The Home Seller's Decision Guide · Chapter 7 template
Work through the three methods, then read the summary. Type your figures into the highlighted fields; everything calculates itself.
you fill in calculated for you
Enter recent sales of properties like yours (same area, type and rough size) and mark how each compares to your home. The lowest, median and highest sale prices show the spread your property sits within.
| Address | Sold | Sale price ($) | Beds/Baths/Cars | Land (m²) | Condition | Better / similar / worse? |
|---|
Place your property within this spread: above the sales clearly worse than yours, below those clearly better, and around the genuinely similar. You're not putting an exact dollar figure on each difference; that's a valuer's or an agent's job. Where you're unsure what a feature is worth, ask your agent or a valuer.
Estimate value as land plus the depreciated cost of the building.
Rough guide (2026): basic/standard $2,000–$2,500/m²; quality $3,500–$4,500/m²; high-end $5,000–$8,000+/m². Match the tier to your home's finish, or ask a builder or quantity surveyor. Depreciation: roughly 1.5–2.5% per year of the building's age, capped around 50–60% for older homes in reasonable condition. Land value: your council rates notice or your state Valuer-General.
Enter each comparable's sale price and floor area. The sheet works out the $/m², takes the median, and applies it to your floor area.
| Comparable sale price ($) | Floor area (m²) | $ per m² |
|---|
Treat this as a cross-check, not a precise valuation; a suburb $/m² blends different property types, so it can over- or under-shoot your specific home. Where it lands close to Method 1, you have confirmation.
| Method | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Comparable sales | — | — |
| 2. Summation | — | — |
| 3. Per square metre | — | — |
| Your overall range | — | — |
Where the three land close together, you have a tight, confident range. Where summation sits well below the others, that's usually a location or presentation premium the market pays above bricks-and-mortar (normal, not an error). The reverse can happen too, where rebuild cost sits above what the market will pay. Take this range into your agent conversations; it isn't a formal valuation.
Capture each agent's quoted range and compare it with your own. The "vs your range" column flags where each agent's midpoint sits against your evidence-based range, so you can see at a glance who's above, within or below it. The aim is to understand their reasoning, not to catch anyone out. Keep this grid to yourself. Fill it in privately after each appraisal; it's for your own comparison. What you take into an agent conversation is your own evidence-based range, never another agent's quoted numbers.
| Agent | Their low ($) | Their high ($) | Their midpoint | vs your range | Notes (evidence, comparables, reasoning) |
|---|
Whatever the gap, start here. "How did you arrive at it? Could you show me the recent sales you've anchored this to, and how mine compares?" Following the reasoning matters more than the number itself, and a good agent will happily walk you through it.
If their number sits above your range. Ask to see the comparables behind it. A high figure with thin evidence, or one leaning heavily on optimistic trend adjustments, can be a number pitched to win your business rather than one the market will pay: the "buying the listing" move from Chapter 6. Their answer usually tells you which it is.
If their number sits below your range. "What are you seeing in the market that argues for the lower number?" A conservative figure isn't necessarily wrong (they may be reading buyer demand, or a comparable you've missed, more accurately than you can), but it's fair to understand what's behind it.
Either way, lay it next to your own. "I'd worked it out a little differently from the comparables I found, can you help me see what you're reading that I'm not?" They likely have fuller, more current data than free sources give you, so a gap often reflects better comparables rather than an error on either side.
Home Straight. Independent education on selling. This worksheet supports your own cross-check; it is not a formal valuation or financial advice.