When you hire a professional to do something, you usually expect them to spend some time doing their job properly. After all, they earn a living by ensuring that their work is of the highest quality possible!
In the same way, when you ask someone to evaluate or assess a service or product, you should expect it to take longer than if you did the assessing yourself.
After all, as the consumer, you would probably want to check out every aspect of the product before giving it your full trust. It’s the same with estate agent valuations.
It’s not enough for just one person to perform the valuation, which is why it can sometimes take days, even weeks, to get a thorough appraisal.
That’s completely normal! Although it may be frustrating at times, it ensures that no personal biases influence the evaluation.
Factors that affect the length of time for an estate agent valuation
There are several factors that can contribute to a longer or shorter appraisal process, depending on what type of property you own.
If your house is in good condition with little potential to increase in value then it makes sense to give up as quickly as possible!
However, if your home could be improved and sold for more than it currently is worth then investing in changes may make the process quicker. This applies even more so if your house has lots of features that would appeal to many people (or which could sell well).
Other things that can influence how long it takes to do an estate agent valuation include whether the seller will pay for their own broker, and how much access they give you to the properties being valued.
Some sellers prefer not to work through agents due to price sensitivity, while others feel uncomfortable having non-family members handle the sale of their home. These situations can all play a part in how long it takes to get your property valuated.
The property
Important things to consider when buying or selling a house is how much it costs to hold onto it, what its current value is, and who owns it now.
The first thing you should do after receiving your offer is make sure that you have enough money saved up for both a down payment as well as closing costs! This will ensure that you do not need to worry about financing the home sale once it has been agreed upon.
It is very common for sellers to try and negotiate lower prices before accepting the seller’s agent’s price because they want to get more money out of their house. Do not fall prey to this trick as it can cost you large amounts of money in the long run!
Sellers are looking to move into another house, so they may not care too much if there are some minor problems with their house. It could be due to lack of space, bad plumbing, or poor insulation. All these things add up and affect the market value of the house.
The agent
does their best to give you a quick valuation
The most experienced estate agents will take around 30 minutes to do a full property appraisal. This can seem like a long time if you are in a rush, especially as they may be doing it while running late or having to leave early for another appointment.
Agents often times have several other properties to deal with, so it takes them longer than just looking at your house!
In fact, some agencies don’t even charge for the initial consultation stage, which is one hour by law. Some say this helps protect their reputation as professionals who aren’t trying to make a profit from selling houses.
The buyer
As mentioned earlier, you will need to have a clear understanding of what documents your agent has accessed in their valuation process. This includes property assessment records, mortgage statements, utility bills, and more.
It is important to remember that not only does each document take time to access but also having the right documentation can be very difficult if you don’t know who owned the house previously or how assets were transferred. It may also prove tricky getting all these documents unless you are well prepared!
As with any professional service, there is usually a standard number of days for them to do their work. However, due to different circumstances (like when they run into trouble accessing information) this could easily go longer than expected.
In such cases, we recommend speaking to the other party about whether they want the sale to proceed or not. We cannot stress enough how important it is to understand that you might not like what you hear and walk away – maybe even before the broker calls you!
By being honest with yourself about why the sale doesn’t make sense then you will save yourself a lot of heartache later.
The seller
As mentioned earlier, you will need to make arrangements with the sellers before having your property valued. This is usually done through their agent or via them directly!
The agents’ responsibilities are to represent their clients’ best interests, so they may ask you if there are other properties that you know about that are for sale. If there are not, they can look into it and find one for you, but you would have to agree to this.
Agents also have a duty of confidentiality which means they cannot tell anyone what information they get from you or what negotiations take place.
If anything goes wrong during the process (which I hope nothing do!), the agent could hurt you even more by telling someone else what happened. They are legally bound to keep everything secret unless something illegal happens like fraud.
The timing
When you hire someone to do a job for you, you usually give them a time frame to complete the task. For example, if you want your house painted, you will probably tell the painter when to start his or her work.
In the same way, when you ask a professional to value your home, they have an estimate of how long it will take. This is very important as you can’t expect the valuer to do their job quickly if you don’t!
If you are planning to sell your home in the next few months, you will need an accurate valuation as soon as possible. An incorrect price could mean not being able to find a buyer or getting less money for your home.
What happens when you try to sell a property that isn’t properly valued?
The estate agent may be paid a selling commission by the seller, but they won’t get payment from the buyers until their broker finds a suitable house for them to move into. A lot of this depends on what kind of homes the potential purchasers look like.
This can hurt both the sellers and the buying team as there is no incentive to buy a house unless it makes sense economically. It also means the person who wanted to move wouldn’t be able to find accommodation easily as well.
Tips for getting an estimate quickly
The most common way to get your estate agent valuation done is via what’s known as a Comparable Sales Method. This is because it works!
Under this method, you as the buyer or seller will choose two properties that are similar to yours and those properties’ sales prices are used to create a price range for your property.
The average of these two ranges is then quoted as the value of your own home.
This sounds simple enough, right? But there are some things you must watch out for when using this approach.
If you don’t take time to check if the properties being referred to in the market have actually sold before creating your price bracket, then you could be throwing away money by underestimating the value of your house.
As such, make sure you’re not only looking at whether a sale has taken place recently, but also how much was paid for their lot and how long they’ve been listed with the agents.
