Survey Results value house 6% less than agreed sale price....what to do?

fatboyslick

Hi

We're buying a house and we'd already got 10% off the asking price and the survey has come back stating it's worth another 5% less than what we've agreed.

Everything feels like it hangs in the balance now as the seller can quite easily turn around and not accept the surveyors valuation, meaning we can't afford the mortgage.

It's really wound me up because, from the seller's perspective, the estate agent has told them their house is worth 15% more than what it's really worth, and going even further below the agreed to sell price will just scare them off. They'll have in their head that their house is worth so much and will be reluctant to drop the price.

If the seller decides to pull the deal, what support do I have to complain that the estate agent has over-valued the house and ruined the deal???

In my eyes, they'd be at fault for over-selling the seller's house and as such I'd want to demand the estate agent pay me the £700 i spent on a survey that has accurately shown the house price.

Sorry for the rant...first time buyer and I'm wound up that the house we've spent ages searching for and emotionally invested in is about to go tits up because of the estate agents over selling

G_M

If the seller decides to pull the deal, what support do I have to complain that the estate agent has over-valued the house and ruined the deal???

None. This is a market economy. The seller offers the property at a price, the buyer offers a lower one, they haggle and agree (or not).

If a third party (be it the original estate agent or the surveyor later on) suggests a different price, well, so be it. The buyer/seller still have to agree a price between them.

Both buyer and seller have financial pressures on them - the buyer and his mortgage lender, the seller and the deal he's trying to cut simultaneously on his new property.

If the deal falls through, that's between buyer and seller. no one else can be blaimed.

molit

don't want to wind you up further, but never forget that the Estate agent works for the seller, its his job to get as much money out of you as possible. Not nice to hear I know.

motherofstudents

Sorry this has happened to you but you have to realise that surveyors value property not estate agents. The asking price is just a starting point. All you can do is tell the vendor what the valuation is and see if they are willing to drop the price. If this deal falls through the same thing will probably happen again with another buyer. If they will not reduce the price you can either find the extra money or walk away.

m_13

Do you know if the surveyor actually visited the property? When we bought a house the building society arranged the valuation but it came back without them ever going inside the house. They said they used market comparisons and recent sales combined with a drive past in the area.

Drove me mad as we'd paid for them to do it! This time we paid for a full structural survey and the surveyor rang us about concerns before visiting, rang us after with a verbal summary, sent the valuation back to the bank within 24 hours and we're expecting the survey report today.

If they did your valuation from a distance then the value could be different to an actual visit.

kingstreet

m_13 wrote: »

Do you know if the surveyor actually visited the property? When we bought a house the building society arranged the valuation but it came back without them ever going inside the house. They said they used market comparisons and recent sales combined with a drive past in the area.

Drove me mad as we'd paid for them to do it! This time we paid for a full structural survey and the surveyor rang us about concerns before visiting, rang us after with a verbal summary, sent the valuation back to the bank within 24 hours and we're expecting the survey report today.

If they did your valuation from a distance then the value could be different to an actual visit.

That's the difference between a lender doing something for itself (making sure the property is suitable security for a mortgage and worth what you're paying for it) and a survey done for you (where you want more details and are prepared to pay a lot more for it).

poppysarah

Offer less.
Be prepared to walk away.

nomoneytoday

Offer less, come up with a higher deposit or walk away

MX5huggy

You have no evidence what price the Estate Agent said the property was worth, they probably recommended a price, which the vendor could have then ignored completely. A house I know of was recently valued by 4 estate agents between £280k and £450k, they are that useless.

fred7777

fatboyslick wrote: »

In my eyes, they'd be at fault for over-selling the seller's house and as such I'd want to demand the estate agent pay me the £700 i spent on a survey that has accurately shown the house price.

Sorry for the rant...first time buyer and I'm wound up that the house we've spent ages searching for and emotionally invested in is about to go tits up because of the estate agents over selling

Nobody's at fault here. The surveyor simply has a different view of the value to everyone else. That's everyone including you as you were happy to buy at that price.

Rather than demanding money from the estate agent it may be worth talking to them about similar properties in the area and find out what they sold for. The best cause of action may be to challenge the surveyors valuation.

As for getting wound up, moving house is one of the three most stressful things you can do for this sort of reason. It's best to accept the fact that everyone will make a lot of money out of you from the start and try to avoid getting emotionally attached to the house until you have moved in.

poppysarah

fred7777 wrote: »

The best cause of action may be to challenge the surveyors valuation.

This is a money saving forum you know!