The inspection is the part of a valuation clients actually see, and it is often over faster than they expect. A valuer walks the property once, methodically, with a purpose that has nothing to do with how you would show it to a buyer. Knowing what is being measured, checked and recorded takes the mystery out of it, and means you spend the time usefully rather than tidying the linen cupboard.

Before the valuer arrives

Most inspections are booked ahead, with access arranged through the owner, the agent or, in a family law matter, both parties or their solicitors. The valuer will usually have already reviewed the title, the survey plan and recent sales in the area, so the site visit is about confirming and adding to that picture, not starting from nothing. Nothing needs to be presented for sale. The house does not need styling, and there is no benefit in disguising a problem, because the valuer is trained to look past cosmetics and a defect found later undermines the figure rather than the property.

What helps is access. Have keys or codes sorted for every room, shed and outbuilding, restrain the dog, and if there is a pool fence gate or a locked meter box, know where the key lives. If you know of building approvals, a survey, or work carried out without one, mentioning it up front saves the valuer finding it and asking.

Measuring the property

The valuer measures or verifies the building footprint and floor area, room by room where the layout calls for it, and checks that measurement against any plans on file. Where a floor plan exists and matches what is on site, the valuer confirms it rather than re-measuring from scratch. Where it does not, or none exists, out comes the laser measure. Land boundaries are checked against the survey plan and title, not paced out by eye, and where boundaries are unclear on the ground, that gets noted rather than guessed at.

The count also covers what a floor plan alone will not show: the number of car spaces, whether a garage is under roofline or freestanding, the presence of a granny flat or secondary dwelling, and how outdoor living areas connect to the house. Two properties with the same headline floor area can carry a different value once the actual layout is walked.

Condition, room by room

Condition assessment is the core of the visit. The valuer moves through every room noting the age and standard of construction, the quality of finishes, and how the kitchen and bathrooms compare to current market expectation. This is where a renovation earns its value, or does not. A kitchen replaced eight years ago in a dated style reads differently to the market than one finished last year, whatever it cost at the time, which is a large part of why renovation spend and value gain rarely move in lockstep.

Structural and maintenance items get particular attention:

  • Movement and cracking. Cracks in walls, ceilings or slabs, and whether they look cosmetic or structural, noting size, pattern and location.
  • Moisture and drainage. Water staining, damp smell, poor subfloor ventilation, gutters and downpipes that look neglected, and site falls that push water toward rather than away from the building.
  • Roof and exterior. Roof covering, guttering, cladding, render and paint condition, sighted from the ground or, where safe access allows, from a ladder.
  • Services. Electrical switchboard age, hot water system, and any obvious sign of DIY work that looks unlicensed.
  • Pests and timber. Visible termite damage or evidence of past treatment, though a valuation inspection is not a substitute for a dedicated pest and building report before a purchase.

The valuer is not conducting a building inspection and will not pull back carpet or climb into a roof cavity. The assessment is a trained visual read taken in the course of the visit, aimed at what moves value rather than at producing a defects list.

The curtilage and unapproved work

Part of the walk-through is checking what has been built against what has been approved. A deck, a shed, an internal wall removed, a converted garage, a pool without current compliance certification: all of it gets noted and cross-checked where records are available, because unapproved structures affect value and can affect insurability. This is not a hunt for problems. It is simply part of establishing what actually exists on the site, as distinct from what the paperwork says exists.

Curtilage, meaning the land immediately around the dwelling and everything on it, gets walked as thoroughly as the interior. That covers fencing, retaining walls, driveways, paths, sheds, pools, landscaping and outdoor structures, along with anything that affects usability: a steep drop at the rear boundary, an easement running through the middle of the yard, a neighbouring structure built close to the line, overhead power lines, or traffic noise from a nearby road. None of that shows up in a listing photo, and none of it shows up in an automated estimate, which is one of the reasons a certified valuation and a desktop or drive-by figure can land in different places. Where the property sits in a mapped flood zone, or shows evidence of past inundation, that gets recorded too, since flood exposure is a live factor in how Brisbane property is valued.

For a unit or townhouse, the curtilage question extends to common property and the scheme itself: what is exclusive use, what is shared, and the general state of the common areas, which under the Body Corporate and Community Management Act sits outside any individual lot but still colours how the market treats the building as a whole.

What gets photographed and noted

The valuer photographs the street frontage, each elevation of the building, every room, and anything that supports or qualifies the assessment: a crack, a water stain, an unapproved structure, a boundary feature, a view or an outlook. These photographs back the report and the reasoning in it, not a marketing gallery, so they will include the unglamorous angles as readily as the good ones. Notes taken on site cover measurements, condition observations, anything the owner or agent has flagged, and questions that need following up, such as confirming an approval or a survey detail after the visit.

How long it takes

A standard house or unit inspection typically runs somewhere between twenty minutes and an hour, depending on size, complexity and how much needs measuring from scratch. A straightforward, well-documented property with a current floor plan on file goes quickly. A larger or older property, one with several outbuildings, or one where nothing matches the plans, takes longer. Commercial and specialised property generally takes more time again, given tenancy schedules, plant and equipment, and building services to walk through.

After the inspection

The site visit is one input, not the finished product. Once it is done, the valuer returns to the comparable sales analysis, checks the measurements and observations against title, survey and planning records, and works the figure through from there, a process set out in full in what determines a residential valuation. Anything flagged during the inspection, an unapproved structure, a boundary discrepancy, a maintenance issue, gets weighed at this stage rather than during the walk-through itself, and it can shift the figure in either direction. The written report follows, structured the way a valuation report is structured, with the inspection findings feeding directly into the sections on condition and improvements.

If a second inspection is needed, for a defect that needs a closer look, an area that could not be accessed on the day, or works completed after the first visit, that gets arranged rather than guessed around. A figure is only as sound as what it is built on, and an incomplete inspection is not a shortcut worth taking.