Real Estate agent and local property expert Keith MacDonald shares an insight into the pricing process to ensure we are getting it right.

I recently listed a gorgeous property in Halswell – it instantly sparked interest and, quite memorably, an email asking whether the bathroom rug was included in the price tag. Depending on how you read it, you could be inclined either to laugh or pause, because it does raise a serious point. Does the figure accurately reflect what real value can be seen in the property and its context?

Price appraisal methods are in step with the changes of our time. Algorithmic and digital services are elements that are slowly edging further into the centre of the process and enjoying more use among agents. Digital analytical tools crunch numbers and images to create price ranges and projections, and these methods can add depth. But sole reliance or over-incorporation into a final appraisal misses getting it right. When not positioned alongside an agent that physically evaluates a home, digital analysis shortens dimensions.

To get the right price, the devil has always been in the details — these details are best detected through on-site analysis by an agent. Property photographs aren’t forensic. Yes, blueprints tell us the indisputable, but the story, the feel, the arrangement of the bedrooms and bathrooms and how they have fared aren’t all that clear without being there. The on-site analysis connects to the bigger picture such as the house’s exterior, not just in physical measurements.

The earthquakes are a unique permanence in our lives and to property in Christchurch, with many extra questions needing attention. Have all the earthquake repairs been completed professionally? How did this property, and area fare? Some selling points may not be real selling points, so thoroughly exhausting every module for information contributes to that larger goal of robustness and accuracy.

The dialogue between agent and owner brings to light crucial information, as the most valuable resource is often the person who lives in the home! Show me what the true character of the house is. I need to be shown the best feature your property has, and the worst. We find the rust and the gems alike. 

Digital tools are certainly a rangefinder, but lack the refinement needed to build accuracy and identify subtleties in appraisals. They are best used as part of the toolset rather than the tool.

Neglecting what can be gathered and analysed on-site is a critical mistake because it also forgoes a lot of the expansive profiling and reasoning that owners and buyers need to work through in order to defend moving up or down in a final figure. If we know that we are going to push a house into a higher or lower evaluation it becomes far more appealing if demonstrable. 

Getting it priced right covers ticking many boxes, but to be thorough is to have formulated primary information on-site, and reviewing this with an area’s recent sales to correctly project and estimate. An agent’s experience and expertise brings that much desired human touch to options and personalisation. 



Everyone is afraid of technology becoming the focus of businesses that are people-based. An agent’s intuition should be to pull away from too much simulated evaluation and keep in touch with being involved in person. Owners should be looking for this in their appraisals too.