Straight answers, no sales call

Hervey Bay property valuation questions, beginning with where exactly.

If yours is not below, ask a real valuer and a valuer picks it up.

Acceptance & compliance

What is a property valuation?+

A registered valuer's signed opinion of what one property was worth on one nominated day, with the comparable sales and the reasoning set out beneath it. Note the singular: it is about an address, not about a suburb and certainly not about a city, which in Hervey Bay is the distinction that matters most.

What is the difference between a property valuation and an agent appraisal?+

An appraisal is a free selling estimate given while an agent is competing for a listing, and nobody signs it. A valuation is prepared independently of any sale, effective at a stated date, evidenced by settled sales and signed by the valuer who reached it. Only one of the two is built to be handed to somebody else and relied on.

Who is qualified to prepare a property valuation?+

In Queensland, a valuer registered under the Valuers Registration Act. Their name and registration number go on the report, which is what allows a third party to rely on it.

Timing & process

Will the ATO and an SMSF auditor accept the report?+

Yes. It is prepared by a valuer independent of your fund, written with SISR 8.02B in mind, and the comparable sales are attached in full rather than summarised, so an auditor can see which localities the evidence came from as well as which dates.

Who signs the report?+

The valuer who formed the opinion, named with their qualification and registration. Not the model that gathered the evidence, and not anybody signing on their behalf. The report names the locality the evidence was drawn from as well, so a reader can see the valuer worked inside it rather than across the city. (from $550).

Is an Automated Market Assessment enough for tax purposes?+

No. It carries no signature, so there is no independent opinion in it for an auditor, an accountant or a revenue office to act on. It is for deciding. It is run against one address rather than against a Hervey Bay average, which makes it useful for comparing two streets and still not something anyone can rely on. On timing: a signed desktop report usually goes out the same day, and an Automated Market Assessment arrives the next business day.

How long is a property valuation valid for?+

It speaks as at its effective date rather than indefinitely, so the further from that date you travel the less it describes today. Where the body receiving it applies its own currency window, that window governs, and your accountant or conveyancer will know which one. The locality it was written to does not go stale in the same way, because that is fixed by the title rather than by the calendar.

Pricing & orders

Are the prices really fixed?+

Yes. $169 for signed desktop reports, $79 for Automated Market Assessments. Inspection valuations start at $550, with the exact price confirmed at checkout before you pay, never after.

Why is the valuation different from the price a property is advertised at?+

An advertised price is a marketing position, often a range chosen to draw enquiry, and campaigns here lean hard on the words Hervey Bay because they carry a picture with them. A valuation reports what comparable property has actually settled at in the locality the property is in, which is a narrower and far less flattering question.

How long does a property valuation take?+

A signed desktop report is usually ready the same business day. An inspected report depends on access and on where along the bay the property sits, since the city stretches a fair distance. An Automated Market Assessment arrives the next business day.

Is market value the same as the value on my council rates notice?+

No. A rates notice generally carries a land value, the ground on its own with nothing standing on it, struck for rating at a date the council chose. A valuation covers the whole property at the date you need. In a city where the ground is far more consistent than the buildings on it, those two questions come apart quickly.

A Hervey Bay property valuation question we have not covered?

Ask a valuer Order a valuation →