Huge Discrepancy on Halifax Index Linked House Valuation Reducing LTV

DismasX

I'm looking into the options around our current mortgage deal to decide if we should change products or possibly downsize the house it's self.

As part of the process, I contacted Halifax for the current index linked valuation and was shocked when they informed me that the house's value according to them is £274,000. That's over 20% lower than expected.

The local estate agents have indicated that we should realistically be able to sell for £349,000 which is only slightly lower than we were expecting and £75,000 more than Halifax values it.

Based on the price we should be able to sell at that gives us a LTV of about 74% as opposed using the Halifax's valuation which gives us a dramatically different LTV of 94% and reducing our options to almost non existent!

Does anyone know if there's a way to get Halifax to correct/update their figure? Or any other suggestions as to a way forward?

Any help/suggestions greatly appreciated.

beecher2

You could get Halifax to do a valuation, but I think it'll cost you money so only do so if you're sure you're not going to sell. Have a look at recent sales in your area as the EA may well be overvaluing your property. If you're downsizing, the properties you're interested in may well be cheaper than you think they will be.

_Andy_

You could ask/pay them to instruct a proper valuation.
Bear in mind though this is probably still going to end up being less than what the EA is telling you.

Senior_Paper_Monitor

Yes, pay them to conduct a valuation -

Over £200,000 £355

Over £300,000 £430

kingstreet

DismasX wrote: »

I'm looking into the options around our current mortgage deal to decide if we should change products or possibly downsize the house it's self.

As part of the process, I contacted Halifax for the current index linked valuation and was shocked when they informed me that the house's value according to them is £274,000. That's over 20% lower than expected.

The local estate agents have indicated that we should realistically be able to sell for £349,000 which is only slightly lower than we were expecting and £75,000 more than Halifax values it.

Based on the price we should be able to sell at that gives us a LTV of about 74% as opposed using the Halifax's valuation which gives us a dramatically different LTV of 94% and reducing our options to almost non existent!

Does anyone know if there's a way to get Halifax to correct/update their figure? Or any other suggestions as to a way forward?

Any help/suggestions greatly appreciated.

Look at remortgaging to another lender and get a deal with a free valuation as part of the offer?

DismasX

Thanks for all of your suggestions.

I've struggled to compare to local properties for sale we live in a small village surrounded by small villages and the houses all tend to be fairly unique with prices ranging from 120,000 to upwards of 500,000!

Looks like either we have to pay for a valuation or change lenders. Halifax seem to be effectively encouraging me to look elsewhere!

DannyboyMidlands

Considering that the estate agent will be over-valuing (as they do to win instructions) and the lender under-valuing (because they are risk averse, doesn't matter whether they see the place or not) then the actual value is likely to be somewhere between the two. Unless the future buyer needs a mortgage.

opinions4u

Looks like either we have to pay for a valuation or change lenders. Halifax seem to be effectively encouraging me to look elsewhere!

In the good old days, the borrower had to pay for a valuation because there was no such thing as an indexed value.

When Halifax introduced the indexed valuation (and they were the first lender to do so) they saved tens of thousands of people a valuation fee when borrowing for home improvements or, more recently, changing deal. Good news for the customer, bad news for the valuer.

They take the last valuation, apply their post code driven index to it and come up with a number. That's where the line is drawn.

It's not an unfair way of doing things. It's just sometimes people don't like where the numbers land. While the true value probably lies between estate agent figure and what the computer says, it's not underheard of for properties in that price range to sell for 20% below the asking price.

I've struggled to compare to local properties for sale we live in a small village surrounded by small villages and the houses all tend to be fairly unique with prices ranging from 120,000 to upwards of 500,000!

Which may explain why there is a wide differential between agent and computer.