How to Choose Your Property Valuer

 When it comes to property negotiations having an independent real estate valuer’s assessment by your side can be one of the best things you can do. This can help you get the highest possible price when selling, or the fairest offer when buying. Getting a property valuation also allows you to educate yourself on the latest trends in the real estate market within your local area. A good property valuer will equip you with sales of comparable properties within your neighbourhood, town, or city. As such, it important to ensure that you choose the right person for the job.

Here are a few key tips that you should consider, when looking for a reputable independent property valuer in Sydney.

 1. Do your homework 

When you start searching for a property valuer, make sure that you do adequate research. Don’t just settle on a popular name or company that you keep hearing or give in to the first advert that you see on social media. If you’re looking for the right person make sure that you review their website and go through their content. Look for their leading competitors online and consider them as well. Once you’re sure that you’ve found the perfect person/company, be sure to check that they are ‘qualified valuers’.  A qualified valuer is a valuer that is a member of the Australian Property Institute, or the Australian Property Institute or the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors.  When you reach out to the valuer, ask them if they satisfy the criteria to be called a qualified valuer.  You can also contact the respective institute to check if the valuer is a registered member or not.

 2. Look through reviews and testimonials

Another important tip you should implement when choosing your property valuer is to look through reviews and testimonials. Preview the testimonials on their webpage and consider the number of stars that they regularly receive. However, you shouldn’t just leave it here. Companies can easily hire people to leave comments on their webpages, so you should go on social media and look for independent comments. Ask your friends, relatives and co-workers for references in order to get even fairer assessments. Finally, if you’d like to be extra careful, contact a local real estate professional that you trust (such as your agent) and ask them for links to good valuers that they have personally worked with.

3. Preview a company’s track record

When you find yourself slanting towards a particular company/individual, it’s important to learn a little more about their history before you hire them. Ask them how long they have been a valuing real estate and what classes of property they have experience in valuing.  Another question to ask is how long the company has been in business.   If the valuer is reputable and trustworthy then they should have no problem providing you with this information.

4. Compare costs

Before you set out to hire a valuer it’s important to remember that there can be a wide range in the cost of their services. As such you should compare costs as you look through prospective options. Ask potential valuers about their fees, whether the fee quoted is fully inclusive or if there are added costs for searches or other enquiries that have to be made.  It is important to make sure that the valuation will consider any encumbrances on title that will only appear on a Title Search.  Many valuers do not include a Title Search in their reports and so the valuation figure may not be accurate if consideration to easements or encumbrances are not considered. 

 Knowing what to look for when comparing independent valuers very important. However, no amount of knowledge can be a substitute for experience. At Independent Property Valuations we can assist in providing the precise service that you require as well as providing value for money. Contact us today!

 Would you like to learn about the top reasons why it’s important to have your property valued?