In-Person Property Appraisals Still The Order Of The Day

Thanks to developments in technology, much of what humanity used to do manually has now become automated. However, there are still instances where human intervention is necessary. Case in point: property appraisals.

There are currently various websites that offer online property appraisals. These sites use smart data, including projected location growth, comparative sales, and local amenities, along with any other information entered in by users (e.g., renovations, unique property features, etc.) to then calculate the potential value and associated reasonable selling price of a given property.

While online offerings can provide a decent gauge for acceptable going rates for certain types of homes in certain areas, they don’t present the full picture. A more accurate appraisal needs to take subjective, human factors into account – something that current technology cannot yet do.

As such, having an actual human – most often a qualified real estate agent – conduct a property appraisal in NZ is still the standard. That’s because a human being can better determine if an issue is structural or cosmetic, if a house has the potential to be a ‘home’, and if there’s a sense of safety and pleasantness about the property’s surroundings. Quantitative data alone also cannot accurately predict or present the emotive and psychological value of a property. As a result, it’s often qualitative information that sways a listing price, as both the average seller and buyer tend to value a property much more with their hearts than with their heads.

Since humans understand both quantitative and qualitative value, it may still take some time before online appraisals begin functioning as anything more than a rough ballpark. For now, more accurate and accepted appraisals are done in-person by qualified individuals who can better weigh up the qualitative and quantitative data to recommend the best possible price for a given property.