Why an accurate valuation is so important

11 September 2026 · 7 min

The valuation is where everything begins

Many sellers see the valuation as a formality. An estate agent walks through the house, has a look around, names a figure and then the sale can begin. In reality, that moment is the most important of the entire process. Your asking price follows from the valuation, and your asking price determines who gets to see your home at all.

That is because buyers search within price brackets. If you list your home at €475,000 when it really belongs in the bracket up to €450,000, you disappear from the search results of exactly the people who would love your home most. You are then compared with more expensive homes, and in that comparison you come off worst.

What too high a value really costs you

An overly high valuation feels good at first. Yet in practice it is one of the most expensive mistakes a seller can make. The pattern is almost always the same:

• In the first few weeks there are few viewings, because the home falls outside the search criteria of the right buyers.
• After six weeks or so, the asking price is reduced.
• By now the home has been online for a long time, and buyers notice. They start wondering what is wrong with it.
• Offers come in below the new asking price, because the buyer senses that you have to sell.

The first two to three weeks are the most valuable of your entire sale. That is when your home is new, appears at the top for everyone with a saved search and interest is at its peak. If you waste that period on too high a price, that attention will not come back.

What too low a value costs you

The opposite happens too, and it is at least as frustrating. A home that is priced too low sells quickly. That feels like success, but you will never know how much you left on the table. On a home worth around €450,000, five per cent is already well over €22,000. That is money you will not get back.

Selling quickly is not an achievement in itself. Selling well is.

Why an online calculator is not a valuation

Online value checks are popular, and that makes sense. You enter an address and get a figure within ten seconds. But such a tool works with averages: floor area, year of construction, postcode and recent sales in the area. What the tool does not see is exactly what makes your home unique.

It does not see that your bathroom was completely renovated three years ago. It does not see that the garden faces south and has an open view at the back. Nor does it see that the neighbours have an extension that blocks your light, or that the paintwork is due for renewal. Between two homes of the same size in the same street, the difference in real value can be tens of thousands of euros.

An online check is fine for getting a first impression. For the price at which you go to market, it is unsuitable.

Why the WOZ value is not your selling value

A misconception we come across often: the municipality has set the WOZ value (the municipal property valuation), so that is what the home is worth. That is not how it works. The WOZ value is a calculated valuation for tax purposes, based on a reference date that is already more than a year in the past. No estate agent comes inside your home. The state of maintenance, the finish and the layout carry little or no weight.

The WOZ value can therefore differ considerably from the real market value, in either direction. Use it for your tax return, not for your asking price.

What we do take into account in a valuation

When we visit you, we look at much more than square metres. Specifically, we take into account:

• The state of maintenance, inside and out, including window frames, roof, installations and paintwork.
• The layout, and whether it suits the buyers currently in the market.
• The energy label and sustainability improvements, because buyers and mortgage lenders now factor these in.
• The location within the neighbourhood, including sunlight, view, parking and noise.
• Foundation information, which has been part of every valuation since 2026.
• Recent sales of comparable homes in Helmond, Mierlo, Geldrop, Nuenen, Deurne or Laarbeek.
• The homes currently on the market that you are competing with.

All of this does not add up to a single figure, but to a range and a recommendation. We tell you what the home is worth, which asking price strategically goes with it and why the two are not always the same.

Honest advice is sometimes a different figure from the one you want to hear

Some estate agents deliberately quote high to win the instruction. It is a well-known tactic: you choose the agent who names the highest figure, and three months later that same agent suggests lowering the price. By then you are already tied to them, and you have lost the best weeks.

We do not do that. We tell you what we see, even if it is lower than you had hoped. That is not always the most pleasant conversation, but it is the conversation that makes you money. In more than twenty years we have learned that sellers ultimately value an honest story the most.

When is a valuation worthwhile?

Not only when you want to sell in the near future. A valuation is also valuable if you are considering renovating and want to know whether it will pay for itself, if you are thinking about a next step, in the event of a divorce or an inheritance, or simply because you want to know where you stand. Our valuation is free of charge and puts you under no obligation.

Conclusion

The valuation is the foundation of your sale. If that foundation is sound, the rest will stand too. If it is not, you will only notice when it is difficult to put right. So take your time over it, and have it done by someone who knows the neighbourhood and dares to tell you honestly what they see.