The clever money-makers at Australia’s (or is it Austria?) largest real estate web site dominate most real estate markets throughout Australia. Website success is adjudged on how many eye-balls view the site and these guys get plenty of lookers. A recent “added” service is to offer would-be buyers an opportunity to purchase a “Valuation” of a property listed for sale on the site.

For a small fee, a third party data provider determines the market worth of a property based on a bunch of statistics provided by either agents or Landgate to neatly deliver an estimated value of a particular property of interest to the buyer. It is worth paying the money and trying this out; particularly if you’re after a good laugh. 

The results are, in the main, appallingly inaccurate and makes a mockery of offering the service in the first place. Sales evidence from properties that are totally irrelevant to the property being assessed are included whilst relevant ones are overlooked, the data itself is either flawed or inaccurate and the assumptions used in drawing the conclusions are necessarily vague and imprecise.

The computer does not know what is being offered for sale, it makes an assumption that the records it has from when it was last sold remains accurate today so it makes no adjustment for renovations, extensions or other improvements that may have occurred since. 

One recent example assessed a property offered for sale as being on 247 sqm whilst the actual land holding was 738sqm. For a property worth a bit over $1,000,000, it assessed the value at about $650,000, confused the buyer and disadvantaged the seller. It is common industry knowledge that on almost every occasion these on-line “guestimates” are notoriously conservative even in areas where they have some chance of being reasonably accurate.

I find it odd that this web site continues to offer a service to buyers that so clearly disadvantages the very sellers that pay them for the right to advertise their property on the same site!

My advice to buyers is to do your own research, ask local agents for sales evidence and avoid relying on inaccurate assessments of value that are divorced from reality.

For sellers, insist your agent lists your property on reiwa.com.