mortgage - valuation

geet

I got thru to HSBC for the 5 yr fixed deal and everything went smoothly BUT was told I may have to pay £192 valuation fee because my flat is coming up as a house with basement in the site they consult which is some Real Time Valuation which is run by Hometrack and from what I can understand they are a monopoly in this kind of stuff. I am trying to get hold of them but want to know if anyone else has had similar problems. If they are a monopoly and hold wrong info for which I have to pay then as a consumer I can seek recourse, right? What should I do?!

geet

Seriously, has nobody heard of this Real Time Valuation that comes out of a Hometrack database? Well, actually, I am not surprised as there seems to be a hush-hush about this. The Hometrack man on the phone told me I am not supposed to know about them!!!

Will somebody tell me if this is normal that some database that mortgage lenders consult have wrong info about your flat / house and therefore when the mortgage lender checks you out they do not find your flat / house and therefore they decide your place needs a valuation report that will cost you.

Is this not outright unfair? Any thoughts anyone?

opinions4u

This one's simple.

A valuation fee is payable unless the lender can find a way to avoid you paying it.

In this case, they can't.

The lender needs to ensure that the property provides them with adequate security to lend against.

If you want them to lend you the money, hand over the fee.

geet

Thanks but my question is slightly different. If the lender decides I have to pay valuation fee I will. But if the lender decides this because the database the lender consults offers wrong info about my residence then surely something has to be done about this? I am sure this is happening to many people but probably they don't even know about this. I say this because the Hometrack people were a bit surprised that I knew about them!