There is a lot of lingo associated with Real Estate, two words you may hear bandied about are :

1. Assessment

2. Appraisal

But what do they each mean and how is relevant to you?

A Real Estate Agent is not a Valuer, An Agent Sells and Valuers Value

Assessing a property, means looking at the property from many different and necessary perspectives to identify the different options and potentials the property may provide to a buyer. It will also allow the agent to identify all of the appropriate "target markets" to maximise your sale price.

By communicating these options and potentials to these markets you will have more people to deal with, which increases competition and thus the price paid for a property. Importantly, a buyer tends to feel more secure about the purchase, effectively holding the sale together. Different markets will see different values, because they are looking to achieve different things with the property, however you need to market to all groups as this maximises the selling opportunity.

An Appraisal, means what is it worth? Most agents will simply look up some recent sales in your area to put a price on your property, however unless you do an in-depth assessment of the property you may miss valuable insights into what each market may see as value - and more importantly, be willing to pay a premium for.