This is the appraisal trap. An agent inflates the figure to win the listing. The vendor accepts it because it is the best number in the room. The campaign launches on a foundation that was never solid. What happens next follows a sequence that is entirely predictable and almost never ends where the vendor hoped.
How Agents Use High Numbers to Win Business
The incentive structure explains everything. A realistic appraisal puts the agent on equal footing with every other agent who told the same honest truth. It means winning the listing comes down to capability, communication and track record. An inflated appraisal sidesteps all of that. It creates a shortcut to the signature - and shortcuts in real estate almost always have a cost attached, usually paid by the vendor.
Choosing the agent who quoted highest feels like a win at the time. It rarely is. What it actually does is transfer the cost of that decision from the agent - who gets the listing regardless - to the vendor, who runs the campaign, absorbs the feedback, accepts the eventual reduction, and settles for a result that honest pricing from day one would almost certainly have beaten.
Why Vendors Feel Stuck After Choosing on Price Alone
The vendor who chose based on the highest appraisal often ends up in the worst negotiating position of anyone in the campaign. They have a stale listing, a reduced price, and a buyer who knows exactly how long the property has been on the market and exactly what that means for the conversation they are about to have.
What a Genuine Appraisal Actually Looks Like
The difference between a genuine appraisal and an inflated one is usually visible in what the agent brings to support their figure. Ask them to walk you through the comparable sales. Ask which specific properties settled and at what price. Ask how they arrived at their range and what would need to change for the market to respond differently. An agent with an honest number will welcome those questions. An agent with an inflated one will find ways around them.
Vendors who take the time to research practical selling guidance before they invite a single agent through tend to ask far better questions during the appraisal process.
Choosing the Right Agent for Your Situation
Get three appraisals. Compare the evidence behind each one. Look at the supporting comparable sales, the list-to-sale ratios and the recent local results. Then choose the agent whose market knowledge is most credible - not the one whose number was most appealing. The vendor who makes that distinction tends to run a very different campaign to the one who does not.
Things Sellers Want to Know Before Signing
How do I know if an appraisal is inflated
Look at the spread. If two agents quote within a similar range and one quotes significantly higher, the outlier almost certainly inflated. Not always - sometimes an agent genuinely identifies something others missed. But when the gap between the highest and the consensus is large and the supporting evidence is thin, the explanation is usually straightforward: the high figure was designed to win the listing, not to reflect the market.
What happens if my agent promised a price they cannot deliver
Agency agreements in South Australia have specific terms worth understanding before you sign. If the campaign is clearly underperforming and the agent is not delivering on what was discussed, there are usually avenues to negotiate an early release - particularly if there is a significant gap between what was promised and what the market has demonstrated. Getting independent advice on your specific agreement before making any moves is the most reliable way to understand where you stand.
How many agents should I appraise with before choosing
Three appraisals is the right number for most vendors. It gives you enough data to identify patterns and outliers without turning the selection process into a full-time job. With three figures you can see where the evidence clusters, identify any outlier that stands well clear of the others, and make a comparison that is genuinely useful rather than overwhelming. More than three tends to add noise rather than clarity.
What is the most important thing to look for in a local agent
Recent results on comparable stock in your specific suburb and price range. Nothing else tells you as much about likely future performance as what they have genuinely achieved recently on properties similar to yours. Ask for it specifically. If they cannot provide it, or if the examples they offer are not genuinely comparable, that tells you something important about the quality of their case for your listing.