Yes. A notary can value a property and often does for successions, donations and divorces, where an official figure is needed. For a sale, an IPI-licensed estate agent’s valuation is usually the practical choice, as agents track live buyer demand daily. The two roles complement each other.
Notaries and estate agents both value property, but for different purposes. A notary (notaire) is a public officer who handles the legal side of transfers, and valuation naturally falls within that work when a legal act requires an agreed value: a succession declaration, a donation, a divorce settlement or the winding-up of joint ownership. In those settings the notary’s figure carries formal weight.
An estate agent values with a different lens. An IPI-licensed agent lives in the day-to-day market, tracking what buyers are actually offering, which listings move and which stall. For setting an asking price, that live feel for demand is hard to beat, which is why sellers usually start with an agent’s valuation. The methods overlap, both rely heavily on the comparison method and recent sales, but the agent’s reading tends to be the most current.
The counter-intuitive point is that using both is often the smart move rather than a duplication. On an inherited property, for instance, the notary needs a value for the succession declaration while an agent’s market valuation helps the heirs decide whether and at what price to sell. Getting the succession value right matters: it must reflect market value at the date of death, and heirs can face problems if the property is under-declared.
For a straightforward sale, book the free agent valuation first; bring in the notary when a legal act requires an official figure.
At a glance
When each professional values a property:
- Notary, for successions: an official value at the date of death for the declaration.
- Notary, for donations and divorces: a figure to underpin a legal act.
- Notary, for joint-ownership dissolution: a value to divide between co-owners.
- Estate agent, for a sale: a live, market-based asking price.
- Estate agent, always: daily insight into real buyer demand.
- Often best: use both, each for the role it fits.