Cannot agree on property valuation

MFINN

My wife has left me and is renting a property. She has asked for financial settlement (possibly prior to filing for divorce), which is based on the value of our home. However we cannot agree on the valuation. Are there any ways that she can force my hand so that a valuation has to be agreed e.g. court action? Ideally I would prefer not to go down that route as it may be costly.
Also we have a 17 year old child still living with me, so will taht affect the financial settlement at all?

gwynlas

Check Zoopla for local area or agree that you will get quotes from 3 different estate agents being mindfull to ask for actual sale price rather than higher asking price on which you would of course take offers.then there would be other costs realated to sellin such as ea and solicitors fees.

podperson

I'm sorry, I'm a little confused on this - if you're buying your wife out of the property then surely you would both want a professional valuation done on it? Have you had this done and one of you doesn't agree with it or is it just you both have personal opinions on the value of property?
If it did go to court then any value would be based on a professional survey anyway.

princeofpounds

Yes, ultimately she would be able to force a valuation and/or sale.

Remember that any financial settlement you reach should be a 'clean break' agreement as part of a divorce, otherwise any assets you build up will still be subject to the claim of the other party.

I'm sure it's not a pleasant experience for you but at least you are both negotiating.

The normal practice for a valuation would be to get a RICS surveyor in for an opinion. Estate agents are ok but you always risk them valuing on their marketing price rather than a realistic sale price.

You should of course both agree to abide by any decision or the average of your own surveyors (although that may be overkill and an expense).

getmore4less

How far apart are you?

Reggie_Rebel

getmore4less wrote: »

How far apart are you?

Irrecoverable differences by the sound of the first post

PoorCharleyBear

I bought a place with my flatmate and was buying her out, some years ago. We did not want estate agents spiel, so I looked up valuers, adn found someone who would just provide a value. Think the service cost about £70.

Of course you can also go for 3 different estate agents and take the median. For me and my former flatmate, the valuer route worked well and we were comfortable with his pricing strategy.

mustmakealist

What is the difference between the valuations? I suspect that her figure might be higher than yours. I would imagine that the figure that you eventually agree on will be somewhere in the middle.
If the difference between the two is very little then you might end up paying out more in solicitors figures to come to some agreement than either or both of you gain. Can you come to some agreement with this in mind?
If you have a lengthy drawn out battle the only winners will be the solicitors

RAS

The 17 year old may well come into the calculation, depending on whether they are likely to be considered dependent and for how long. Likely to eb at school for another 18 months and then at university is a different picture to joining the army in May 2013.

it also depends whether you ar ein England, Scotland or Wales as the law is different.

MFINN

In what way will the 17 year old come into play? He wishes to stay living with me. Someone has told me that means I will get 60% of the agreed valuation of the property? Is that correct? If so then I am willing to take my chances and let my wife take me to court, which she is threatening to do in order to get a "court-ordered" valuation.
My view is that she will be wasting both our money in solicitors' fees.

BitterAndTwisted

It's not the age of your son that's important: it's whether he is a dependent and for much longer he will continue to be.

The starting-point is 50% but having a child to support and to provide a roof over his head will make a difference.

Ceasing negotiation and making her feel compelled to go to court will make beggars of you both. Do you really want that?