How to get a low valuation for house??

Mabelethel

Hi
I'm wondering if anyone can help with this.

My husband and I split 2 years ago. during that time he has run up an enourmous debt and been made bankrupt with a charge against the family home. There is little equity in the house - between £15 and £30 k. With the help of my mum there is a possiblity that I can pay off the 50% of equity that the Insolvency Service are looking for but only if I get a low valuation.

Any ideas how I can get 3 low valuations from estate agents or 1 from a surveyor? I have had the house valued by 3 local agents so far - 1 low and 2 high. I have told the agents that I want it priced to sell quickly but beyond that I'm not sure how I can convince them to do me a favour when there is no profit for them.

Has anyone had any experience of this? Would I be better off paying a surveyor and making my position clear?

Many thanks

debtinfo

would it not be better to get a a true and accurate valuation of the property?

JCS1

The OR will have already undertaken a drive by valuation, so will have a good idea of the value already.

immoral_angeluk

I really wouldn't recommend messing with the insolvency service. You need to get true and accurate valuations, not purposefully low just to get out of paying more. That could land you in serious trouble if they realise what you've done.

Mabelethel

I'm not suggesting doing anything overtly dishonest just getting 2 more valuations that are at the low rather high end of the market value. After all the house will be repossed and sold for under the market value if I can't do anything. The quotes I've had so far range between 150 and 175 k. I would just like to know if anyone has any suggestions as to how I word this with agents or a surveyor??

immoral_angeluk

Mabelethel wrote: »

I'm not suggesting doing anything overtly dishonest just getting 2 more valuations that are at the low rather high end of the market value. After all the house will be repossed and sold for under the market value if I can't do anything. The quotes I've had so far range between 150 and 175 k. I would just like to know if anyone has any suggestions as to how I word this with agents or a surveyor??

I very much doubt any surveyor or estate agent will purposefully give a low valuation and you need to be careful that the OR doesn't contact the agencies to confirm the valuation.
Thing to do I suppose was just keep trying different ones?

silvercar

Do the opposite of everything outlined on the housing board for selling your home for the best price.

So no tidying or de-cluttering.

No smell of freshly ground coffee or freshly cut flowers.

No smart looking front door with oversized tubs of trimmed box hedging.

No vases of dried twigs in the lounge, no roaring fire in the grate.

Instead try a faint smell of damp, clothes drying on radiators, condensation on the windows, papers piled in the lounge etc.

and you tell the estate agent you want a price that will give you a quick sale, rather than holding out for a decent price.

Ineedaname

Be honest with the estate agent and tell them you need a valuation for buying back your ex's half of the BI in the property. That should get you a realistic valuation on the appropriate basis. Ask them for a sale valuation and they'll always price it higher in hope!

Mabelethel

Ineedaname wrote: »

Be honest with the estate agent and tell them you need a valuation for buying back your ex's half of the BI in the property. That should get you a realistic valuation on the appropriate basis. Ask them for a sale valuation and they'll always price it higher in hope!

Will they though? I'm assuming that Estate Agents value a house looking towards a potential profit from a sale. If I'm telling them that I'm not selling then will they value the house?

seven-day-weekend

silvercar wrote: »

Do the opposite of everything outlined on the housing board for selling your home for the best price.

So no tidying or de-cluttering.

No smell of freshly ground coffee or freshly cut flowers.

No smart looking front door with oversized tubs of trimmed box hedging.

No vases of dried twigs in the lounge, no roaring fire in the grate.

Instead try a faint smell of damp, clothes drying on radiators, condensation on the windows, papers piled in the lounge etc.

and you tell the estate agent you want a price that will give you a quick sale, rather than holding out for a decent price.

...and a good smell of dog and/or nappies.

molly1412

i am an estate agent and the min you tell them what you are doing they will be annoyed you have wasted their time and will usually not send anything in writing......as it is wasting their time.

what to do is call out some more and as said above make sure the house is a mess (but not in an obvious way) we can always tell when someone is trying to purposely put the agent off.

i would mention that you have had 2 valuations so far at say 150k and you feel these are still high as you are in desperate need for the money within 4-6 weeks (this puts pressure on the agent to commit they can sell in this timeframe) and that you will likely go with the lowest valuation and hopefully they wont go too high.

its hard because as an estate agent (contrary to popular belief) we do have a duty of care to the client and to get the best price possible for the property so you really need to work hard and saying you are in dire straights and then they will give you a lower valuation.

if the valuation is too high you can call them and ask that it be reduced we sometimes will do this for people but be careful you dont let on that its for this purpose or anything other than to market in the future as they wont helo you at all

hope this helps x