How a home is valued: what a professional looks at before setting the price

The price is the most important decision of the whole sale. A well-priced flat sells in weeks; the same flat badly priced rots for months on the portals and ends up selling for less than if it had gone out right from the start.

Valuing isn't guessing or copying the neighbour. It's a method. This is what a professional looks at.

1. The comparables: real comparable sales

The foundation of any serious valuation is comparables: homes similar to yours that have recently sold in the area. Similar means: the same area or very close, similar size, similar type (flat, penthouse, ground floor), similar age and condition.

Two nuances that change everything:

• Sale price, not listing price. The portals show what it's listed at; what matters is what it closed at. A flat listed at €190,000 and sold at €172,000 is a €172,000 comparable, not a €190,000 one.
• Recent. The market moves. Comparables from two years ago in an area that has changed aren't worth much.

If someone values your flat without showing you comparables, they're not valuing: they're opining.

2. Location within the location

"Cullera" is not a price. Within the same town there are streets worth 20% more than others two blocks away: orientation, noise, views, proximity to the beach or the centre, services. A professional adjusts the price street by street, not by municipality.

3. The real condition of the property

This is where most arguments with the owner happen, and rightly so: your flat looks better to you than it is because it's your flat. A valuer looks with a buyer's eyes:

• Renovations: a renovated kitchen and bathroom add value; a renovation from 25 years ago doesn't count as "renovated".
• Installations: electrics, plumbing, window frames. What the buyer will have to replace gets discounted.
• Energy certificate: a bad rating doesn't sink the price, but a good one helps defend it.
• Community and building: façade, lift, the ITE (technical inspection of the building) done or pending. A building with a pending special levy takes value off.

4. Today's demand, not yesterday's

The price is set neither by the seller nor the valuer: the market sets it. The valuation estimates where that point is today: how much demand there is for that type of home, how long comparables take to sell, whether prices in the area are rising, falling or flat.

5. The time factor

Every price implies a timescale. A price can be right "to sell in 3 months" and high "to sell in 3 weeks". If you're in a hurry (or you're not), say so: it changes the number.

Indicative valuation vs official appraisal: not the same thing

Worth not mixing them up:

• The indicative valuation (the one an estate agency does) is for setting the asking price. It's a well-founded professional opinion, not an official document.
• The official appraisal is done by a certified valuer and the bank asks for it to grant the buyer a mortgage. It can come in below your asking price, and then the buyer has a problem (or you renegotiate).

That your flat is "worth" X to you doesn't mean the bank will value it at X for the buyer. Keep it in mind when negotiating.

The classic mistake: listing high "to negotiate"

"We go out 10% above, there's always room to negotiate." It's the phrase that costs the most money in this sector. The portals sort by price and buyers filter by range: if your flat is worth €180,000 and you list at €200,000, the ones searching up to €185,000 (your real buyers) won't see you, and the ones searching up to €210,000 (who compare with better flats than yours) will.

Result: few viewings, zero offers, and after three months you drop to €185,000 with a "listed for 90 days" tag. The market smells desperation and offers low. Listing at the right price from day one isn't giving it away: it's selling more and better.

If an agency values you well above the rest without showing you comparables, it probably doesn't believe that price: it wants your signature. The valuation that matters is the one you can defend in front of a buyer with data.

Want an honest indicative valuation of your home in Cullera or La Safor? Request it here. No obligation, with the comparables up front.