About this video. The person on screen is an AI-generated avatar in my likeness. The voice is mine, cloned from recordings of my own voice, and the edit adjusts the sound. The image and voice may therefore differ from my real appearance and speech. The text is written and approved by me, and I am fully responsible for it. This process lets me publish regularly; it changes nothing about what is said. This video is in French — a full English transcript is provided below.
Hello. You want to know what your house is worth, but you don’t want to be called back for two years. That’s probably why you haven’t asked yet.
The question, as people ask it: “getting your house valued without selling it”
Yes, it’s possible, and it commits you to nothing
You can have your house valued without any intention of selling it. And you don’t owe anyone an explanation.
Let’s talk about the question people don’t dare to ask. Can I have my house valued without intending to sell it.
Yes. And you don’t owe anyone an explanation.
The reasons are many and legitimate. You’re thinking about moving in two years. You want to know where you stand before refinancing. You’re preparing an estate. You’re coming out of a separation. You simply want to know whether the figure in your head still holds up.
What holds people back isn’t the process. It’s the fear of being chased. I understand it, and it’s a well-founded fear: some online requests are resold to several brokers at once, and the phone starts ringing.
So ask first: what happens with my contact details, and who is going to call me. Someone who answers that clearly already tells you a lot.
What an opinion of value is, and why it’s an act of brokerage
Giving an opinion on the value of a property is reserved for licence holders. It’s not a favour, it’s a regulated act.
Let’s talk about what a broker produces when they look at your property. It’s called an opinion of value, and it’s an act of brokerage.
What that means in practice. Giving an opinion on the value of a property is reserved for licence holders. It’s not a favour done for you, it’s a regulated act, with a licence behind it and the professional responsibility that goes with it.
How it’s built. We start from the sales actually closed in your area, over a recent period. We keep the ones that resemble your property. We adjust for the differences between your property and those sold comparables: the floor area, the year, the garage, the lot, the condition of the finishes, and several other features as the case may be. And we look at two more things: how long each one took to sell, and the gap between the initial asking price and the price actually obtained.
What it is not. It’s not an appraisal report in the professional sense. It’s not meant for a court, nor for a lender that requires a formal appraisal.
What I do with your contact details, and how you stop me
The real reason you don’t ask for a value estimate: the fear of being called back.
Let’s talk about the real reason many people never ask for a value estimate. It’s not the price. It’s the fear of being called back for two years.
So let’s be precise about what happens with what you give me.
What I ask for: enough to produce the report and to deliver it to you. The address of the property, and a way to reach you. Not your income, not your family situation, not your intentions.
What I do with it: the report, the conversation that goes with it, and one follow-up. One.
In Quebec, the Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector governs this. It gives you the right to know what is kept, to have it corrected, and to object to it.
In practice, the way to stop me is simple: say so, once. By email, by text, by phone. It’s noted and it’s over.
A seller who feels pursued never calls back. A seller who has been left alone sometimes calls back three years later.
What you should receive, and in what form
If you’re given a figure without being shown what it rests on, ask what it rests on. The answer will tell you a lot.
Let’s talk about what you should receive when you ask for an opinion of value. Because a bare figure over the phone isn’t worth much.
What I hand over, and what I suggest you require of anyone. The comparable sales used, with their address or at least their area, their date, and how long they took to sell. The adjustments made and why. A range rather than a single figure, because a value isn’t a single point. The current state of the market in your area. And the elements that might be checked before an eventual listing.
And what it should also include: a conversation. A document that arrives on its own by email, without anyone having set foot in your home, amounts to an online estimator with a logo on it.
If you’re given a figure without being shown what it rests on, ask what it rests on. The answer will teach you a great deal.
What a broker may require in exchange: nothing
Nothing obliges you to sign anything to get an opinion of value. Nothing. And if you’re pressured, that’s information.
Let’s talk about the fear that stops the most people from asking. By asking for an opinion of value, am I committing to something.
No. Nothing obliges you to sign anything to get an opinion of value. No brokerage contract is a prerequisite, and no one may present it to you as one.
A brokerage contract is a separate document, with its expiry date, its terms and its negotiated remuneration. It’s signed when you decide to sell, not to obtain a figure.
And if you feel pressure, that’s information in itself. How someone behaves when you’ve signed nothing shows you well enough how they’ll behave afterward.
A point of professional conduct. If you are already bound by an exclusive brokerage contract with another broker, I cannot solicit you. That’s a rule of the Organization, and it protects you.
The questions to ask, and to whom
Six questions to ask before accepting a value estimate of your house. The first one changes everything.
Let’s talk about the questions to ask when you request an opinion of value.
Here are mine. Which closed sales are you relying on, and how recent are they. Why those and not others. What adjustments did you make, and why. Are you giving me a range or a single figure. What happens with my contact details. And what am I committing to by asking you.
Now, to whom. A broker, for an opinion of value: it’s an act their licence allows them to perform. A chartered appraiser, when you need a report that can be filed. A notary, for an estate, a division, a will, the deed of sale itself, or any legal advice within their field. A tax specialist, if the question concerns tax on a property that isn’t your principal residence. And Info OACIQ, the Organization’s public information service.
Ask the question. Knowing where you stand commits you to nothing.
Who to call, and for what
I don’t do the inspection. My role is to know where to look and who to call.
- Chartered appraiser
- Notary
- Tax specialist
- OACIQ — Info OACIQ
Frequently asked questions
Get a value report for your property
Get a value report for your property — no commitment, even if it’s for three years from now
Full transcript of the video
Full transcript of the video above (translated from French). Published on September 12, 2026.
Hello. You want to know what your house is worth, but you don’t want to be called back for two years. That’s probably why you haven’t asked yet.
