Property valuations for buying or selling

Selling: knowing your floor before the campaign starts

Every appraisal you receive during the listing process comes from someone who wants the listing. That doesn't make agents dishonest, but it does mean the estimates arrive with an incentive attached, and they arrive as ranges rather than as a figure anyone is accountable for.

A valuation gives you an independent number to set expectations against — useful when quotes from different agents are hundreds of thousands apart, and useful again when you're deciding a reserve under pressure on the day.

In Victoria there's a compliance angle too. Agents must base an advertised price range on recent comparable sales and a reasonable estimate of the likely selling price, and Consumer Affairs Victoria can penalise underquoting. An independent valuation gives you and your agent defensible evidence for the guide from the outset.

Buying: a limit you can hold to

Auctions are designed to move quickly and to make the last bid feel like a small increment. A valuation obtained beforehand gives you a number decided calmly, with evidence behind it, which is a very different thing from a number decided in the last thirty seconds of a campaign.

It matters most where the market gives you least guidance: unusual or heritage properties, homes with development potential, rural and lifestyle blocks, and anything where recent comparable sales are thin.

Why online estimates disagree with each other

Automated estimates are generated from sales data and property attributes. They have no way of knowing that the kitchen was replaced last year, that the north-facing rear is overshadowed by a new development, or that the floorplan is compromised. They also can't tell whether a nearby sale was genuinely comparable.

A valuer inspects, measures, assesses condition, then selects and adjusts comparable sales deliberately. That's the difference between a data output and an opinion someone is professionally accountable for.

What we need to start

The address, whether you're buying or selling, and your timeframe — auction dates in particular, so we can work back from them. If you're selling, a floor plan, the rates notice and details of any recent work are useful.