What can I do about a ludicrous valuation of our property

gauly

Horlock wrote: »

Been to see my solicitor, I can confirm that I can sue the bank, but if I were to win, I would need proof of my alegation, something I am working to produce.

If you have certain proof that the valuer has undervalued your property then don't waste money suing the lender - just show them the proof. There are plenty of stories on here of people getting the lender to up their valuation after they were shown sold prices of comparible properties in the same area.

dopester

Horlock wrote: »

I applied for a £110,000 mortgage paying for the valuation etc (ie borrowing slightly less than 60%) mortgage company willing to lend 70%!

I've just received the valuation from the mortgage provider at £151,000 (and the offer to lend of £101000).

Am I right in thinking you either own the house outright, or most of it, and want arrange £110K out of your home?

If so, what are would you be thinking of using that money towards? Buying something nice?

The alternative being you just want to do a standard re-mortgage of existing debt ofc.

Jewel_2

I've just sold my house. The surveyor came in at £30,000 less than what we had agreed with the purchasers. I stuck to my guns and eventually the purchasers bought it at the price we initially agreed.

I read the survey report (full structural) and had a good old laugh to myself, picking up on ridiculous things.

I started the process of complaint. As we sold, I didn't need to carry it out, but had the house still been on the market, I would have gone all the way because one guy coming in for what was supposed to be up to 4 hours (he was here for less than 2) had reduced our property by a big whack. His comparables were pathetic.

IMO mortgage companies down value properties to ensure they keep their stake for repossession purposes. I don't trust any of them after what we have been through.

People are precious about their own properties and sometimes look through rose coloured spectacles, but to just accept that one surveyor has the ultimate answers, is ludicrous.

In the end our purchasers obviously thought it was worth what they paid, and so do we.

Surveyors are scared about being sued, I am sure there is a legal route you can take. How can a surveyor, on his/her own, carry so much weight? There should at least be a proper system.

Jewel_2

ILW wrote: »

I may be wrong, but get the impression that the OP has taken the valuation as a personal insult.

And why not? A couple of hours work has possibly 'robbed' the OP of thousands of pounds! It's worth what it's worth, but one RICS surveyor shouldn't have the ultimate say. Can you think of any other industry that does that? Teachers don't, Doctor's don't, lawyers don't. They have systems and teams of people making decisions.

ILW

I would have thought that in the end, if the lender dosn't want to lend that much, it's up to them.

LeeSouthEast

A solicitor doesn't care if you win or lose. They are a business and the likelihood of a long drawn out argument is better for them as it'll rack up your fees.

anselld

Jewel wrote: »

And why not? A couple of hours work has possibly 'robbed' the OP of thousands of pounds!

Not really. OP is remortgaging, not selling. Just means less money can be borrowed or possible valuation fee lost if OP decided not to take the mortgage offered.

Still not really sure though why mortgage co have offered less than 0.7 * valuation if it is a 70% LTV mortgage. Is it definately a valuation problem rather than income multiples etc? OP, have you actually discussed options with the potential lender?

Cat695

Horlock wrote: »

OK just an update.

Been to see my solicitor, I can confirm that I can sue the bank, but if I were to win, I would need proof of my alegation, something I am working to produce.

At present I intend to go ahead, but I'll need compelling proof first.

As for the rather unhelpful comments about estate agents over inflating prices, I don't think that the comments are even relevant to the problem. Everyone knows estate agents over inflate prices (at least they do in England and Wales - slightly different in Scotland - and personally I far prefer that system).

The issue was never whether the estate agent was giving a genuine valuation, the issue was that the valuer didn't. You can't buy a 1 bedroom flat for the price he valued a 3 bedroom house - therefore his valuation is wrong. It is not genuine and according to my solicitors I can sue (not prosecute as correctly pointed out above).

Thank you to everyone who has posted helpfully.

Let me just get this straight

SO your Solicitor said that you can sue a bank for valuing your house for less than what an untrained person said it was worth (IE the EA) because you want to borrow money off them?

SO what are you going to do when they decide NOT to lend you the money


I'd love to see the outcome of that

Jewel_2

Cat695 wrote: »

Let me just get this straight

SO your Solicitor said that you can sue a bank for valuing your house for less than what an untrained person said it was worth (IE the EA) because you want to borrow money off them?

SO what are you going to do when they decide NOT to lend you the money


I'd love to see the outcome of that

I don't think it's necessarily to do with the bank not lending money, that IS there prerogative. However, for a valuer to 'get it wrong' can be detrimental to the house owner. OK they're not selling (and I agree it could be a multiples issue), but even so, I am pretty level headed and I was well cheesed off with our purchaser's surveyor valuation, based on nothing!

Cat695

Jewel wrote: »

I don't think it's necessarily to do with the bank not lending money, that IS there prerogative. However, for a valuer to 'get it wrong' can be detrimental to the house owner. OK they're not selling (and I agree it could be a multiples issue), but even so, I am pretty level headed and I was well cheesed off with our purchaser's surveyor valuation, based on nothing!

Which is why its not detrimental.......and seeing as an EA is very unlikely to hold ANY qualifications in being able to determine house prices and which will be even harder to obtain a correct value in this kind of market (are they up or are they down) then the bank will have a far better chance of winning than a home owner who is trying to sue JUST because he wants to BORROW more money.