Colleys Valuations - any opinions please?

JenniMc

Hello everyone

I am currently trying to get a new fixed rate with Halifax and have arranged for an internal valuation to try to get the 4.59% rate that is available for up to 75% LTV.

Halifax's own estimated valuation came in a lot lower than I expected (they told me it's just an estimate based on local sales in the area) so that's why I need this internal valuation.

Halifax will arrange for Colleys to do the valuation and I've just looked them up and found some complaints about low valuations and now I'm a bit worried. Does anyone have any good experiences of them? I don't think I have any unrealistic expectations of the value of my property but it worries me that some people think Colleys gave them a very low valuation.

Thanks

Burridge60

Have you tried to look at Rightmove's sold prices section for your postcode. Do you have evidence that similar houses have sold for more than your estimated value locally. Are there any on the market now for less than your estimated valuation? Colley's are owned by Halifax they will normally value your home by reference to comparable properties in the local area.

Beware the "Offers in Excess of" with a lowish price as the lowish price is all that a Surveyor needs to see!

johnthebar

I had a Colleys survey done last week on a house that we have had an offer accepted at £250k, it was on the market at £270k and Colleys valued it at £250k

I spoke to the surveyor and he said he valued it at £250k as that was our offer. He said it was good value at £250k and if we did it up (probably about 10k of work) he would value at £275k, which I thought was a bit over generous.

The surveyor said that they look at local sold prices and trends in the market, they also look at what's currently on the market and speak to the estate agents about recent sales and offers accepted.

JenniMc

Thanks very much to you both! Property prices for comparable houses seem to range between £75,000 and £90,000 just now. We need a valuation of around £76,000 so hopefully it's within reach. Our house has had a lot of work done to it including new bathroom, kitchen and flooring and shelving in the loft so I'd be disappointed if it didn't reach the £76,000.

Halifax's estimated valuation was only £66,000 which was surprisingly low. I called them up in December and they estimated £71,000 at that time so I'm surprised that it's dropped £5,000.

Thanks again. I feel a bit less concerned now.

hillcats

When we remortgaged just over three years ago Intelligent Finance decided to use Colleys.
We had very little contact with Colleys at the time, but no reason at all for bad words against them.
The valuation was carried out quickly, and although they would not reveal the exact figure to us at
the time I have since found out that their valuation was fair at that time. (2007)