Preparing a property valuation visit: documents and access

Before any valuation visit, find out what the valuation is for, ask for the documents you'll need, and make sure you'll have access to every part of the property on the day: cellar, loft, garage, outbuildings, shared areas. Offer the visit as a bookable service with slots long enough for the size of the property, and send a short preparation list with the confirmation. The owner arrives ready, you inspect everything in one go, and the report doesn't wait for a second trip to see the room nobody had the key to.

A valuation for an inheritance, a divorce, a financing file, a sale or an insurance policy doesn't always call for the same approach or the same report. The purpose changes what you look at, the documents you need, and sometimes who should be present. Ask it at booking, and confirm it before the visit so there's no misunderstanding when the report arrives.

Ask for documents by email ahead of the visit. Reading them first lets you spend the visit checking and measuring rather than asking questions.

Ask the owner to make every part of the property accessible: keys to the cellar and outbuildings, loft hatch cleared, garage emptied enough to see the floor and walls, access to shared parts of the building if relevant. If the property is let, the tenant must be informed and agree to the visit time; ask the owner to arrange it.

Start with a quick tour with the owner, then inspect room by room: measurements where no reliable plan exists, condition of floors, walls, windows, heating and electrics, signs of damp or structural movement, outside areas and views. Photograph as you go. Ask about anything you can't see, such as the date of the roof or boiler, and note the answers with their source. Before leaving, tell the owner when the report will arrive and what happens next, without giving a figure you haven't worked through yet; a number said on the doorstep tends to become the one people remember.

On Book, each service has a name, a price and an optional description shown on your public page. You open slots for each service at the length it takes, one place per slot. Clients pick a service, then a free slot.

Durations and prices are examples: set your own. Include travel in the slot and say in the description what the price covers and when the report is delivered.

The public booking form asks for first name, last name, email and phone, plus an optional note you read in your new-booking email. Ask for the address, the type of property, the purpose of the valuation and whether it's occupied. The note can't be edited once the booking exists, so put the questions in the service description. Documents go by email.

In an inheritance or a separation, several people may want to attend. One person books the visit and writes in the note who will be present. If the parties can't agree on a time, collect their availability and book the visit yourself from your calendar: first and last name are required, email and phone optional. Clients can't move bookings online: they contact you, you reschedule or cancel from your bookings list and let them know, since Book doesn't email clients about changes. Book doesn't produce reports or take payments; it handles appointments. It costs €5/month, everything included: unlimited services and bookings, no commission, no contract.