Frequently asked questions

Once you've put together a file containing all your personal details, you'll be offered an appointment. The date and time will be confirmed directly by e-mail.

Appraisal reports are generally the responsibility of the person submitting the credit application to the bank. Some banks or brokers, however, may charge a fee. To avoid any misunderstanding, it must be clearly specified in writing who is responsible for the property valuation. It should be noted that, unless otherwise agreed, only the person invoiced will receive the valuation report, and will own it.

Although this is strongly recommended (in order to gather as much information about the property as possible), it is not necessary for the person who commissioned the survey to be present. However, it is imperative that we have access to the entire building.

The expert goes directly to the appraisal site and visits the premises. He makes his observations, consults the documents requested in advance, and gathers as much information as possible useful for carrying out his mission. After consulting the documentation (point of comparison, town-planning situation, site plan, etc.), the expert draws up the full survey report, which will be e-mailed to you after validation of a provisional report sent to you beforehand.

It is essential to be able to enter the building for a full survey, in order to be able to make the usual observations. If we are unable to enter the building for various reasons, we can carry out a drive-by or desktop survey. Plans and other useful documents will be required to obtain a more precise assessment of the building. Any such survey should be carried out with the usual reservations.

The surveyor must visit the entire building. However, if for any reason a part of the building is inaccessible, the surveyor will visit the whole building with the exception of the inaccessible part(s). A special note will be added to the file specifying the part that was not observed, the reason for its inaccessibility and any reservations.

The average survey takes 45 minutes. However, some buildings require no more than 15 to 20 minutes to visit and measure. On the other hand, for some larger or special properties, double the time will be needed. This will depend on the size of the building and the complexity of its layout. We try to take this into account when making appointments.

No. It is not possible to give a reliable estimate directly. We have to encode all the data collected before proceeding with calculations based on various methods (comparison, capitalization, depreciated replacement cost, etc.). The expert will not make a decision on the day of the appraisal. Please be patient. The results will be provided to you as soon as possible.

Once you've made an appointment by telephone, we'll send you a confirmation e-mail to draw your attention to the importance of allowing us to consult the documents required for your project (purchase, loan redemption, new build, etc.). Here is an exhaustive list: OWNERSHIP/ LEGAL REGIME: - title deed or certificate of ownership; - if the property is part of a co-ownership, the minutes of the last 3 general meetings; CADASTRE/URBANISME: - extract from the cadastral matrix; - extract from the cadastral map; - town planning certificate (CU1 or 2); - other authorizations (operating permit, regulated activities, etc.); CONSTRUCTION: - plans or sketches of the building; - planning or building permit(s); - declaration of completion and certificate of conformity; - any disputes; - specifications; - energy performance certificate for the various entities making up the property; - certificate(s) for the electrical installation(s); - certificate(s) for the building's gas installation(s); - dossier d'intervention ultérieure (DIU); RENTAL SITUATION: - rental status of the building (list of rents received); - any leases; - any sublease agreements; - details of any rental disputes; WORK: - list of work recently carried out (or since acquisition of the property); - if work is planned, a list of work and/or estimates in the form of a detailed schedule of work, breaking down the work carried out by trade and that carried out by yourself (in terms of your own labor); ENVIRONMENT: - technical documentation and/or information relating to the environment which may have an impact on the value (orientation study, characteristic study, soil pollution, etc.); OTHER: - any other document which the expert may need to usefully establish his valuation.

It is preferable to send us the documents by e-mail in pdf format so that they can be directly integrated into your file. If this is not possible, the expert will take photos of the relevant documents.

There's no need to make photocopies. However, it does save time. If there are no copies, the surveyor will take photos of all the relevant documents you have prepared.

Generally speaking, it takes a maximum of 1 week from the time of the on-site visit, provided the application has been paid for and we are not waiting for any documents required to complete the application. Otherwise, it takes 1 week from receipt of payment or documents.

The provisional report is a simplified version of the expertise, a pdf document containing data to be validated. It is generally 2 to 3 pages long, unlike the full report, which is around 50 pages long. It enables us to check the accuracy of the information provided (cadastral designation, list and amount of work, town-planning status, etc.).

At this stage of the appraisal, we have all the documents we need to finalize the case. For our part, the final report is ready to be sent to you. Please go through the entire document and check the accuracy of the data it contains. If you have no objections or comments, you can send us a confirmation e-mail so that we can send you the complete expert report.

As a rule, your broker will receive the provisional report. The information contained in the provisional report is what we have already checked with you on the day of the visit, or on the basis of the documents sent to us. As it is your broker's/banker's role to submit your credit application, it is essential that he/she verifies that the information contained in the expert's report coincides with the information contained in the file he/she has compiled for your project. If you don't have a broker, this provisional report will be sent to you, and it will be up to you to validate it.

On receipt of your confirmation of the provisional report, we will send you the complete expert report within 24 working hours.

Under consumer law, whoever pays the bill is entitled to receive the appraisal report. The appraisal report will therefore be sent to you, with a copy to your broker. If the invoice was paid by your broker/banker, he alone will receive the document.

In the appraisal report, you'll find a full description of the property, based on the findings, documents and IT tools consulted. You'll find 3 values: market value, forced-sale value and replacement value. If requested, you will also be given a rental value. You will also be given the methods used to establish these values, as well as any comments you may have.

The appraisal report is forwarded to the person who accepted the invoice and to his intermediary. In the case of some banks, we are contractually obliged to forward the appraisal report to them as well. For others, the intermediaries will forward the report to head office.

At your request, photos can be sent to you via wetransfer, given the size of the file.

The appraisal report is valid in all the banks for which we are approved. You will find all these banks on our website www.chatelainxpert.be

First, we send you an invitation to pay. When the amount has been paid, we generate an invoice which is sent to you by e-mail or post, together with the expert's report.

If you are the person responsible for the invoice and do not have an e-mail address, the expert report will be sent to you automatically by post. If you have an e-mail address, the report will be sent to you by e-mail only.