by Neil Jenman
Article written and provided by Neil Jenman from Jenman.com.au . To see the original source of this article please click here. https://jenman.com.au/do-you-need-a-real-estate-valuer/. Neil Jenman is Australia’s trusted consumer crusader. He can support you, all the way, from choosing an agent who will get you the highest price guaranteed to when your removalist comes! You get an unprecedented level of total support. All for free. To find out more visit jenman.com.au
READING TIME: 4.5 mins apx
If all real estate consumers – sellers, buyers, or investors – hired a valuer before selling, buying, or investing, much stress, heartache and loss would be avoided. Sellers would lower their risk of underselling. Buyers would have more confidence. And investors would almost eliminate the chance of disaster.
THE COST OF A VALUER.
An average valuation on an average home costs around a thousand dollars. With the average cost of homes now around a million dollars that’s 0.1 percent. Valuers are excellent value. Sure you can save a few hundred dollars by not hiring valuers. But you can cost yourself tens (even hundreds) of thousands of dollars if you don’t hire one.
VALUERS ARE TRUTHFUL.
The difference between valuers and many industry players is that valuers have no incentive to sprout false information. Their lives are resolute towards accuracy.
SKEWED INCENTIVES.
Take a quick look at most players in the real estate world. See how the incentives are skewed against truth.
WHEN YOU SELL a home, you will likely choose the agent who gives you the biggest quote on the value of your home. But agents are not valuers. They are salespeople. They only get paid if you list your home with them. The biggest liar often gets the job.
Consequently, most homes come on the market with owners expecting too much. Soon their hopes are dashed after they are put through the ‘conditioning’ process. Inevitably their homes are undersold.
WHEN YOU BUY a home, you can never be completely sure if you are paying the right price or not. Agents always say, “now is the best time to buy”. Sure, it is always the best time for an agent to earn a commission.
WHEN YOU INVEST, look out. Thousands of Australians buy dud investment properties. There is an entire subculture devoted to ripping off inexperienced investors. Rows of cookie cutter (identical) homes are built in less desirable areas on the outskirts of cities and towns; all aimed at naive investors.
WHEN TO HIRE A VALUER
When you’re selling a home, before you call an agent, you should call a valuer. The valuation is confidential. You pay for it, it’s yours. If the valuation is too low, you may decide not to sell which means you’ll save thousands of dollars in needless marketing costs trying to get an unrealistic price. Take the risk out of selling. Get a valuation from a qualified valuer not an agent.
When you’re buying a family home, if you have doubts about value, hire a valuer. If banks use valuers, so should home buyers. The only time you wouldn’t hire a valuer is if you love a home so much (and you can afford it), you don’t care about the price. You just want the home.
When you’re investing, be on guard. You are much safer buying an investment property through a suburban real estate agency than an investment company. When people die, their greatest asset is usually their family home. Not some pokey investment property hours away.
If property investors were compelled (by law) to hire a valuer before buying an investment property, hundreds of billions of dollars would be saved. All at the cost of a few hundred dollars per person.
A valuation could save you hundreds of thousands of dollars.
SUMMARY
Valuers are the hidden heroes of real estate. There is only one thing wrong. They are not salespeople. And that hurts them. Most valuers are not good at self-promotion. They are too humble, too reserved, and yes, too decent. They have not secured the high place they deserve. Unlike agents, valuers don’t splash their faces on billboards and bus stops. They don’t ask you for marketing money to promote themselves. They don’t talk you into selling for a low price to get a high commission. Sure, valuers are not perfect. Every dodgy agent has a tale to discredit a valuer. But if most agents get prices wrong, most valuers get prices right. They have studied for years to qualify as valuers.
Think carefully. The next time you want to do anything in real estate, the first question you should ask is: “Do I need a real estate valuer?” The answer is almost certainly yes.
Everyone wants a good deal in real estate. Valuers are a good deal.
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