How much is my Rotorua house worth?
People ask that when they are thinking of selling, when a bank letter arrives, or when a neighbour's house sells and the number sounds surprising. Four different answers are in circulation. They are not interchangeable.
Free market appraisal
Start with the address.- Free, no obligation
- From a licensed local agent
- Reply within 1 business day
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We'll be in touch within one business day to book a time that suits you for the walk-through.
Four ways of answering the question
A council rating valuation, an online estimate, a free market appraisal from a licensed local agent, and a paid registered valuation each answer a different question. Mixing them up is how a seller ends up disappointed, or how a buyer argues with a number that was never meant for the sale.
The table and the notes below cover what each one is for, where it is weak, what it costs you, and how current it is. This page does not publish a price for your house. The district median is background only. The suburb guides describe the places without suburb prices. Rotorua Property Value introduces you to a licensed local agent. We do not provide valuations. A registered valuation is named here only as a service we do not offer.
Compared
Cost means what you pay. Accuracy here is a plain description, not a score.
| Approach | What it is good for | What it is weak at | Cost to you | How current |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rating valuation (CV) | Setting rates, and a rough historic anchor for one property. | Condition, a view, a renovation, and what buyers will pay this month. | No separate fee to look up your own property. It is produced for rating. | Updated on the council's cycle, not when your house changes. |
| Online estimate | A quick model from land, floor area, bedrooms, and sales nearby. | Anything the model has not seen: inside the house, the title, the ground. | Usually free to look at on the site that offers it. | Depends how often that site refreshes. It can lag a sale or a renovation. |
| Free market appraisal | A licensed agent's written view of what buyers would pay now, after a visit. | It is not a report a lender or a court will usually accept in place of a registered valuation. | Free for you. An agent may pay us a referral fee. You do not pay that fee. | Prepared for you, from the visit and the market at the time. |
| Registered valuation | A formal opinion for lending, legal, or relationship-property use. | It is more than you need if you only want a selling conversation. | You pay the valuer. The firm sets the fee. We do not quote one. | Dated to the inspection and the purpose written on the report. |
Council rating valuation (CV)
A rating valuation is Rotorua Lakes Council's figure for one property, used to share the rates bill. People call it a CV. A notice commonly shows land value, the value of improvements, and capital value. You can usually look up your own without a separate fee. That is the advantage: it is your property, not a suburb average.
The weakness is time and purpose. The council updates it on the council's cycle, not when you renovate or when buyers change what they will pay. It was not prepared as a listing price.
Online estimates
An online estimate is a model of land size, floor area, bedrooms, bathrooms, and nearby sales. It is usually free to view. The weakness is the same as the method: it has not been inside the house, so a porch, a sunless section, a leasehold title, or awkward ground is invisible. Use it as a prompt, not as the price you tell a buyer or a bank. This site does not publish a model of its own.
Free market appraisal from a licensed local agent
This is what the form asks for. An agent licensed under the Real Estate Agents Act 2008 visits and writes a view of what buyers would pay now. Rotorua Property Value only makes the introduction. The strength is that visit: a lake glimpse, Lynmore's bush edge, a tight Glenholme section, a Ngongotahā slope, garaging, and condition. A rating notice does not see those.
The weakness is the job. It is a market opinion, not a registered valuation, and a lender or a lawyer will not usually accept it in place of one. You can disagree, and you do not have to list. It is free for you. An agent may pay Rotorua Property Value a referral fee for the introduction. You do not pay that fee. That line is on the form and in the privacy notice (Privacy Act 2020).
Registered valuation
A registered valuation is a report from a registered valuer. You pay the valuer. The firm sets the fee, so this page states no dollar range. You need one when the reader requires that standard: a lender, a lawyer for an estate or a dispute, or relationship property. The report should name its purpose. People rely on it because of that standard. You do not need one merely to start a selling conversation. You do need one when the bank or the lawyer asks. We cannot provide it.
CV and market value
Market value, in ordinary speech, is what a willing buyer would pay for this house now. It moves with the month, the repairs, and what else is listed. A CV is a rating tool on the council's timetable. It can sit above or below sale prices for years. Work you did after the last rating round can be missing from the CV and obvious at the door.
Neither figure is the appraisal, and neither is a registered valuation. Calling the CV "the value" treats a rates figure as a sale price. In Rotorua that is shaky, because the lake, the forest, geothermal ground, and older inner suburbs are not one product. The district median is the middle sale across the whole district, not a price for your section.
What the appraisal visit involves
You send the address and your details, and you agree they can be shared with a licensed local agent. We pass them to one agent. The aim is contact within one business day to book a time. That is a target, not a set hour.
The agent walks the house and the section, asks what you have altered, and writes a market appraisal, often with sales they consider relevant. You can sell, wait, or do neither. The visit is not a building survey and not a registered valuation. It will not sign off weathertightness, geothermal rules, or unconsented work.
How to prepare
You do not need to style the house. Let the agent see the rooms, the garage, and the outside, including a sleepout. A short list of improvements with rough dates is enough. If you already have the title, a LIM, or a builder's report, have them out. You do not need to order a new report for the visit.
If the land is leasehold or Māori freehold land, or if work was never consented, say so. You do not need a price in mind for the agent to copy. A useful appraisal is one you did not write in advance.
Which one to use
Use the CV for rates. Use an online estimate only as a light model. Ask for the free market appraisal when you want to know what buyers would pay now, before you decide whether to sell. Hire a registered valuer, and pay them, when a lender, a lawyer, or a relationship-property matter has asked for a valuation. The mistake is forcing those answers to match.
Questions about price, CVs, and appraisals
Is the free appraisal a registered valuation?
No. It is a free market appraisal from a licensed local agent. A registered valuation is a separate report from a registered valuer, which you pay for. We do not provide valuations. An agent may pay us a referral fee for the introduction. You do not pay that fee.
How is a CV different from what a buyer would pay?
A rating valuation, or CV, is the council's capital value for setting rates. It is updated on the council's cycle, so it can sit above or below the prices buyers are paying now. What a buyer would pay is a market question. The CV is not a market appraisal of your home.
When do I need a registered valuation?
When someone who must rely on the report asks for one. Lenders often do, for a loan. Lawyers do, for a dispute, an estate, or relationship property. The valuer is registered, you pay their fee, and the report says what it was prepared for. An agent's appraisal does not replace it.
What does a registered valuation cost?
The valuation firm sets the fee. This site does not sell that service and does not publish a price for it. The free market appraisal is a different thing, and it is free for you.
What should I do before the appraisal visit?
Make sure the agent can see the house, the section, and the garage. Have a simple note of renovations and roughly when they were done. If you know the title is leasehold or Māori freehold land, or that work was not consented, say so. You do not need to present the house as if it were already on the market.
Do I have to sell if I ask for an appraisal?
No. The written appraisal is yours to keep. There is no obligation to list with the agent who visits, or with anyone else.
Ask for the free market appraisal
A licensed local agent visits and writes it down. It is free for you, with no obligation to list. It is not a registered valuation. An agent may pay us a referral fee for the introduction. You do not pay that fee.
Read the district house prices if you want the long-run median, or the suburb guides if you want the character of the street's part of town. Neither of those is a price for your address.
Get your free appraisal
Takes about two minutes.- Free, no obligation
- From a licensed local agent
- Reply within 1 business day
We share these details with one licensed local agent so they can contact you (Privacy Act 2020).Privacy notice.
Thanks. That's in.
We'll be in touch within one business day to book a time that suits you for the walk-through.