Process, structure and costs of a valuation

Preparation of the expert report

Our valuation is carried out by a trained and qualified appraiser for real estate appraisals, real property rights and mortgage lending values.

Depending on the task, the process takes place in several steps. In any case, it starts with the first date.

This serves the mutual exchange of information and the basic data collection.

The object is visited on the first appointment.

Then you have to provide documents.

These are listed in a list provided by the expert.

Furthermore, the expert requires a power of attorney which enables him to request certain documents from the building office, land registry office, cadastre office, expert committee as well as other authorities and the property management. For example, a current land register excerpt is indispensable for a valuation. Furthermore, he usually provides information from the purchase price collection of the expert committee. At the construction office, he inquires about the planning law in the construction area of ??your property or your property.

The other most important documents are:

• Tenancy or copies of leases
• Construction plans and building specifications
• Residential and usable area calculations
• Modernization, conversion or renovation measures
• Energy efficiency certificate
• For condominiums, the declaration of division along with all supplements, the last three minutes of the owners' meeting (possibly more, if long-term renovations were made, etc.); the last annual statement of the property management as well as the current economic plan and the current state of the maintenance reserve
• Information on monument protection (if applicable)

Structure of the report
The report must essentially contain the following information:

1. Information on the valuation object (address, land register data, cadastral data, usually a photo)
2. The valuation date
3. Reason or occasion of the report
4. Description and justification of the chosen valuation procedure
5. Carrying out of the preliminary investigation (determination of the land value, determination of the yield value, determination of the value of the property, comparison value determination) - the determination of the land value must always be carried out at the beginning, then one or two of the three mentioned procedures follow depending on the object, data situation and procedure to be used)
6. Derivation of the market or market value from the results of the proceedings

An appraisal may accordingly comprise 10, 20 or 30 or more pages, possibly with attachments (map material, floor plans, rent statements, excerpts from the land register extract, photos, etc.)

For selling it is not always necessary to have such a comprehensive report prepared (although it is very helpful!). Many owners just want to get a free estimate before selling to get a price that is realistic on the market. Nevertheless, an experienced expert will carry out the most extensive data acquisition possible, inspect the purchase price collection and obtain any documentation documenting the real estate value before expressing his opinion on a market assessment. It will then be no written and detailed report, but a qualified opinion with a value range.

Some real estate portals offer this spread estimate for a small fee. Their advantage is that today almost every sold property is first advertised in one of the common portals (such as Immoscout, Immonet, Immowelt, Kalaydo and some others). From this data material one can of course derive comparable prices with correspondingly set software - at least on the supply side. The portals rarely know reliably the exact price for which the respective object was finally sold. Because this is only included in the purchase contract and except the contractors only the notary, the tax office and the expert committee get a copy - the latter evaluates the contracts for the purchase price collection and creates, for example, based on this, the annual real estate market report.

For valuers, this market report is an indispensable basis of its valuation. Like an astronomer who can look into the stars only with the help of a telescope, the valuer can reliably determine the market value only on the basis of the real estate market report.

One must therefore consider these missing components of an on-line investigation, if one can create such a one.

In addition, each property is an individual object, and rarely two properties (not new construction) completely agree.

A valuation shows the strengths and weaknesses of your property and predicts how much can be achieved in a sale on the open market in normal circumstances.

A valuation is aligned to the definition of market value anchored in the German construction and building law (Baugesetzbuch):

Definition of market value

A valuation is aligned to the definition of market value anchored in the German Baugesetzbuch:

The fair market value (Verkehrswert - Marktwert) is determined by the price that can be achieved at the time to which the valuation relates, in an ordinary course of business according to the legal  circumstances, the actual attributes, other conditions and the location of the property or other object of valuation without consideration of unusual or personal circumstances.
(BauGB § 194)

What is the cost of a report?

There is no fixed legal regulation on the amount of fees for a real estate appraisal by a freelance expert. In other words, depending on the scope and purpose of the opinion, the price can be negotiated between the parties. Prices range from approx. 500, - € for a one- or two-family house in the short report up to 2.500, - € and more for extensive market value appraisals for other purposes (divorce, property disputes, compensation, inheritance, calculation of pension values, hereditary building rights etc.)

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