Selling guide
Setting a sale price: how much is your house worth?
Finding that sweet spot when it comes to pricing your home.
- Property insights on homes.co.nz
- Property news on Trade Me Property
- Recents sales in the neighbourhood
- Agent appraisals
- Professional valuation
How much is my house worth? If you’re selling a property in New Zealand, this will likely be one of the first questions you ask yourself – and, unless you’re experienced in the world of real estate, it’s hard to know where to start.
Your home is your most valuable asset, so it's understandable that you’ll want to get as much for it as you can but if the sale price too high, and you risk putting buyers off even coming to see it.
Here are some ways to start gauging your house price, whether you’re selling through an agent or privately.
Tips for working out my house price
We suggest you start with:
1. Free property insights
Property Insights on homes.co.nz allows you to:
- view records
- see rateable values (RVs)
- compare estimates
- review recent sales for over 1.5 million NZ properties
As well as checking out the estimates for your own home, Homes.co.nz allows you to see the values of similar homes nearby giving you a good basis for what your home might sell for.
2. Keep up with the real estate market
The property market is fast-moving, so we highly recommend keeping up-to-date with the latest market developments. Online property news sources are a great way to do this and good local real estate agents do regular reports on neighbourhoods.
Your own research on the property market will play a large part in setting your sale price.
3. Check out the competition
As well as keeping an eye on your city’s real estate market, it’s a good idea to check out the local competition in your neighbourhood. What are similar houses in your local area selling for? And how do they compare to your’s? Are there any features they have that your property lacks? Are there improvements you could make to your house to increase its value?
The more ‘comps’ you can look at, the better understanding you’ll get. Look especially closely at homes that didn’t sell. Was it for price reasons?
Setting a sale price when working with an agent
Free appraisals before you hire an agent
When you’re choosing a real estate agent one of the first conversations you’ll have is about what they would price the house at. They’ll give you an appraisal of what they think your home is worth, based on their own market understanding, past experience in selling similar properties and a walk-through of your house to identify features that might help or hinder your sale.
This valuation won’t cost you anything, but won’t be as in-depth as a valuation from a professional home valuer (something we’ll get onto in a minute). While an agent home valuation is certainly useful, don’t get too hung up on what they tell you. Why? Firstly, it’s likely to be a range, rather than a precise sum, and, secondly, you haven’t hired them at this point, so they’re trying to impress you and possibly tell you what you want to hear.
If you have firm ideas about how much you want to get from the sale, we advise you tell the real estate agent before committing to them. This can head off potential disagreements down the track.
Your agent should be able to help with questions you have around sale prices.
After you hire an agent
Once you’ve selected which agent you want to work with, finalising the asking price for your home will be one of the most important conversations you’ll have.
The realtor will base their figure on previous sales in the area and advise on the method of selling you will use.
Of course, even if you’ve hired a real estate agent, you can request a separate property evaluation from a registered valuer to add certainty to the price you set.
Setting a sale price when selling privately
If you’re selling your home privately, you won’t be able to rely on a real estate agent’s help setting your sale price though there’s nothing to stop you from asking local agents to give their advice on a price range. A number will be happy to do this if you decide to sell through an agent later.
Otherwise you’ll be using your own research on both the property market at large and recent sales of similar homes in your neighbourhood.
You could also consider a professional valuation. A property valuer will do a detailed inspection of both your home and its grounds for their appraisal. When giving their estimate they’ll look at:
- The property size
- The condition of the house
- Any outstanding maintenance issues
- The title type
- The construction materials used
- The neighbourhood
- Convenience to transport and employment hubs
It doesn't need to be complicated. Let us help ease the process.
Find out more*We hope this article has provided some helpful information. It's based on our experience and is not intended as a complete guide. Of course, it doesn’t consider your individual needs or situation. If you're thinking about buying or selling a property, you should always get specific advice.
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