What Happens as a Home Valuation?

09 June 2022

If you are selling a residential property in Scotland, whether it’s your home or a rental property, the starting point is usually to an indication of what the it is likely to sell for.

Most people opt to invite a local expert solicitor estate agent to visit their property and provide them with a valuation or pre-sale appraisal. Larger firms tend to have a team of professional valuers or surveyors who will carry out the required research and visit your property to perform the valuation.

If you are wondering about what happens during a valuation and how to prepare for a professional valuation, here is your guide! Managing Director of MOVB, Robert Caroll, has provided an overview of the valuation process and how best to prepare for one, answering the following key questions:

• What is a house valuation appointment?
• How do I prepare for a house valuation appointment?
• How is a house valuation calculated?
• How long does a valuation take to complete?
• How do I choose the right agent based on the valuation?
• What about the Home Report?

What is a house valuation appointment?

The valuation appointment involves a valuer visiting your property, getting an accurate impression of the condition, layout and any unique features of your property, and then providing you with a researched estimate of how much your property is likely to sell for in the current market conditions.

Some estate agents can offer you the option of a ‘desktop’ valuation. With this, they do not visit the property, they instead will email you an estimate of the property’s expected market value based on your description. This estimation however, will not be as accurate as if a valuer has visited your property in person.

A valuation of your property by a valuer who has physically visited your property is the most accurate option. A valuer coming into your home and having a walk around results in a much trier figure for the ultimate selling price.

How do I prepare for a house valuation appointment?

If you want to get the most out of your valuation appointment, a little bit of preparation will be very helpful. A good spring clean can make a world of difference and will allow the valuer to view the full extent of the property without any distractions. Also, don’t forget the exterior, this can often be overlooked, remember you only get one chance to make a good first impression!

If you have any questions regarding the selling process, the cost of selling or any questions about buying your next property, make a note of them and your valuer should be able to help answer them at the valuation appointment or find out for you once they’ve left. 

During the walk around, it is worthwhile letting the valuer know of any improvements and alterations that you have made to the property since you bought it.

How is a house valuation calculated?

The house valuation is usually calculated by reference to similar properties that have sold or that are available for sale in a similar geographic area.

For properties that are slightly more unusual or remote, different techniques are used. The valuer will take into consideration local property market conditions, the selling history of the area, local amenities and will look at what other similar properties might be on the market at that time.

How long does a valuation take to complete?

Valuation appointments usually take less than an hour, although it can be completed considerably faster if required.

How do I choose the right agent based on the valuation?

Sellers usually get valuations or pre-sale appraisals from more than one local expert estate agent. We know it can be tempting to go with the highest valuation. However, it is important to beware of agents who are competing for business purely based on providing the highest valuation. Sellers should always make sure that the valuation provided is completely backed up by research and comparable sales data. 

What about the Home Report?

It’s important to remember, in Scotland, the Home Report will have a significant impact on the selling price of the property. The majority of buyers will want to use the Home Report for the purposes of their mortgage valuation and their borrowing will be based on the Home Report valuation and not the asking price of eventual purchase price.

As the Home Report costs money, it is typically produced after the estate agent’s valuation and after sellers have selected their estate agent. Therefore, it is worth discussing the Home Report process with the valuer and getting an estimate of what the valuer believes the Home Report valuation will be. 

After the valuation appointments, most sellers will then instruct one of the companies that provided a valuation to market their property for sale and to act as their solicitor estate agent throughout the sale.