The gap between the lowest and highest appraisal on the same property is rarely small. Thirty thousand dollars. Fifty thousand. Sometimes more. And all three agents, when asked to explain their number, can point to comparable sales and adjustments that make their conclusion sound defensible. Which it often is.The confusion is understandable… Read More

There is an irony at the centre of how first home buyers use property data. The buyers who rely most heavily on suburb medians to make their decisions are typically researching the suburbs where those medians are least reliable.The median for an affordable outer suburb and the median for a high-volume inner suburb look the same in a data ta… Read More

The Adelaide house price median is the number everyone quotes and almost nobody interrogates. It appears in news headlines, agent appraisals, and suburb reports as though it were a precise measurement of what property is worth. It is not. It is a measurement of what sold - and those two things are only the same when the composition of what sold sta… Read More

Most vendors who invest in home staging think they are paying for their property to look beautiful. They are actually paying for something more specific - the removal of reasons buyers use to justify paying less.The difference matters because it changes the measure of success. A property that photographs well but leaves buyers uncertain abo… Read More

Most homeowners who invite three agents to appraise their property expect the numbers to be close. They are rarely close. A difference of $30,000 to $50,000 between the lowest and highest appraisal on the same property is common. A difference of $80,000 or more is not unusual. And all three agents, when pressed, can produce a rationale that sounds … Read More