What’s the value of my home? How do I find out?

There are two reports you can get to help you understand how much what your home is worth.

1. Market Appraisal

Agents typically create an appraisal for your property as part of the pitching process when you interview them about selling your home or to encourage you to consider selling. You’ve probably seen flyers in your letter box from local agents offering to tell you “what your home is worth”.

An appraisal is usually a printed report, these days if the agent is more tech savvy you get a digital report. The report identifies the key style and features of your home (type of building material, land size and number of beds, baths and car spaces) and compares them to other properties that have sold recently that match the criteria as closely as possible in the same market.

The report then combines that information with the agents own knowledge about selling in the local market, and suggests a price or, more commonly a price range that the agent believes can be achieved using their recommended sales and marketing methods.

Ask multiple agents for an appraisal and you will likely get several different prices across a range. How can that be? Surely only one is right?

The variation is due to both the experience of the agent based on the types of homes that they have used to compare with yours and their different selling methods. If your agent specialises in selling say 4 bedroom family homes, he or she may have captured sales from surrounding suburbs, while another agent may have compared your property to both three and four bedroom homes.

The thing to understand about an appraisal however is that it is an estimate – a line in the sand – that can be influenced by both the agent’s behaviour and how the market is performing. If you're every unsure on how they have arrived at the figures provided you could always ask for a Comparative Market Analysis (CMA) which will detail the exact properties used in comparison when determining pricing your home.

2. Automated Valuation

An Automated Valuation is a data generated report that uses algorithms similar to those used by banks and property valuers to determine the “value” of your home.

The value of your home is different to its final sales price. The value is the amount that most banks and lending institutions in Australia will lend upon under normal financial circumstances. Because of this, the Automated Valuation of your property will in most cases be lower than the price range stated by the agent (banks being conservative creatures after all!).

The free valuation report that you can generate yourself or have generated by an agent is unlikely to be identical to the final valuation your bank does which will be carried out by a valuer. Every bank has different risk and lending criteria which impacts on their final valuations. Plus after the negotiated price has been accepted, the bank will also take into consideration what the market was willing to pay.

But if you are an anxious seller, it can be helpful to know what your automated valuation figure is if only for the security of having an understanding what the bank thinks your home is worth at that point in time.

It’s also a good to ensure the final pricing you decide on with the agent takes into consideration the automated valuation amount. It’s not only you who can access automated valuation tools. Buyers will also be looking at these valuation prices as part of their research before they buy. A good agent needs to be able to justify their recommended price to interested buyers because this helps them understand what your home is actually worth and why.

How healthy is your investment property?

1. Take the 4-minute Property Health Check Survey
2. Get your instant property health score
3. We’ll provide investment performance action items.

Take the health check now >

Should I buy or sell first?

You might be surprised to learn that if you understand the process, one approach outweighs the other in terms of flexibility, time, and peace of mind if you meet the criteria.

Find out more about the process >

After more information on any of the topics?

Get in touch with us. We’ll get one of our team to contact you and answer any questions on the key info from the event.

Contact Us >

Does your property manager cover your costs when you are out of pocket? We do!

We’re not like any other property management business in Canberra. Our 4 guarantees cover you (and your costs) when it matters most. 

Want to know more about our guarantees and learn what else we do to maximise your returns? Book a Southside or Northside consultation depending on where you want us to meet you.

We guarantee you won’t regret it.

Quick Action Investor Checklist.

Is your investment property getting the care and attention it deserves? If not, we're here to help. Download our quick action investor checklist today to see if you are getting the most out of your investment property.

Download the checklist >

Let's talk

Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.