Valuation check on a 135 m² coastal home in Seoul at ₩1,007,000,000

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DaanGale

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I need to decide soon whether this Seoul property merits a formal appraisal. The trade-off is good light and a coastal position against dated finishes, uncertain property-tax costs and a repair reserve that may be too low.

It is a three-bedroom home of about 135 m² in average condition, offered at ₩1,007,000,000. I have three current listings for comparison but only one completed transaction. My income calculation assumes eleven months of rent.

How would you adjust for usable floor area, condition and parking rather than applying one rate mechanically? If the completed sale matches the precise location and layout, I would give it substantial weight; if it differs on outlook, access or parking, I would keep a wider range. Which detail should I verify first?
 
The exact micro-location would change my view most. “Coastal” and even the same neighbourhood can conceal meaningful differences in outlook, access, noise and surrounding buildings. I would anchor to the completed sale, not average it equally with three unsold asking prices.
 
The ask works out at roughly ₩7.46 million per m², but I wouldn’t apply that rate mechanically to every square metre of a comparable. Start with unit price as a cross-check, then consider whether the extra area is genuinely useful. Layout can matter as much as the headline 135 m².
 
Is the property occupied, and if so, what is the lease length? Eleven months of rent may be a reasonable modelling choice, but the actual tenancy terms could affect both cash flow and who would consider buying it.
 
Also missing: service charges, parking and outdoor space. Those could explain a gap that looks like a condition adjustment. I would not label the whole difference “dated finishes” until those features are matched across all four comparables.
 
I’d separate the two exercises. Comparable sales help estimate market value; eleven months’ rent and a repair reserve test whether the property works as an income purchase. A property can look fairly priced by one method and unattractive by the other.
 
For condition, use an itemised cost-to-cure estimate rather than a standard percentage: finishes that are merely unfashionable belong in a different category from repairs that cannot be deferred. Obtain quotations where possible, then add uncertainty rather than pretending the grade is precise.
 
How similar is the single completed sale in size, condition and micro-location, and how close was its transaction date to your proposed purchase? Without those details, any floor-area adjustment range would be false precision.
 
I’d also keep possible property tax costs outside the comparable adjustment. They belong in the ownership-cost calculation and may depend on circumstances not stated here. Confirm the current treatment locally rather than capitalising a rough assumption into the value.
 
A practical worksheet would have one row per property and separate columns for transaction status, date, floor area, layout, condition, parking, outdoor space, service charges and exact location. That should reveal whether the completed sale is genuinely comparable or simply the only sale available.
 
Light needs more definition too. Orientation, obstruction and whether the outlook could change are more useful than a listing’s general claim of good light. For a coastal home, I would also make the physical inspection and likely maintenance needs central to the repair reserve.
 
The small update is that there is still only one completed transaction, which raises another question: was that sale ordinary or driven by something the worksheet does not capture?

It is better evidence than the three asking prices, but it could be an outlier because of parking, layout, condition or the exact coastal outlook. I would not make it the centre of the range until its sale circumstances are checked. I’d also ask how long the current listings have been available and whether any have attracted serious interest.
 
That is fair. With only one completion, I’d present a range rather than a point valuation. The sale can establish one reference, while the listings indicate seller expectations—not achieved value. Any large unexplained gap should remain visible instead of being forced into a condition percentage.
 
The intended use matters. If this is an investment, lease length, realistic rent, service charges, maintenance and vacancy assumptions deserve more weight. If it is primarily a home, layout, parking, outdoor space and the particular location may justify a price that the rent calculation does not.
 
My next steps would be: verify the completed-sale details, inspect each comparable’s micro-location, compare usable layouts rather than area alone, and get repair estimates. Then run two figures—adjusted comparable value and income-based value—without blending them prematurely.
 
If only one missing fact can be prioritised, I’d choose full details of the completed comparable. Its exact location, date, condition, area, parking and outdoor space determine whether it is a meaningful anchor at all. Until then, ₩1,007,000,000 is an asking price to test, not a valuation conclusion.
 
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