What genuinely changes the figure
A valuer assesses the property against market evidence, not against a mood. Fresh flowers do not move the number. Verifiable evidence of what the property is and what has been done to it absolutely does.
Council approvals & plans
Approved work counts fully. Unapproved work is often discounted or excluded, because it carries a compliance risk a buyer would price in.
Renovation records
Invoices and dates let the valuer credit the standard and recency of work rather than estimate it from appearance.
Complete access
Unmeasured space cannot be valued. A locked room, an inaccessible under-house area or a shed you forgot to open is space that does not exist in the report.
Lease documentation
For investment property, leases, rent rolls and outgoings determine value directly — particularly for commercial assets.
Site information
Survey plans, easement details, flood information and any prior subdivision advice.
What matters much less than people think
Deep cleaning, styling, new cushions and a coat of paint on a feature wall are marketing measures. They help an agent achieve a price at auction; they do not change a valuer's assessment of a property's market value.
That said, do make condition legible. A property so cluttered that floors, walls and finishes cannot be seen forces a valuer to assess conservatively, because they can only credit what they can observe. Tidy enough to be seen, not staged.
Disclose the awkward things
Unapproved decks, enclosed garages converted to bedrooms, a granny flat with no permit, past structural repairs, a shared driveway, an easement across the rear boundary. Volunteering these is always better than having them discovered.
Discovery mid-inspection means the valuer has to take a cautious position without the information to do otherwise. Disclosed up front, the same issue can often be assessed properly — and sometimes it turns out to matter far less than the owner feared.
On the day
Someone needs to provide access; it does not have to be you. An agent, tenant or property manager is fine, provided they can open everything and answer basic questions or pass them to you.
Allow 30 to 60 minutes for a typical house, longer for acreage or a tenanted commercial property. The valuer will measure, photograph and note condition. Photographs are for the report file and are treated confidentially.
Investment and commercial specifics
For tenanted residential property, provide the current lease, the rental ledger and details of any arrears or pending vacancy. For commercial property, provide every lease and variation, a tenancy schedule, outgoings statements, recent rent reviews and details of committed capital works.
Incomplete commercial documentation is the single largest cause of delay in commercial valuations. The inspection is quick; reconciling missing leases against a partial tenancy schedule is not.