Market Appraisal: What to Include, With a Free Template

Market Appraisal: What to Include, With a Free Template

This guide is for estate agents preparing a market appraisal for a vendor. If you are a homeowner looking for a valuation, the government's How to sell a home guide is the better starting point.

Your market appraisal does two jobs at once. It gives the vendor a recommended asking price backed by evidence, and it is the document they will hold up against the other agents. According to a YouGov survey for Zoopla of 1,000 homeowners who sold in the past five years, published in August 2025, 49% invited three agents to value their home.

So what should an estate agent's market appraisal include, and how should it be laid out so it wins the instruction without overpricing the property?

Is a market appraisal the same as a RICS valuation?

No. A market appraisal is an agent's opinion of the price a property is likely to achieve when marketed, given as part of seeking the instruction. A RICS valuation is a formal valuation by a qualified valuer, usually paid for and usually for a lender or a legal purpose.

The government's guide to selling makes the distinction for vendors: ask three estate agents to value the property, while "a qualified valuer or surveyor will charge you for this service".

If you are RICS-regulated, the Red Book still reaches you. A May 2026 RICS Property Journal article explains that pricing advice for a sales strategy is an "excepted valuation", bound by Professional Standards 1 and 2 even though it is excepted from VPS 1 to 6. It also warns that labelling a figure "indicative" does not stop it being treated as a valuation.

For agents registered with The Property Ombudsman, its Code expects a recommended asking price to be given in good faith, to reflect current market conditions and to be supported by comparable evidence (paragraph 4b, as quoted in a TPO case study).

What should a market appraisal include?

A market appraisal should include the property facts, the market evidence, a recommended asking price with a range, the marketing plan, your fees and terms, and the next steps. Copy the template below into your own branded document.

The market appraisal template (valuation report template for agents)

Keep it to a length a vendor will read. Sections 6 to 8 do the persuading. The rest makes the document trustworthy.

Our guide to material information reports covers what to check for section 4.

For section 5, Market Insights in the Propalt platform gives average asking price, live listings, sales in the last 30 days and average days on market by property type for your area. For section 6, our guide to choosing property comparables covers distance, recency, adjustments and the Price Paid lag.

How do you set a recommended asking price and a range?

Set the range from your adjusted comparables, then choose the launch price within it based on the current competition and market speed. Give the vendor one number to launch at and a range to negotiate within.

A workable method:

1. Adjust each comparable to the subject property for time, size, condition, position and tenure.
2. Take the range from the adjusted values. Discard outliers and explain why.
3. Check the competition. If three similar homes are already listed at the top of your range, launching above them will slow the sale.
4. Set a review point. Nationally, homes took 69 days from first listing to sold STC in Q3 2026 (Propalt, Q3 2026). Use your local figure to agree when you will revisit the price.

Market speed varies by property type, so set the review point for the type you are pricing. Nationally in Q3 2026, semi-detached homes took 59 days from first listing to sold STC, terraced homes 61 days, flats 77 days and detached homes 80 days (Propalt, Q3 2026).

The range is your evidence. The launch price is your judgement. Show the vendor both.

Overpricing has a measurable cost. In Q3 2026, 80,077 homes left the portals nationally without a sale agreed, a withdrawal rate of 30.6%, and 17.3% of new Rightmove listings in the quarter were reduced below their first listed price, counted per listing (Propalt, Q3 2026). The government guide warns sellers that "a high valuation does not necessarily mean you will secure this price". Quote that to a vendor comparing your figure with a higher one.

What should the marketing plan and fees section cover?

The marketing plan should tell the vendor what will happen in the first 14 days and who does it. Fees should be set out in full, in writing, before the vendor signs.

For the marketing plan, list the launch sequence: photography and floor plan date, portal go-live, the buyers you will contact from your database, viewing arrangements and how you report feedback.

For fees, section 18 of the Estate Agents Act 1979 requires you to give the client, before they enter the contract, the circumstances in which they become liable to pay you, the amount of your fee (or how it will be calculated) and any other payments. If you do not, the contract is not enforceable without a court order. Include sole agency or sole selling rights terms in plain words. The government guide warns vendors that under sole selling rights "you will pay the estate agent even if you find your own buyer".

Vendors are told to negotiate. The same guide says "don't be afraid to try and negotiate on the fee". Show what the fee pays for, item by item, before the vendor raises it.

How should you follow up after a market appraisal?

Send the written market appraisal within 24 hours, while you are still fresh in the vendor's mind and before the third agent visits. Then follow a set cadence.

• Same day. A short thank you with one specific detail from the visit.
• Within 24 hours. The full property report, as a link or printed and delivered.
• Day 3. A call to answer questions on price and fees.
• Week 2. Any new comparable or listing that affects their price.
• Monthly. A market update for vendors not yet ready to list.

Our tutorial on how to create a seller report shows how to personalise and share the report you send within 24 hours. For vendors who are not ready to sell, our guide to winning the instruction before the vendor is ready sets out a dormant marketing approach, and our guide to estate agent lead generation covers how to keep them warm without chasing.

📌 KEY TAKEAWAY

A market appraisal is an agent's evidenced opinion of marketing price, not a RICS valuation, and the TPO Code expects it to be supported by comparable evidence. Use the 13-section template above: property facts, material information flags, local market data, three to five sold comparables, current competition, a launch price within a supported range, a review point, the marketing plan, fees set out as the Estate Agents Act requires, and next steps. Send it within 24 hours. Property Reports produce the branded version with property details, planning data and comparables filled in.

SOURCES & DATA REFERENCES

1. Propalt (October 2026). 'Quarterly market data, Q3 2026: national.' 80,077 homes withdrawn without a sale agreed (30.6%); 17.3% of new Rightmove listings in the quarter (counted per listing) reduced below first listed price; 69 days first listing to SSTC (Rightmove). propalt.co.uk
2. Propalt (October 2026). Quarterly market data, national, Q3 2026: days from first listing to SSTC by property type, semi-detached 59, terraced 61, flats 77, detached 80 (Rightmove).
3. Zoopla (5 August 2025). 'What sellers really want from estate agents.' YouGov survey of 1,000 homeowners who sold in the past five years: 49% invited three agents to value. business.zoopla.co.uk/what-sellers-want-from-estate-agents
4. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (updated September 2019). 'How to sell a home.' Three agent valuations, overvaluation warning, fees and sole selling rights. gov.uk/government/publications/how-to-sell-a-home/how-to-sell-a-home
5. RICS Property Journal (1 May 2026). 'When is a figure a valuation? Understanding scope, purpose and basis under Red Book.' Agency pricing advice as an excepted valuation under PS 1 and PS 2. ww3.rics.org/uk/en/journals/property-journal/when-are-figures-valuations.html
6. The Property Ombudsman (accessed October 2026). 'Valuations, Material Information and Complaint Handling' case study. Paragraph 4b of the TPO Code. tpos.co.uk/news-media-and-press-releases/case-studies/item/valuations-material-information-and-complaint-handling
7. legislation.gov.uk (accessed October 2026). 'Estate Agents Act 1979, section 18.' Information to be given to clients before the contract. legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1979/38/section/18
8. HM Land Registry (accessed October 2026). 'About the Price Paid Data.' Source and scope of sold price comparables. gov.uk/about-the-price-paid-data

Contains HM Land Registry data © Crown copyright and database right 2026. This data is licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.