Remortgage Advice - LTV

bucko77

Just a quick question. We are just coming to the end of our first fixed deal in a few months and looking at potentially remortgaging. I am just wondering who decides on the current value of the property and how we find this out for mortgage purposes as we looking at new deals as this obviously affects the LTV?

We bought for £160k for 5 years ago and have done quite a bit of work on our place. A similar property next door has gone for £205k in the last few months so would expect the value to be around this now.

kingstreet

You estimate the value and put your estimate on the application.

The lender instructs a surveyor to inspect the property and he agrees with your estimate, or he disagrees and places a lower value.

He uses the recent sales of comparable properties nearby to support his valuation.

Are you remortgaging, which is what happens above, or are you going back to your current lender for a customer retention product, as that has a different process?

bucko77

Thanks for that. We are currently looking at our options so one is clearly to go back to our current lender (Santander) and see what they are offering and also comparing with what else is on the market

kingstreet

If you ask your current lender for a retention product, they may not look at the value again and simply offer a new rate, or they may use a desktop indexed valuation.

This may not yield as good a figure as you would hope. Some lenders will allow you to pay for a valuation, if you feel this would help.