What are real estate valuation firms?
Property valuation companies in Australia are the ideal partner for managing your property’s value. Valuation services in Perth employ licensed market professionals trained by the Australian Property Institute (API). This training allows qualified real estate valuation companies to deliver legally certified reports to support you in both taxation and legal matters.
Beyond that, these specialists can help you with:
- negotiating or renegotiating rental agreements
- applying for adequate insurance coverage or a home loan
- understanding the value of your business and its assets in your industry
- managing a vast variety of family law matters.
In other words, property valuation firms are equipped to assist in nearly everything that involves buying, selling, renting or generally managing property.
Most qualified companies pack decades worth of experience delivering accurate, transparent and dependable valuations for property owners of all kinds. Their services extend across the likes of residential, retail, commercial, industrial and rural properties.
A qualified property valuer can develop a legally certified valuation report.
If you want to understand your investment’s potential and ensure generous returns, you’ll want to work with a licensed, independent team of valuers.
What about banks and real estate agents?
You may have heard of a range of other groups and services that offer property appraisals in different capacities. This is true of both banks and real estate agencies. The key difference here lies in both the purpose of the appraisal and the final result of it.
The issue is that both services are looking out for their own interests.
For instance, in the case of buying a home, you may go to a bank to apply for a home loan or to a real estate agent to make the final purchase.
A bank would employ an in-house valuer in order to determine the risk to the bank. As a result, that valuer is bound to deliver a conservative estimation. In other words, the banks are understandably risk-averse. They need to know whether or not the sale of that property would cover their losses.
Meanwhile, a real estate agent is looking to earn a healthy commission off that purchase. It benefits them directly for you to pay the highest amount possible.
On the other hand, a property valuation specialist:
- does not earn a commission
- is not supporting any third party.
Their payment is not reliant on the result of the valuation and their sole interest is in delivering an accurate report.
What kind of services do valuation companies offer?
Any valuation firm worth its salt offers a range of services wide enough to cover everything a budding property owner needs. Generally, these centre around reviewing and calculating the true market value of residential and commercial or industrial properties.
The value of a property can be used to inform investment or business decisions, as well as dispute your taxes, boost an asset’s value or help you get full building insurance coverage.
These kinds of valuations are relied on not only by individual investors but by accounting, legal and financial firms throughout Australia.
Read on for more information on some of the most popular services available.
Valuations for tax purposes
Among the most common reasons for working with a property valuation expert is to calculate your capital gains tax or stamp duty obligations.
Capital gains is a tax paid upon the sale of a property. In essence, the amount paid is relative to the increase in this asset’s value over time. Your valuer will conduct a retrospective valuation to determine the asset’s worth at the point of purchase.
Conversely, stamp duty is the tax paid upon the purchase of a property. It requires your valuer to calculate the current market value.
Valuations for building replacement purposes
If your property forms part of a strata scheme, you are legally obligated by government regulation to seek out a valuation every three years at the minimum.
A Certified Practising Valuer (CPV) is your best bet for strata building replacement cost assessments. These are complex operations reliant on a wealth of market knowledge and financial expertise that only a qualified CPV can provide.
Most valuation companies will house a separate team specialised in these kinds of valuations. They rely on a different set of methods and competencies than a standard appraisal.
Valuations for pre-sale or pre-purchase purposes
These are arguably the most common services provided by most property valuation networks.
As the name suggests, these offerings centre around calculating market value to determine the most appropriate buying or sale price for any given property.
It’s a service that depends on an analysis of the property, market research and hefty financial analysis. A CPV will examine the property and surrounding location against 200 internal and external factors.
These include:
- age, condition and dimensions
- similar recent sales in the area
- environmental risk
- career opportunities nearby
- access to amenities
- the general reputation of the area.
It’s an exhaustive process that renders a clear idea of true market value.
Summary
Independent valuation companies offer a range of services that property owners, buyers and investors can rely on. They cover buying and selling, taxation, legal matters and much more.
These firms are made up of certified market experts who combine comprehensive research with calculation to objectively establish market value. This value can be used to save or earn money, dispute your taxes and settle family law matters.
If it relates to managing property, a real estate valuation firm can surely assist you.
Their methods are widely recognised as fair and accurate, allowing them to develop legally certified reports that go beyond those offered by banks and real estate agents.
If you’d like to learn more about how a valuation firm works, don’t be afraid to call one of our trusted experts today