I’ve lost count of the times I've wound up an appraisal by offering my opinion of a property’s likely value, to be hit by the response along the lines of, "Well that's all very well but our neighbours and other members of our family think it's worth a lot more than that!"

At the other end of the spectrum, many’s the time I’ve received offers from would-be buyers well below the realistic asking price which has been set. They’ve tried to justify their adventurous bid by advising that their friends and family have no doubt the property is overpriced by many thousands of pounds and unless the sellers drop by a figure telephone numbers long they should drop it like a hot brick.

One of the most over ambitious offers I’ve received was a bid of £60,000 on a perfectly respectable Victorian terraced house which my firm believed was reasonably priced at £125,000. The majority of sellers are proud of their property and unsurprisingly take umbrage at silly offers. Audacity such as this needs reporting back to one’s selling client with a barrel load of tact!

So who is right? The estate agent - or your dearly beloveds? In my experience, based on the outcome of many thousands of sales I’ve been party to and ‘Sold’ price data available from the Land Registry, the estate agent is usually the closest.

In the final analysis the deciding factor will be the market. After appropriate exposure to the market, the market will determine value. We're sorry to disagree with the well intended Mr Neighbour and Uncle John - it's not you who decides the value of a property, it's THE MARKET and the price paid on the day contracts are exchanged will be the final decider.

Chris Willey is an Independent Property Appraiser and welcomes sale related enquiries on Taunton 01823 412661