Commercial Real Estate Agents out there, do you work with Valuers?
I do.
What do I mean by ‘work with valuers’?
How many times in your career have you received a call from a Valuer and thought one of these?
“Why are they always calling me shouldn’t they know this stuff?”; or
“Why should I provide them information”; or
“I don’t have the time to be sending them information”
Or do you have a principal that doesn’t like taking the calls because they think it’s a waste of their time?
I have worked with Valuers since starting my career in Real Estate. They have a very important role in our industry; and as many times they call me for advice, I call them!
When a Valuer calls one of our team, we talk them through the property and then we refer them to our Admin team. Our experienced Admin team are trained to work with Valuers and have streamlined the process by utilising an in-house template to quickly provide all the information that a Valuer generally requires. This makes it a very a quick process for us.
One reason I call Valuers is when I am updating my region pricing data. A few years ago, I created a database of all the suburbs we service and collated up to date market data from Valuers to work out and track market averages for each of our key locations. This way, when a mentoring a new agent they can quickly become familiar with market rates in the area.
Think about it this way.
Have you ever had a call from one of your clients asking how much you think their property is worth? Maybe they are having it valued and are concerned how it might stack up in the current market?
I get these calls regularly and I share my in-depth information with the client, and I ask them to let me know how they go with the valuation. Why? So I can check against what I initially advised the client. By doing this I ensure I am providing the most accurate prices on an ongoing basis.
I have had great success with my appraisals being accurate, mainly because I am constantly keeping my data up to date. This is especially important when pricing a property for sale or for lease. When you get it right it means that you will have less time on market and a happier client who trusts your advice.
Best of all, I have a client who came to me as a referral from his friend, who happens to be a Valuer. His Valuer friend recommended me as an agent of choice as he always found me to be helpful with information and he noted that I seemed to know my numbers.
So, next time a Valuer calls you, what are you going to do?
Published by:
Grant Simpson