Undervaluation by Abbey Bank/Santander!!

PJD

townmouse53 wrote: »

Also - I've heard from everyone I talk to about this that Abbey/Santander are notorious for undervaluing houses. FYI.

Is it actually Santander who is valuing it though? Wouldn't they use a local surveyor?

brit1234

townmouse53 wrote: »

Also - I've heard from everyone I talk to about this that Abbey/Santander are notorious for undervaluing houses. FYI.

Far more likely you bought an offered valued property, shared ownership are notorious for it. Developer over value them under the ruse of affordable housing.

I wouldn't blame the bank they are valuing to current prices which are expected to continue to fall.

The lesson is to avoid shared ownership at all cost, however I hope it works out for you.

townmouse53

An UPDATE on the situation:
Got a call from the mortgage advisor yesterday. After taking every last second of the 7 days in which to "consider" the valuation, they refused to change it. The appraiser was from E-surv and we are going to formally complain to them and RICS about the appraisal, as the comparative exact same flat without a sea view valued the same day at £14,000 MORE than mine.

What the mortgage advisor said was that Abbey/Santander, who had issued agreements in principle for the buyer of at least one other flat in my building (and a couple other properties) turned around at the last minute and DECLINED the mortgages!! I was told it was illegal for them to discriminate against those purchasing shared ownership if they hadn't specifically stated they don't do shared ownership mortgages, so they are simply either deliberately undervaluing them or declining them at the last minute in order to, as someone said, not add any further shared ownership mortgages to their books.

Fortunately, my buyer has decided to go ahead with the purchase and is applying for a mortgage with my current lender, who will take my RICS valuation. But at least one other person in this building is probably very upset right now as their sale will have fallen through at the last moment.

By the way, for all those sneering at shared ownership homes: the flats were brand new, 2 bedrooms, en suite bath, built-in wardrobes, luxury finish, came with secure parking, are disabled-friendly and very well maintained. One can purchase a very small share - the smaller the better, as they sell on faster - and have the advantages of having a lovely property that you can decorate any way you wish and none of the "slum landlord" problems with renting. Also, no sudden letters to move you on because the landlord wants to rent to somebody else at a much higher rate! The viewings when you go to sell are incredibly brisk - I had 1 - 2 viewings a DAY and 3 offers within two weeks. And that's during our New Depression.

antrobus

townmouse53 wrote: »

By the way, for all those sneering at shared ownership homes... .

Where exactly? A couple of posters have expressed the opinion that shared ownership isn't a good idea, but you would have to have one enormous chip on your shoulder to consider that to be 'sneering'.

edinburgher

I think they will undervalue the property to keep the mortgage holder (my ex) a customer

I'm fairly sure they can't do that

Milliemoodle_2

townmouse53 wrote: »

By the way, for all those sneering at shared ownership homes:

I don't think people were sneering at shared ownership homes, certainly your home sounds lovely, especially with sea views! I think it's more that they are notoriously difficult to sell/buy, the legal paperwork is horrendous and in a lot of cases people end up paying a fortune out by way of "admin" fees. Also the leases can contain some extremely onerous conditions and restrictions relating to re-sale. A lot of lenders don't like offering mortgages on them, solicitors don't like dealing with them and a lot of people aren't really sure whether they are better off buying shared-ownership or not buying at all.

Personally, I wouldn't touch with a barge-pole but that's because I don't really see the point of them and in my experience they are a nightmare to deal with.

Anyway, I do hope all goes smoothly for you from now on!

townmouse53

Milliemoodle wrote: »

I don't think people were sneering at shared ownership homes, certainly your home sounds lovely, especially with sea views! I think it's more that they are notoriously difficult to sell/buy, the legal paperwork is horrendous and in a lot of cases people end up paying a fortune out by way of "admin" fees. Also the leases can contain some extremely onerous conditions and restrictions relating to re-sale. A lot of lenders don't like offering mortgages on them, solicitors don't like dealing with them and a lot of people aren't really sure whether they are better off buying shared-ownership or not buying at all.

I don't know if shared ownership properties are hard to sell, the few that have come up for sale in our building have gone quite quickly with lots of showings almost immediately. There are only a few banks that will lend for a shared ownership mortgage which is why you normally go with the mortgage advisor attached to the estate agency listing the property - they're familiar with the entire process. The legal work is quite complex, hence you having to pay the first £1,000 of it for your buyer, plus there are admin fees, but these were only about £500 for all the financials, new lease, etc. I couldn't see any restrictions with re-sale excepting you had to let the housing association offer the flat for sale to people registered with them for low-income or key worker housing and those that were registered came pretty quickly to view when they were notified a flat was for sale - but that may just be that the flats are only 18 months old and still look very new. I can't say the lease was onerous, any more so than any other place I've rented, but the reason I purchased the shared ownership was so I wasn't stuck in yet another over-priced, under-maintained rental that wouldn't let me install so much as a grab rail in the bathroom.

Anyway, the buyers applied for the mortgage with another bank today, everything looks like its finally going through but until I hear it officially, I'm not holding my breath!

townmouse53

antrobus wrote: »

Where exactly? A couple of posters have expressed the opinion that shared ownership isn't a good idea, but you would have to have one enormous chip on your shoulder to consider that to be 'sneering'.

A chip? Me? Sounds pretty heavy and hard to keep balanced

poppysarah

townmouse53 wrote: »

A chip? Me? Sounds pretty heavy and hard to keep balanced

no: chips are delicious. plenty of vinegar and salt though please.

geoffky

Your buyers are nutters..well done you for finding them...keep tight hold of them.