When do you not need a formal valuation?

A firm that answers that a valuation is always essential is selling, not advising. Here is the rule we apply when an enquiry does not call for a full report. Where an opinion of value is enough: pricing a listing for a standard property in a district with several recent comparable transactions; forming a view before starting a process, with no decision due yet; an informal discussion with nobody to convince; or a small amount at stake relative to the cost. A documented valuation starts at MAD 3,500 excl. VAT — if the gap in question is of the same order, the arbitration is simple. Where it genuinely changes something: 1. Someone else has to accept the figure — a co-heir, a partner, a buyer, a co-owner. An opinion cannot be discussed; documented reasoning can be checked, and that is what unblocks the situation. 2. The asset has no obvious comparable: a medina riad, an irregular plot, a commercial unit, an occupied property, an old building, an atypical asset. Neighbourhood price-per-square-metre benchmarks say nothing useful about it. 3. The value feeds a derived calculation: a balancing payment between heirs, a split between co-owners, a contribution to a company, an insured sum. The error propagates into everything else. 4. The plausible spread is wide. On a property worth 2 million dirhams, two honest opinions can diverge by 10 to 15 percent, or 200,000 to 300,000 dirhams. The report then costs a fraction of what is at stake. 5. You are buying from abroad. A documented visit and an argued value protect you most precisely where you can verify nothing yourself. A simple test before ordering: ask what you will do with the figure. If the answer is I will know, an opinion of value is enough. If the answer is I will have to show it to someone, or I will calculate something else from it, the report needs to be documented. When a full valuation is not warranted, we say so and point to the lighter option. A client spared an unnecessary cost comes back when the stakes are real.