Winning private and legal valuation work: family law, deceased estates and SMSF
Private and legal valuations pay more than panel work and come through people, not platforms. Where the work comes from, what each kind needs, and how a small firm wins more of it.
By Valufield6 min read
For most small valuation firms, panel work fills the diary and someone else sets the fee. Private and legal work is the other half of the business: family law property settlements, deceased estates, self-managed super funds, capital gains tax, stamp duty and pre-purchase advice. It pays better, it comes from relationships rather than platforms, and it rewards firms that are easy to instruct.
This guide looks at why the private side matters more each year, what the three biggest kinds of legal work need from a valuer, and how a small firm can win more of it without becoming a marketing department.
Why private work matters more each year
The numbers are plain. Landmark Valuations' mortgage guide puts a residential panel valuation at about $200 to $400, and one the client commissions directly at about $400 to $700. Commercial private work runs from about $900 to over $3,000 before GST. At the middle of each residential range, one private job is worth nearly two panel jobs.
Meanwhile the panel side is shrinking at the edges. Opteon estimates that about 15% of residential mortgage valuations are now completed digitally, without a full inspection. Industry revenue has fallen by 3.7% a year over five years to $732.2 million, and IBISWorld notes that larger firms are expanding into government and litigation-related work. The firms that do well over the next few years will be the ones with a steady flow of direct instructions.
Family law
Separating couples need a current market value for property settlement, whether they agree on the division or go to court. Instructions usually come from family lawyers, sometimes from mediators, and occasionally from one party directly.
Timing matters. Parties to a marriage generally have 12 months after a divorce order takes effect, and de facto partners two years after separation, to apply for property orders without the court's permission. Solicitors working to those limits want a fee and an inspection date quickly.
What family law work needs from you:
Clear terms about who instructs and who can rely on the report. Two parties, sometimes each with a lawyer, sometimes one valuer acting for both. The terms of engagement need to say so.
Sensitivity at inspection. One party may still live at the property and the other may not be welcome. Access questions at booking save an awkward morning.
Independence. Family lawyers value a firm whose reports hold up, and they remember the valuer who answered their email the same day.
Deceased estates
Executors and estate lawyers need date-of-death valuations for probate, distribution between beneficiaries and capital gains tax. The date of valuation is often months or years in the past, so this is retrospective work.
The tax reason is specific. For an inherited dwelling that was the deceased's main residence and was not producing income, and for assets the deceased acquired before 20 September 1985, the beneficiary's cost base is generally the market value on the day the person died. A sound retrospective valuation can matter a great deal when the property is sold years later.
What estate work needs from you:
The right date. The valuation date is the date of death, not the inspection date, and the report and invoice should both say so.
Patience with the process. Executors are often family members dealing with grief and paperwork for the first time. A clear quote and a simple way to pay make a real difference.
Referrer relationships. Estate lawyers and accountants see a steady flow of these matters. Being their first call is worth more than any advertising.
SMSF
Trustees of self-managed super funds must report fund assets, including property, at market value at 30 June each year. The ATO does not insist on an external valuation every year, but it says to consider a qualified independent valuer when an asset is a significant part of the fund or its value is hard to work out. Real property usually is both.
What SMSF work needs from you:
A relationship with the accountant. SMSF accountants and auditors often recommend the valuer. One accountant may look after many funds that hold property, and the work comes round every year.
A predictable annual cycle. June and July are busy. Quoting and booking quickly in that window wins the next year's work too.
Independence. The ATO's guide says an independent valuer should not be a member of the fund or a related party of it, and the report should say who instructed it and for what purpose.
How small firms win more of it
Private work is won in the first day. The firm that answers the enquiry, sends a clear fee quote and offers an inspection time first is usually the one instructed. Five habits make the difference:
Make it easy to instruct you. A website form or booking page that asks for the property, the purpose and who referred the client, so you can quote without a phone call.
Quote the same day, with terms. A fee from your fee list, your terms of engagement and a way to sign online. A signed quote is a record of what was agreed, which matters in a hard professional indemnity market.
Take a deposit on private work. It confirms the instruction and removes most of the chasing later.
Tell people where things stand. Inspection booked, report due, invoice sent. Silence is what clients complain about.
Keep referrers close. Thank the solicitor for the instruction, and keep a short, useful note going to the accountants and lawyers who send you work, with their consent.
Where Valufield helps
Valufield is built around this part of the practice. Website enquiry forms and landing pages for family law, SMSF or any other work create the client record and note where the enquiry came from. Fee quotes come from your fee list with GST and your terms of engagement, and clients sign online by drawing or typing their name. Booking pages ask your questions about the property address, access and purpose. You can raise a deposit invoice from the accepted quote, clients can pay by card once you connect your firm's own Stripe account, and reminders stop once the invoice is paid. Email campaigns to referrers record consent as the Spam Act expects, and reports show where your new clients came from.
The valuation itself is in Valufield too. A job moves from enquiry to quote, inspection, confirmed facts, a draft you write and edit, a report check, a second valuer's review and release, and each step is recorded. The value, the rates, the adjustments and the sales evidence are always the valuer's own. Comparable sales and calculators are coming soon and are not part of Valufield yet. If you are thinking about how Valufield sits beside the tools you use now, read Valufield and ValuePRO: how they work together, or see who it is built for on the valuers page.
Written by the Valufield team
We build practice software for Australian property valuation firms. Every figure in our posts links to its source, and we only describe what Valufield does today.
