You need a professional valuer before selling property

I have a property that I intend to sell to enable me to top up and invest in another plot elsewhere. I have received several offers with varying prices that have confused me further on the market value of the property. I do not want to sell it at a loss, what can I do? Njeri, Nairobi You may consider engaging the services of a registered professional valuer to help you establish the market value of your property. As a rule of thumb, it is paramount to engage a registered valuer in property transactions to avoid making rash decisions that may include selling at a lower value or paying more. Some property owners who have overlooked the professional guidance of valuers have unknowingly sold their properties at a loss. Valuation is the practice of analysing real properties and developing an opinion on their value using tested and proven scientific processes and methods. Registered valuers are often required, not only when buying and selling property but also for other purposes, including insurance. Others are when banks are advancing loans against securities, reparation in cases of disputes, for court sureties, book value and determination of land rates. A valuation report may help to tabulate compensation amount and it should only be undertaken by professionals registered with the Valuers Registration Board (VRB) The valuers analyse several aspects of the property before arriving at a market price by mainly considering the locality, state of repairs and maintenance of the property and soil characteristics. Other variables include topography, geological and environmental components, financial factors, and prevailing macro-economic and fiscal policies. Social, political and cultural factors and a host of legal factors surrounding the instrument of ownership are also among their areas of interest. Even as involving the professionals in real estate transactions are important, prospective buyers on property are perplexed when two different valuers give different market values. The argument for the different values could be that the variables that valuers consider during valuation keep changing. Nevertheless, the margin of error should not be so wide as to arouse suspicion on the credibility of the valuer. Professional valuers use various methods but the common ones are the investment approach and the depreciated construction cost and sales comparable method. Finally, valuation reports have several factual details like the plot number of the property, date of inspection, location of the property and details on the title deed. The report also entails social and infrastructural services within and near the property such as roads, electricity and piped water. It also has details of the plot, which include the shape, topography and type of soil. Valuers also describe the type of development on the plot before winding up the report with the valuer's opinion and estimate the market value at that time. - The writer is an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya harold.ayodo@lsk.or.ke

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