What is my home actually worth?
It's the first question every owner asks, and it deserves a better answer than a website widget or a number designed to flatter you. Here's how a proper appraisal is built, what it should contain, and how to tell an honest one from a sales pitch, advice that holds whoever you end up listing with.
Four things an honest number is built on
Anyone can name a price. A professional appraisal shows its working. When we appraise your home, the figure arrives with the evidence attached, so you can interrogate it, not just accept it.
What has actually sold near you
Recent settled sales of genuinely comparable homes: same suburb, similar size, condition and land. This is the backbone of any honest number.
What you’re competing against
The homes currently for sale that your buyers will also inspect. Your price doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It exists next to theirs.
What buyers are doing right now
Enquiry levels, open-home numbers, days on market and how recent listings moved against their asking price. Perth shifts quickly; last year’s market is trivia.
What’s specific to your home
Orientation, condition, improvements, street, zoning, development potential: the things a spreadsheet can’t see and an algorithm never will.
How to test any appraisal, including ours
Getting two or three appraisals? Good. Here's what to ask each agent, and what the answers tell you.
- “Show me the comparable sales behind this number”. No comparables, no credibility.
- “Which of these homes did you inspect?”. Photos flatter; agents who walked through them know what really compares.
- “What would you spend on this home before listing, and what wouldn't you?”. A good agent saves you money here.
- “If it hasn't sold in 30 days, what's the plan?”. The answer reveals whether the launch price was honest.
- Be most cautious of the highest number in the room. It's the oldest listing-winning trick there is.
Your written appraisal from Maxpro
A realistic price range, in writing
With the comparable sales and current competition that produced it, the same evidence pack we showed on page one of this conversation, specific to your home.
Preparation advice worth keeping
The two or three improvements we'd make before listing, and the ones we'd skip. This advice alone is frequently worth more than the visit.
A recommended strategy, explained
Method of sale, launch timing and a marketing plan itemised to the dollar, with our reasoning, not just our recommendation.
Room to think
No lock-in, no countdown, no “this price is only valid this week”. Markets move, and when yours does, we'll update the appraisal, free, again.
Appraisal questions, answered straight
Is an appraisal the same as a valuation?
No. A valuation is a formal, paid report prepared by a licensed valuer, typically for a bank or legal purpose. An appraisal is a market-based estimate from an agent of what your home should achieve if sold well. For deciding whether and how to sell, an appraisal built on current evidence is usually the more useful tool, and ours are free.
Why do online estimates differ so much from agent appraisals?
Automated estimates average large amounts of data and can’t see inside your home: condition, improvements, aspect and street appeal are invisible to them. They’re a rough starting point at best. We’ve seen them miss by six figures in both directions.
Will you just tell me a high number to win my listing?
No, and we’d encourage you to be wary of anyone who does. Overquoting is the most expensive flattery in real estate: the home launches at a price buyers ignore, sits, and eventually sells below what an honest launch would have achieved. Every number we give you comes with the evidence behind it, so you can check our working.
Does an appraisal commit me to selling with you?
Not at all. It’s free, it’s yours to keep, and plenty of people use one simply to understand their position: for refinancing decisions, insurance, or planning a few years ahead. If and when you’re ready, we’d love to earn the listing on our merits.
I own an investment property: can you appraise the rent too?
Yes. Because we manage as well as sell, we can give you both numbers in one visit: what the property would achieve on the sales market, and what rent it should earn, with comparables for each. That combination is exactly what you need for a hold-or-sell decision.
Find out where you stand
Thirty minutes at your home, a written range with the evidence attached, and honest advice you can keep, whatever you decide to do next.