What is my Tudor frame building worth and how much do Tudor frame buildings cost?

 

Why we always recommend having an independent building survey?

Always have an independent building survey as this will pinpoint any property problems.  Caveat emptor means buyer beware and is why you need to have a building survey to find out if there are any problems within the property; the estate agent certainly will not advise you of any.

Remember the independent building Surveyor that you employ will be the only person working for you with your interests at heart.

Please free phone 0800 298 5424 for a friendly chat with one of our surveyors.

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Types of timber frame buildings

When considering traditional timber frame buildings there are two main types which are a box frame and a cruck frame.

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Box timber frame building sketch

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SketchUp of a cruck timber frame
building

As mentioned sometimes the timber frame is visible and sometimes it is not. Here are some examples of timber
frame buildings:

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Traditional timber frame house

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Gable end of a traditional timber
frame building

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Timber frame house

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Timber frame building with dormer windows

Towns that commonly have timber frame buildings

Towns, villages and areas where you are more likely to have timber frame buildings are; Rye on the south coast, Lavenham in Suffolk, Stratford Upon Avon in Warwickshire, Leominster in Herefordshire and the East of England in Norfolk.

How much is a timber frame property worth and how it is valued?

There is one argument in valuation that a property is worth as much as one person is prepared to pay for it which is true, however mortgage valuations tend to be based on the average and what the typical person will pay for a property. So do be aware if you do get a one off person that is prepared to pay a lot of money then they really need to be a cash buyer or have substantial amounts of cash as the mortgage companies value base on what the average buyer would pay for the property. All being due to the way that valuations are carried out we would argue it tends to be the top end of what the average person would pay for it.

Basic Valuation

Valuation is a very basic form is a game of snap with good estate agents and good surveyors / regulated valuers. They will look to see what other properties in the area are valued in similar size and similar attributes and then value in a similar way. The valuations of an estate agent and surveyor / regulated valuer can vary considerably as estate agents tend to use the sales data and also the influence / force to go with the lender / sellers option. We term these as a lead evaluation. At the end of the day an estate agent getting the property onto their books is the important part and you can reduce just the price over time as the market shows it is not worth this and you can say to the owner that you were right and perhaps they should reduce the price.

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A surveyor or regulated valuer is in a very different situation as they value based upon sold properties. Usually they use data that others have produced where as traditionally they would of use data that they kept. In years gone by when we carried out valuations the surveyors used to have various methods of recording the valuations they have carried out. We actually remember seeing some of the early hand held computers being used for this by surveyors and valuers (regulated valuers did not exist in this era).

Then as we moved towards 2007 the pressure was on with valuers to value upwards and also carry out more and more valuations, which we believe in part led to the over valuing of the properties. To be fair to surveyors and valuers they would argue that they can only value what the market is doing and we would equally argue that they can decide to pick high in that market, pick average or pick low in the market.

Anyhow the two ways of valuing developed and basically along a way of playing snap based on attributes and sometimes meter squared based.

One off properties like Tudor Traditional timber frame properties cause a problem for your average valuer and estate agent

Even estate agents and valuers that specialise in these areas will sometimes have problems and they can more easily see the specialist or unique nature of the timber frame property.  There are such holding factors as a road or village having a maximum value.  We feel the best estate agents and best valuers look at a combination of attributes, a very simple and basic one is the meter squared of a property.

We also like to look at usable meter squared as well as some timber frame properties can have quite unusable space in modern day terms.  So we would consider looking at what we would term as adjusting meter squared rates.  We would also look at the attributes as at the end of the day having ten single bedrooms is not that useful in family home.  We have looked at properties where there have been more rooms that you really do know what to do with even with the biggest of families.  This is often the case of seeing the balance of what the property has to offer, there are over riding factors such as quality of the area and the amenities within it and closeness to railway lines, schools, work, golf clubs, rugby clubs etc.

Kerbside appeal and prettiness; just how important is it in a traditional timber frame property?

A very important factor we feel is appeal and a proportion and the look of a timber frame property.  Very quickly people assess this, we have heard that it is three seconds where they are looking at Rightmove, Zoopla, On The Market, Prime Location or other sites online.  We also believe that a lot of people with traditional timber frame buildings will have a drive by as well and again it is the overall impression of the proportions also the standard of presentation which gives a good indication with regards to maintenance.  We are also often asked about the unusual aspects of a property, which could be anything from wooden gutters, over cladding of the timber frames, deteriorating render to thatch properties in poor condition and all sorts of things that draw to the eye to someone that wants to purchase a traditional timber frame building.

Our advice on how to value a traditional timber frame building

Our advice is to gather similar properties that have been sold, apply a house price index to it, which you can get from the likes of the Land Registry, Halifax or Nationwide Building Society to ensure all the prices are up to date.  Make sure the data is not too old and is not about the boom period such as 2007, the late 1990’s and the early 1970’s (you really should not be unless you are stuck taking properties as far back as 1970’s).

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Meet your Surveyor

Get expert advice from a Chartered Surveyor who is regulated valuer with regards to the value.  We feel it is always best to meet them when they are carrying out the valuation.  This is rarely done so they may find it an unusual request but at the end of the day although they are working for the bank and building society / mortgage lender they are also working for you and take some of their time and show them what you have been able to find for sale in the area and see what their comments are and get a judge and a gauge on what you think of their skill level with regard to valuing traditional timber frames is.

Surveying sketches

We also have our own unique set of survey sketches to make the property problem crystal clear, which you can see in the sketches above.  We literally have commissioned hundreds of our own survey sketches developed over many years depicting property issues.

Compare our website articles and compare our surveys

Have a look around our website to see the quality of our articles, for example this one, and look at the quality of our surveys (we are more than happy to send you an example).  We pride ourselves on our professional standard and easy to read reports, which we have been carrying out for many years on every age, type and style of property across the UK.

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