all those years ago. The agent was apparently very interested in the property right up until the mention of not being on mains power. Getting on the national grid isn't a possibility as apparently they would have to fork out about £40k for a transformer or something like that, due to the distance they are from the nearest line.
Should something like this have such a negative effect on the valuation? I'd hoped there might be some form of specialist eco agents working on a national basis that could be more suited to this type of property but what I've seen online doesn't look like it has been a successful opportunity for those that have tried. Can anyone give me some professional insight as to their likely best way forwards? Should they just get 3 different agents to value it and go with who seems to have the best (valuation/belief in their ability to maximise the sale)?
As it is some way from other properties, they are not on the national grid but have a wind generator and solar panels that supply most of the electricity they use. They have an advanced control system that regulates the charge to the bank of batteries and can also automatically kick in a petrol generator when required. They have a septic tank for sewage and a pump that draws fresh water through a bore hole to a spring that runs about 90ft under the property. They also use rainwater reclamation for toilet flushing. They use calor gas for cooking and have all the mod cons you'd expect in a home. Oddly they do have a normal landline telephone, courtesy of BT stiffing me with a "standard charge for all installations" to reactivate a second line at my house one day which led to me suggesting they go into a BT shop and sign up for their "standard installation". Surprisingly enough BT honoured the contract and installed the line along with about 9 telegraph poles to reach their property.
Finally getting to my question, what sort of impact should the above have on the value of the property? Sadly due to ill health it looks like they won't be able to stay there for much longer and a local agent gave them a rough valuation over the phone that's about £30k more than the value of something I found in NW Wales which looks exactly like their place before they started work on it all those years ago. The agent was apparently very interested in the property right up until the mention of not being on mains power. Getting on the national grid isn't a possibility as apparently they would have to fork out about £40k for a transformer or something like that, due to the distance they are from the nearest line.
Should something like this have such a negative effect on the valuation? I'd hoped there might be some form of specialist eco agents working on a national basis that could be more suited to this type of property but what I've seen online doesn't look like it has been a successful opportunity for those that have tried. Can anyone give me some professional insight as to their likely best way forwards? Should they just get 3 different agents to value it and go with who seems to have the best (valuation/belief in their ability to maximise the sale)?
dudleybloke said:
it just needs to be marketed properly.
these days its all about green renewal energy so advertise to the envirolenilists as an eco home and you should hopefully get a decent price.
This. Turn a negative into a positive and all.these days its all about green renewal energy so advertise to the envirolenilists as an eco home and you should hopefully get a decent price.
The yoghurt knitters will be fighting over the place.
While it will put some people off, in my view others will love the remoteness. The fact that is sounds like it's kitted out to be independent with mod-cons can only be a benefit.
My only concern is the lending pool might be reduced, as I suspect that in these risk adverse days, some lenders will shy away from property with no mains power.
Not much help - but it's all about finding the one person who's going to fall for it...
My only concern is the lending pool might be reduced, as I suspect that in these risk adverse days, some lenders will shy away from property with no mains power.
Not much help - but it's all about finding the one person who's going to fall for it...
UVB said:
Should something like this have such a negative effect on the valuation?
Yes. For a 'normal' buyer. People generally just want things to work without their input. Comparatively speaking, self generation requires a huge amount input and knowledge from the user.As already been said you need to get the marketing right and target the right buyers in the Green Market. This is unlikely to be the local Estate Agent.
I hope the rest of the house is up to the same level of 'eco' too. If it isn't then it is going to be less desirable to the Green Market which is going to effect the price.
Try marketing on the green building forum or navitron.
For the general non-lentilist public, the expertise and tinkering involved would put most people off I reckon - if it can be as automated as possible and the green side of it pushed hard in advertising, it may sell ok though.
The well water will need testing and cert'ing before sale.
May well be regs and certification involving the electric generation too - depends how 'creatively' it's all been done. I'd imagine an electrician sent to do a buyers survey would s
t himself when he opens the garden shed to find rack upon rack of car batteries and a Honda generator 
Well water and rainwater recycling - fair enough - but the lack of mains electricity will be the thing that puts most buyers off.
And the more I think about the legal stuff the buyers solicitor could be asking for...ouch.
For the general non-lentilist public, the expertise and tinkering involved would put most people off I reckon - if it can be as automated as possible and the green side of it pushed hard in advertising, it may sell ok though.
The well water will need testing and cert'ing before sale.
May well be regs and certification involving the electric generation too - depends how 'creatively' it's all been done. I'd imagine an electrician sent to do a buyers survey would s
t himself when he opens the garden shed to find rack upon rack of car batteries and a Honda generator Well water and rainwater recycling - fair enough - but the lack of mains electricity will be the thing that puts most buyers off.
And the more I think about the legal stuff the buyers solicitor could be asking for...ouch.
mattley said:
Perfect also for the Zombie outbreak.
Lol...as it happens he's a keen Left4Dead player so perhaps that was the plan all along!Thanks for the advice/encouragement everyone; James P, I suspect anything more than the region of £5k would be out of their range to get connected I'm afraid but if it looks like that might change I'll drop you a line (the house has basically sucked all the funds they have over the years).
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