🏠 The PERFECT valuation! 🤩

So, we're sure you’re going to have a lot of experience in this field, however as always we’d like to encourage you to read on in the hope of just one small change we offer can have a positive impact.

Let’s start with a challenge, have you ever conducted the “perfect” valuation? And, be honest, did you actually get the instruction?!

Sometimes it really doesn’t matter how perfect something is to you, it’s the other person’s opinion which is key. Due to this, we will dispel the myth and tell you, because everyone is different, there’s no such thing. What we’d hope to do today is arm you with something new in your toolkit to flex that little bit more to your audience.

So, what do we have for you this week?!

👩‍💻 Do your research!! And we don’t just mean taking the recent Rightmove stats with you (🤦‍♂️). Consider the street and neighbourhood, what does the property offer others may not. Where are the local schools and shops, what’s the transport and traffic like?!

🗣 Know your audience. Knowing the applicants registered with your negs can have an impact on the demand for the property, and so could influence your price recommendations. Going to a valuation and being able to talk to the prospective client with this information will really give them confidence you can hit the ground running when they go to market.

👫 Be personable. The age of the slick, jack-the-lad, estate agent are gone (well, we certainly hope they are!!), don’t go in gung-ho judge your audience and be genuine and likable. A lot of what the client buys into is YOU.

🤑 Have ideas! Clients will be grateful to hear simple ways they can boost the value of their property. Don’t be overly critical, they might like that avocado bathroom suite, but be prepared to offer advice! However wait to be asked, don’t push an agenda or your opinion.

❓ Have questions. Pre-prepare questions to entice further information, or help you to gauge value and what differentiates this property from the next door (or on your Rightmove stats!!). Try to not just stick to the “how old is the boiler” questions, gather some which show you’re really interested in the property, know how to avoid pitfalls and what the client wants to get out of the transaction.

💷 Price. Clients will usually have a figure in mind get this out of the way quickly, if your opinion is different, be prepared to explain why even if you’ve given a higher valuation. Some of those Jack-the-lads may have tried it on with this client before!

🤝 Outcome! Everyone is going to want to secure the transaction, but don’t be too pushy. This can really put people off and the end of the valuation can really undermine everything you have done up to this point. By all means be prepared to get a signature, but consider discussing how they would like to progress rather than pushing your own instruction target!