My name is Ernso Cléus. I’m a residential and commercial real estate broker at RE/MAX Crystal.
The various figures that circulate about your house — the municipal assessment, online estimators, the chartered appraiser — are covered in a separate video on my channel.
Yes, it’s possible, and it commits you to nothing
Let’s talk about the question people don’t dare to ask. Can I have my house valued without intending to sell it.
Yes. And you don’t owe anyone an explanation.
The reasons are many and legitimate. You’re thinking about moving in two years. You want to know where you stand before refinancing. You’re preparing an estate. You’re coming out of a separation. You simply want to know whether the figure in your head still holds up.
What holds people back isn’t the process. It’s the fear of being chased. I understand it, and it’s a well-founded fear: some online requests are resold to several brokers at once, and the phone starts ringing.
So ask first: what happens with my contact details, and who is going to call me. Someone who answers that clearly already tells you a lot.
What an opinion of value is
Let’s talk about what a broker produces when they look at your property. It’s called an opinion of value, and it’s an act of brokerage.
What that means in practice. Giving an opinion on the value of a property is reserved for licence holders. It’s not a favour done for you, it’s a regulated act, with a licence behind it and the professional responsibility that goes with it.
How it’s built. We start from the sales actually closed in your area, over a recent period. We keep the ones that resemble your property. We adjust for the differences between your property and those sold comparables: the floor area, the year, the garage, the lot, the condition of the finishes, and several other features as the case may be. And we look at two more things: how long each one took to sell, and the gap between the initial asking price and the price actually obtained.
What it is not. It’s not an appraisal report in the professional sense. It’s not meant for a court, nor for a lender that requires a formal appraisal.
What I do with your contact details, and how you stop me
Let’s talk about the real reason many people never ask for a value estimate. It’s not the price. It’s the fear of being called back for two years.
So let’s be precise about what happens with what you give me.
What I ask for: enough to produce the report and to deliver it to you. The address of the property, and a way to reach you. Not your income, not your family situation, not your intentions.
What I do with it: the report, the conversation that goes with it, and one follow-up. One.
In Quebec, the Act respecting the protection of personal information in the private sector governs this. It gives you the right to know what is kept, to have it corrected, and to object to it.
In practice, the way to stop me is simple: say so, once. By email, by text, by phone. It’s noted and it’s over.
A seller who feels pursued never calls back. A seller who has been left alone sometimes calls back three years later.
What you should receive, and in what form
Let’s talk about what you should receive when you ask for an opinion of value. Because a bare figure over the phone isn’t worth much.
What I hand over, and what I suggest you require of anyone. The comparable sales used, with their address or at least their area, their date, and how long they took to sell. The adjustments made and why. A range rather than a single figure, because a value isn’t a single point. The current state of the market in your area. And the elements that might be checked before an eventual listing.
And what it should also include: a conversation. A document that arrives on its own by email, without anyone having set foot in your home, amounts to an online estimator with a logo on it.
If you’re given a figure without being shown what it rests on, ask what it rests on. The answer will teach you a great deal.
What a broker may require in exchange: nothing
Let’s talk about the fear that stops the most people from asking. By asking for an opinion of value, am I committing to something.
No. Nothing obliges you to sign anything to get an opinion of value. No brokerage contract is a prerequisite, and no one may present it to you as one.
A brokerage contract is a separate document, with its expiry date, its terms and its negotiated remuneration. It’s signed when you decide to sell, not to obtain a figure.
And if you feel pressure, that’s information in itself. How someone behaves when you’ve signed nothing shows you well enough how they’ll behave afterward.
A point of professional conduct. If you are already bound by an exclusive brokerage contract with another broker, I cannot solicit you. That’s a rule of the Organization, and it protects you.
The questions to ask, and to whom
Let’s talk about the questions to ask when you request an opinion of value.
Here are mine. Which closed sales are you relying on, and how recent are they. Why those and not others. What adjustments did you make, and why. Are you giving me a range or a single figure. What happens with my contact details. And what am I committing to by asking you.
Now, to whom. A broker, for an opinion of value: it’s an act their licence allows them to perform. A chartered appraiser, when you need a report that can be filed. A notary, for an estate, a division, a will, the deed of sale itself, or any legal advice within their field. A tax specialist, if the question concerns tax on a property that isn’t your principal residence. And Info OACIQ, the Organization’s public information service.
Ask the question. Knowing where you stand commits you to nothing.
Let’s sum up. Having your property valued without selling it can be done, and it commits you to nothing. An opinion of value is an act of brokerage, performed by a licence holder, and it rests on comparable sales. You should receive it in writing, with the comparables that support it. A broker has no right to require anything in exchange for producing it — no contract, no exclusivity, no commitment. And your contact details belong to you: one word is enough to stop the follow-up.
So let’s do it simply.
I produce a value report. The comparable sales in your area, the features that matter, and an opinion of value. An opinion of value is an act of brokerage, and it’s exactly what my licence allows me to do. The report comes with a conversation, not with a promise. The link is below the video.
And if you are already bound by a brokerage contract with another broker, this invitation is not addressed to you.
One last clarification. An opinion of value is not an appraisal in the sense of the Act. In situations that call for a value that can be relied on in law — an estate, a division, a dispute, a particular banking file — it’s a chartered appraiser who produces the document, and that’s a different profession from mine.
Ernso Cléus, residential and commercial real estate broker, RE/MAX Crystal. Your broker who knows buildings.
Read also: selling your house with a broker · all the tips for sellers · contact me
Ernso Cléus, residential and commercial real estate broker — RE/MAX Crystal. Your broker who knows buildings.
