House valued lower by Surveyor

barney_1972

Sold house STC @ £106,000 (came down from £115,000) but purchaser's surveyor (Cheltenem & Gloucester) have valued the house at £90 - £95k.

Ours is 3 bed, big garden, conservatory and garage, however 2 bed smaller house (same build & type) sold 6 weeks ago for £104,000.

Survey has highlighted some moisture in attic beams although i've had a timbers specialist have a look and will treat the beams for about £155 with a twenty year guarantee, so surely that can't be an issue. Also the survey said that the garage has an asbestos roof, but surely again that cannot affect an house price so much.

Buyer sounds interested still but i assume he's rubbing his hans together at the thought of a huge discount.

Not too keen on taking such a huge drop as we have already reduced the price to remain competitive.

Any thought or advice more than welcome.

realwildone

If the house is not worth the money. Reduce the price or leave it up forever.

The tide is turning

leftieM

I don't think there is anything you can do. You could ask your EA to tell the surveyor about the other house (they may have access to them). Your buyer won't be able to get a mortgage for more than the surveyor's valuation so they're snookered.
The only other hope is that the surveyor overestimated the work required to the house but I understand from your op that that isn't the case.
I would ask the EA why they suggested marketing at the original price.
My sympathies btw.

peterg1965

There is little you can do as it is not 'your' survey, it is the purchasers. The mortgage lender surveyor sounds as if he is being ultra cautious when giving a value for your property. I have been bitten by this before, and it is particlarly prevalent if there is a high loan to value for the purchasers' mortgage. I would do what you can to challenge this through your estate agent. You need proof that the valuation is coming in under what you and your estate agent think the property is worth. Try using the websites to find out what similar properties have recently sold for. Get your Estate Agent to start earning the money they will earn in comission from your sale, they should be fighting the battle on your behalf otherwise they and you will loose a sale.

barney_1972

EA is organising an indepentnt valuation.

Before putting house on market i also got the opinion of 3 other EA's who came in at pretty much the same amount (about £110k).

EA in now chasing surveyor as to how they have arrived at the figure however the surveyor will only release the info to the purchaser who hasn't yet paid the surveyor.

BTW the two bed house sold 6 weeks ago was via our EA also.

chant1l

Sounds like a crap survey! They do happen.
I am constantly surprised at the values surveyors put on properties. Irrespective of how he has done it, I have rarely seen a surveyor admit a mistake and revalue. You could get another valuation, but his finance company will be unlikely to accept this, and unfortunately your buyer may just be getting cold feet rather than excited if you hold to anything above the £95k....
I have had similair before and found that the surveyor had based his valuations on previous local house sales which were in much poorer condition and were out of date...I lost the sale and got another 4 weeks later.

Work with the EA they seem to be doing an excellent job!

rizla01

For £10-15k I would be prepared to forget that buyer.

They have the choice of finding another BS to loan them the funds but they may have got that figure in their heads as the true value of your house and not now, be prepared to go to the reduced asking price.

If you tell the EA that you will now put it with someone else, they should try their damnest to keep the sale.

This is a GOOD time of the year to market your home so you might not have to wait too long.

Messy situation caused either by valuer not knowing the area or making sure he covers his @rse.

EA should contact C&G to reconsider valuation and ask what needs to be done in order to bring your property up to the proper value or/and contact buyer to explain the situ, telling them that C&G valuer is wrong.

Hard luck, anyway and hope it's resolved soon and hope it doesn't mean that you lose a dream purchase.

btloptingout

rizla01 wrote:

This is a GOOD time of the year to market your home so you might not have to wait too long.

Yeah it's just a GREAT time to be trying to sell with the recent 3rd interest rate rise in 5 mths.....with many thinking more to come.

How important is this sale to you personaly? How important is it in relation to the £10K difference here.....

You might have to wait a long time for another buyer or end up with another surveyor giving a value of sub-£100K.

Only you can make this unenviable decision....good luck.

barney_1972

TBH we haven't yet found an house for ourselves, so we are not in a mega rush (although a sale is a sale - i can only stand doing so many viewing!!)

The purchaser on the other hand is in rented accomodation and has to move out soon. (we are prepared to go into rented for a short while)

I going to wait for the independant valuation and see what transpires in the next couple of days from EA and purchaser.

If it transpires that the house prices should have been less then well i'll have to bite the bullet, but i feel like someone is trying to have my pants down.

Anymore similiar experience / comments more than welcome.

barney_1972

Just had an interesting conversation with a well informed EA about purchasers who require 100% mortgage. (like my current buyers)

Apparently its commom for surveyors acting on behalf of the lender to undervalue properties when a 100% mortgage is involved as their is more risk of the buyer defaulting on payment.

This way if the property has to be put back on the market by the lender then there is a greater chance of selling the property at the reduced price and retrieving the full amount originally loaned.

Any thoughts on this anyone?? (Sounds logical....although doesn't help me any):mad:

Maybe i need to vet future viewings to exclude buyers who need 100% mortgage?

Doozergirl

I think that's your explanation there barney_1972. Surveyors need to be cautious with 100% mortgages. That said, I think downvaluing by 10% is a little unfair.

I have succeeded in the past in getting a surveyor to review their valuation by raking up everything I could. I emailed my mortgage broker with everything on Rightmove that was comparable and SSTC. I was also quite lucky that I could get excellent comparables from nethouseprices.com.

Worth a try but you may have to lose these buyers.

Also, do take some of the more negative comments above with a pinch of salt Yes interest ratees went up again this week and whilst it is a concern, similar comments would have been made last week too. The fact your buyer needs a 100% mortgage is far more poignant.