Is this a mistake?  2x prices for the same Residential Home!

Research from the Government, Nationwide, Zoopla and Rightmove suggests buyers increasingly want to understand not just what a property is worth today - but what it could become tomorrow.

Don’t Just Sell the Property - Sell Its Potential; What are buyers actually asking estate agents? 

For decades, estate agents have largely followed the same process: Win the instruction - Take the photographs - Prepare the particulars - Put the property on the portals - Wait for buyers to enquire.

But what if estate agents could start a more valuable conversation before a property even reaches the major portals? And what if, instead of simply telling buyers what a property is today, agents could also help them understand what it could become?

For first-time buyers and second-steppers, particularly those starting or growing a family, that distinction may be increasingly important.

On 12 May 2026, Zoopla published guidance based on common questions its experienced estate agents said they receive from first-time buyers. These include what the local area is like, how long the property has been on the market, why the owner is selling, broadband speeds, what is included in the sale and what other properties nearby have sold for. This tells us something important; Buyers don't simply want photographs, room dimensions and an asking price. They want information that helps them make a decision.

Many first-time buyers are deliberately buying properties that need work

On 11 May 2026, Nationwide published research among 2,000 first-time buyers, and the results are particularly interesting. They found that 66% of those surveyed had bought a cheaper property because it required DIY or renovation work; Among those taking this ‘Doer-Upper’ route:

• 41% said it enabled them to buy in the location they wanted.
  

• 30% wanted to shape the home to their own tastes.
  

• 23% wanted to increase the property's value.
  

• 22% said it helped them prepare for plans, such as starting a family.
  

• 18% had taken on major structural projects.
  

This changes the way we should think about the buyer; They aren't necessarily asking: “Is this the perfect house for me today?”

They may instead be asking: “Could this become the right home for us over the next five or ten years?”

Space and location matter enormously

There is official Government evidence supporting that behaviour too; The English Housing Survey 2024–25, published by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government on 14 May 2026, found that among households aged 35–64 who wanted to move:

• 25% wanted a better neighbourhood or area
  

• 24% wanted a larger house or flat
  

Among those in this age group who did not want to move, 26% said local schools suiting their children were one reason for staying where they were. For families, a property isn't simply a collection of rooms; It's about location, space and future suitability.

Second-steppers face another problem - The cost of trading up

For buyers who already own their first home and need more space, the financial jump can be substantial.

Rightmove reported on 19 March 2026 that the average asking price of a typical 0 - 2 bedroom first-time-buyer property was £226,955, compared with £345,857 for a typical 3 - 4 bedroom second-stepper property. That's a 52% increase, which Rightmove said was the widest percentage gap since its records began in 2001. For a couple starting or growing a family, therefore, the question may not simply be: “Can we afford the bigger house?”

It could also be: “Could we buy this property and create the extra space ourselves over time?”

That is a very different sales conversation.

The 10 questions a modern estate agent should be ready to discuss

Taken together, the research points towards a much broader conversation with today's buyers.

1. What's the local area like?
   

2. What are the schools, transport links and local amenities like?
   

3. What have comparable properties nearby sold for?
   

4. How does this property compare with the local market?
   

5. Will this home still work if our family grows?
   

6. Could the property potentially be extended?
   

7. Could the loft or garage provide additional living space?
   

8. What might those improvements cost?
   

9. What is the local planning context?
   

10. What could the property potentially be worth after the work?
    

It is important to distinguish between the research and our interpretation of it. Zoopla directly reports questions asked of estate agents around areas, selling circumstances and comparable sales. Questions around extensions, costs and future values are the logical next steps. This coincides with the wider Nationwide, Government and Rightmove research into renovation, additional space pr family needs.

Rightmove is already exploring this exact direction

Perhaps one of the strongest validations of the underlying idea comes from Rightmove itself. On 3 July 2025, Rightmove announced its ‘Extension Explorer’ experiment.

The feature provides information including extension cost estimates, local planning approval rates and examples of nearby properties that have previously been extended. Rightmove said agents could use the data to help prospective buyers understand how a home could be transformed, including for growth of a family or to identify the potential in a fixer-upper.

Resi, Rightmove's partner on the feature, summarised the questions it is designed to help answer as: What can I build? How much will it cost? Will it add value? For me, that is a significant validation of the direction in which buyer expectations are heading.

So why wait until the property reaches a portal?

This is where estate agents have an opportunity; Imagine winning an instruction and, with the seller's agreement, identifying suitable buyers already registered on your database before relying entirely on wider portal marketing.

Instead of sending: “We've just taken on a three-bedroom semi at £425,000. Would you like to view it?”

the conversation could become: “We've just taken on a property that we think could suit you. As well as showing you the house as it stands today, we've prepared information showing its potential for additional space, indicative improvement costs, planning context and possible post-works value.”

That is a completely different proposition - You're no longer simply selling rooms - You're selling possibility.

