The right question.
A reasoned answer.

The brief should identify whether the report is for private negotiation, mediation or court proceedings. The property interest and date must be clear. Legal advice determines how the valuation is used in a settlement.

Agree whether the instruction concerns the whole property or a particular interest. Ownership rights, mortgages, tax and the eventual payment between parties require separate consideration. A jointly instructed report needs an agreed process.

Probate work commonly needs the value at the date of death. A later sale or a beneficiary’s tax position may involve a different date and purpose. Establish the required report with the estate solicitor before work begins.

The HSE’s assessment includes property and other assets. Confirm the current application requirements, the property interests to include and who is authorised to give instructions. The report supplies valuation evidence; the HSE decides the assessment.

Capital Acquisitions Tax, Capital Gains Tax and Stamp Duty may raise different questions in the same transaction. Ask the advisers to specify the interests and dates. A farm instruction should distinguish the land, dwelling and other relevant components.

Market value may be relevant even where no ordinary sale takes place. A retrospective report considers the property and available evidence at the specified historic date. It cannot simply apply today’s asking price to the past.

LPT is a self-assessed tax; a paid professional report is not automatically required. Advice can be useful for an unusual property or where the available evidence is difficult to interpret. The valuation must use the relevant LPT valuation date.

Discuss whether you need a marketing appraisal, a formal report or advice on a particular property interest. A report for your own decision does not automatically meet a lender’s requirements. Condition, planning and title may need additional professional input.

A common valuation date and consistent assumptions make a review more useful. Clarify whether the properties are occupied, let or available with vacant possession, and whether individual interests or a combined holding are being assessed.

Separate the property’s existing position from assumptions about future permission or development. A residual appraisal is sensitive to costs, timing and sale expectations. Planning, engineering and cost advice may be needed alongside the valuation.

A capital valuation and an opinion of market rent answer different questions. A rent review also requires careful consideration of the lease and its assumptions. Confirm the property type, relevant expertise and required scope at the outset.

Reporting frameworks and recipient requirements vary. The adviser should set out the required basis, date, standards and independence requirements. A property report does not value company shares or establish that a proposed pension transaction is permitted.

Check the lender’s appointment process first. It may require a valuer from its approved panel and its own report format. Do not commission a general report assuming the bank will accept it; panel membership and acceptance must be confirmed.

The solicitor should identify the court, issues, applicable rules and any directions. Expert evidence must be independent and within the expert’s competence. Reporting, questions and possible attendance should be agreed in the brief.

A compensation assessment can extend beyond the value of the land acquired to effects on retained land and other heads of claim. Obtain advice from a solicitor and valuer with relevant compulsory-purchase expertise. A general market valuation alone may not answer the claim.

Rating is a statutory process. Tailte Éireann’s commercial valuations underpin local authority rates; a property’s sale price is a different measure. A rating specialist should check the assessment, procedure and applicable deadlines.