This is the appraisal trap. An agent inflates the figure to win the listing. The vendor accepts it because it is the best number in the room. The campaign launches on a foundation that was never solid. What happens next follows a sequence that is entirely predictable and almost never ends where the vendor hoped.
How Agents Use High Numbers to Win Business
The logic from an agent perspective is straightforward. An agent who quotes the market accurately competes on service and track record. An agent who quotes high removes that competition entirely - they give the vendor a reason to sign that has nothing to do with capability. The listing goes to whoever promised the most, not whoever can actually deliver it. That is a rational business decision from the agent side. It is a costly one from the vendor side.
Choosing the agent who quoted highest feels like a win at the time. It rarely is. What it actually does is transfer the cost of that decision from the agent - who gets the listing regardless - to the vendor, who runs the campaign, absorbs the feedback, accepts the eventual reduction, and settles for a result that honest pricing from day one would almost certainly have beaten.
How a Misleading Appraisal Plays Out Over Weeks
An overpriced campaign has a shape to it. Strong photography, good presentation, a reasonable agent - and still, the results do not come. Because none of those things overcome a price the active buyer pool has already assessed and rejected. The buyers in Gawler who were genuinely interested in the property walked past it in week one. They are not coming back simply because the price dropped. Some will. Most have moved on.
What Supporting Evidence Should Come With Any Appraisal
The difference between a genuine appraisal and an inflated one is usually visible in what the agent brings to support their figure. Ask them to walk you through the comparable sales. Ask which specific properties settled and at what price. Ask how they arrived at their range and what would need to change for the market to respond differently. An agent with an honest number will welcome those questions. An agent with an inflated one will find ways around them.
Vendors who do their groundwork on signs an agent is buying the listing before signing anything tend to make more informed comparisons between the agents they see.
How to Compare Agents Without Falling for the Highest Number
The appraisal figure is the least useful data point when comparing agents. What matters more is how they performed on comparable listings in the last six months. Ask for list-to-sale ratios. Ask how many of their recent Gawler East or Hewett listings sold in the first four weeks. Ask what those properties actually sold for versus what they were listed at. An agent who has genuinely performed well on comparable stock will answer those questions without hesitation. One who has not will find a way around them.
Questions Vendors Ask About Appraisals and Agents
What does an honest appraisal look like compared to an inflated one
An inflated appraisal tends to reveal itself under questioning. The agent becomes vague about the comparable sales, pivots to general statements about the market, or produces comparables from different suburbs or different time periods. A genuine appraisal does not wilt under scrutiny - it is strengthened by it. The agent who welcomes specific questions about methodology is almost always the one worth taking seriously.
Can I get out of an agency agreement if the agent overquoted
Read the agreement before you sign it. Cooling-off periods, notice periods and performance clauses vary. If the agent overquoted materially and the campaign has demonstrably failed to generate the activity a correctly priced listing would have produced, the conversation about early exit is worth having. Most agents would rather part professionally than face a formal dispute process - but you need to understand your position before you have that conversation.
Does getting more appraisals help or just create confusion
Get three. Compare the comparable sales each agent provides, not just the figures they quote. Note which ones are using recent, locally relevant data and which are stretching the definition of comparable to support a higher number. The pattern across three careful appraisals will tell you what you need to know - about the likely market range and about which agent is being straight with you.
How do I choose an agent based on more than just the number they give me
Beyond results, look at how they handle scrutiny. Ask a hard question during the appraisal and watch what happens. Do they engage with it directly, or do they deflect and return to their prepared points? An agent who can handle a direct question in a low-stakes presentation will handle a difficult buyer conversation in a live negotiation. One who cannot will struggle with both.