Of course, any pre-market activity should be carried out with the vendor's agreement and does not replace an agent's legal or material-information obligations. But if a suitable buyer can be identified from an agent's existing database before broad portal marketing, why shouldn't the agent have that conversation? And if the property doesn't sell pre-market, it can still be launched more widely afterwards.

This is where Property Stalker fits

Property Stalker is designed to help agents show buyers more than the property that exists today. Depending on the property and information available, a Property Stalker report can help present:

• refurbishment potential
  

• rear, side and front extension scenarios
  

• loft-conversion potential
  

• garage-conversion potential
  

• indicative added floor area
  

• estimated build costs
  

• planning and permitted-development context
  

• local planning activity
  

• sold and on-market comparable evidence
  

• local market information
  

• estimated post-works value
  

• potential profit and ROI where relevant
  

The report can also be white-labelled for estate agency; The intention is not to replace an architect, surveyor, valuer and/or planning consultant. It is there to provide the estate agent and buyer a much better starting conversation about the property's potential.

10 ways this could create additional revenue opportunities for agents

I'm deliberately using the word could; A Property Stalker - Estate Agency Report cannot guarantee agent additional revenue, and neither should anyone claim that it can. There are clear commercial opportunities that can arise from providing buyers and vendors with a more sophisticated service.

1. Win more instructions

At a valuation appointment, an agent can demonstrate that they aren't simply going to photograph the property and upload it to a portal. They can show the vendor how they intend to help buyers understand the property's wider potential.

2. Improve instruction conversion

Where several agents are proposing similar valuations and fees, a genuinely differentiated marketing service can give the vendor another reason to choose one agency over another.

3. Help defend your fee

If an agency provides more information, more analysis and a genuinely different service, the conversation can move away from simply competing to offer the lowest commission.

4. Generate more pre-market opportunities

The agent's existing applicant database becomes more valuable; Rather than waiting for buyers to discover the property online, agents can proactively match suitable buyers to new instructions.

5. Create a premium marketing service

A white-labelled property-potential report could become part of an enhanced vendor marketing package.

6. Create more mortgage and finance opportunities

A buyer considering purchasing and improving a property may also need advice about mortgages, refurbishment finance or other funding. Where an agency offers or refers financial services, this could create additional opportunities, subject of course to the appropriate regulatory and disclosure requirements.

7. Generate additional conveyancing and survey opportunities

Greater buyer engagement can potentially create more opportunities for an agency's associated or referred conveyancing and surveying services, where properly disclosed.

8. Build relationships with builders, architects and other professionals

Buyers considering substantial work may require builders, architects, designers, planning consultants and other professionals. That creates an opportunity for the estate agent to remain involved much further into the client's property journey.

9. Develop an investor and developer proposition

The same information that helps a family understand whether a house can grow with them can also help an investor assess refurbishment, extension and value-add opportunities.

10. Increase the lifetime value of every customer

Today's first-time buyer may become tomorrow's second-stepper, vendor, landlord or property investor. If the estate agent adds genuine value at the beginning of that relationship, there is a better opportunity to retain that customer for years rather than for a single transaction.

More insight. More conversations. More opportunities.

We don't believe technology should replace the estate agent - Instead, we believe Property Stalker should make a good estate agent more valuable.

Give them more options on the property to explore.
Give vendors another reason to instruct them.
Give buyers better information.
Give negotiators another reason to pick up the telephone
& create more opportunities from every instruction.

There is an enormous difference between saying: “Here is a three-bedroom house.”

and saying: “Here is a three-bedroom house - and here's what it could potentially become.”

That is the difference Property Stalker is trying to create.

Taking estate agency to the next level

For years, portals have become the starting point for a huge proportion of buyer searches, yet the estate agent still has something enormously valuable that a portal doesn't necessarily have:

The relationship with the vendor and the relationship with registered buyers - This property intelligence allows the agent to make more of both.

Don't just sell the property - Sell its potential - Take estate agency to the next level. Find the opportunity - Research the deal - Present the evidence; Then let the numbers and the investor do the talking.

This article has been written by Christopher May of Property Stalker; Feel free to let him have your thoughts by emailing [email protected]

Research referenced

Zoopla — “9 essential questions to ask the agent when you're viewing a home” — 12 May 2026. Based on common questions experienced estate agents report receiving from first-time buyers. Zoopla

Nationwide Building Society — “First-time fixers: Fledgling homeowners cut costs by taking on fixer-uppers to achieve dream home” — 11 May 2026. Research among 2,000 first-time buyers. Nationwide

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government — English Housing Survey 2024–25: Age Cohorts — 14 May 2026. Accredited official statistics for England. GOV.UK

Rightmove — “Highest ever price gap between first-time buyer and second-stepper home” — March 2026. Rightmove analysis of typical first-time-buyer and second-stepper asking prices. Rightmove

Rightmove — “Rightmove launches Extension Explorer experiment” — 3 July 2025. Extension cost estimates, planning approval information and nearby extension examples designed to help buyers assess a property's potential. Rightmove

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