How to read a property report, simply, or ask a local agent to walk you through it

Most people read one number and close it

When someone shows me their property report, they've usually looked at the estimated value, felt either pleased or a bit flat, and stopped there. Fair enough. But that single number is the least useful part of the report on its own. The real value is in the pages behind it: the range, how confident the estimate is, and the sales it's built on.

So this is how I'd read one, in the order that makes sense. It takes about ten minutes. And if you'd rather not do it yourself, our local agent will go through yours with you, free.

Does a property report give you a value?

It gives you an estimate. That's different from a valuation. The estimate comes from a computer model that looks at recent sales, the details on record for your property and what's happening in your suburb. It's quick and free, and often close. But it has never seen your kitchen, your view or the crack in the laundry wall.

A formal valuation is done by a certified valuer, usually for a bank, a court or the tax office, and you pay for it. An agent's appraisal sits in between: someone who sells homes in your area walks through and gives you a likely selling range. We explain the three side by side in appraisal vs valuation in NSW.

Read it in this order

1. Check it's actually your home

Start with the property details: the address, land size, bedrooms, bathrooms, car spaces and the last sale. If the records say three bedrooms and you've added a fourth, or the land size is wrong, the estimate is built on the wrong home. This happens more often than you'd think, especially after renovations or a subdivision. Make a note of anything that's out of date.

2. Look at the range before the estimate

The range is the low and high end of what the model thinks is likely. Say the estimate is $820,000 and the range runs from $760,000 to $890,000. That's a spread of $130,000, and it tells you more than the middle figure does. A tight range means the model had plenty of similar sales to work from. A wide one means it was guessing more.

3. Check the confidence rating

The rating runs from low to high and tells you how much good data sat behind the estimate. High confidence with a tight range is worth taking seriously. Low confidence with a big spread is a starting point at best. And remember the rating judges the data. It says nothing about how good your home is. A beautiful one-off house on a big block often gets a low rating simply because nothing like it has sold nearby.

4. Go through the recent sales one by one

This is the most important part of the report, and the one most people skip. For each sale, ask yourself three things:

• Is it really like mine? Same number of bedrooms, a similar block, similar condition.
• Is it recent? Sales from the last six months tell you far more than ones from two years ago.
• Is it close? Same street or same side of the highway beats a sale three suburbs away.

Then compare. If a similar three-bedroom home two streets away sold for $805,000 with an original kitchen, and yours was renovated last year, yours should sit above it. If that sale had a double garage and you've got a carport, it might sit a little below. Do that for each sale and you'll have a better feel for your price than the estimate alone can give you.

5. Read the suburb figures last

The suburb snapshot shows the median price, how many homes have sold and how prices have moved year to year. It's useful background. It tells you whether the market is busy or quiet, and whether prices are rising. But the median is just the middle sale of the whole suburb, mixing the best and worst homes together. It says very little about yours.

For a page-by-page look at everything in our report, see what's in your free property report.

What the report can't see

No report knows what a buyer sees when they walk in. These are the things that move a price that the numbers usually miss:

• The condition inside, and the quality of any renovation.
• Work that isn't on record, like a new bathroom or an extra room.
• Views, light and outlook.
• Road noise, a steep driveway or a tricky layout.
• Street appeal, and how the street itself is regarded locally.
• Local factors such as bushfire rating, flood controls or mine subsidence.

This is exactly why a report and a local opinion work best together. Our article on whether online estimates are accurate goes into why the numbers and real sale prices can differ.

What to look for: the red flags

• Bedrooms, bathrooms or land size that don't match your home.
• A big gap between the low and high end. As a rough rule, more than 10% either side of the estimate means the model was short of good sales.
• A low confidence rating.
• Recent sales that are more than a year old, or from a different kind of street or area.
• Sales that are nothing like your home, such as units compared with a house.

None of these makes the report useless. They just tell you to lean less on the estimate and more on the sales you trust.

If you're selling

Treat the report as your starting point. It isn't your asking price. Pick the two or three sales that are most like your home and work out where yours sits against each. Then get a local agent to walk through and give you an appraisal. In NSW, once you sign with an agent, their estimated selling price has to go in writing in the agency agreement, with reasonable grounds behind it, so ask them to show you which sales they're relying on. If their figure is far from your report, ask why. There's usually a good reason, and it's worth hearing.

If you're buying

A report on a home you're looking at helps you judge whether the price guide stacks up. Compare the guide with the range and the recent sales. If the guide sits well below similar recent sales, expect it to sell for more. In NSW an agent can't quote a price below the seller's asking price or their own estimate, but a guide can still be optimistic in the buyer's favour to draw a crowd. Use the report to set your own limit before you fall for the place, and always get a building and pest inspection. Our list of free checks before you buy covers the rest.

Get help reading yours, free

Most people find their report makes a lot more sense after a ten-minute chat with someone who sells homes in their area. That's what we're here for. Our approved local agent has more than 10 years in the job and knows the streets, the recent sales and what buyers are paying for. We'll go through your report with you, point out what it's got right and what it's missed, and answer anything about selling or buying.

You can chat live from any page, talk to a local real estate agent online by sending a question, or we'll ring you after your report arrives. There are no fees, no pressure and no obligation, and your details aren't passed on to other agents.

Ask a local agent now

Don't have a report yet? Get your free property report in about five minutes, then we can go through it together.