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Offered the chance to buy house we're renting

Hi, my husband and I have been renting this house for 3 years and my landlady has asked if we would like to buy it and we are now in the position where we have enough for a deposit and to be able to get a mortgage. She has said for us to arrange a valuation so my question is who would be the best person to value it? Does a surveyor do that or is that something different. Also any advice regarding this situation would be appreciated.
Regular saver £200 Saving for emergency fund (£2000)
ISA £30 Saving for new clothes/ new laptop (£1000)

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  • kloana
    kloana Posts: 431 Forumite
    Saving_NOW wrote: »
    Hi, my husband and I have been renting this house for 3 years and my landlady has asked if we would like to buy it and we are now in the position where we have enough for a deposit and to be able to get a mortgage. She has said for us to arrange a valuation so my question is who would be the best person to value it? Does a surveyor do that or is that something different. Also any advice regarding this situation would be appreciated.

    She needs to know what to sell it at (if she doesn't already). Usual protocol would involve her arranging a valuation :) Which can take the form of estate agent appraisals (often taking an average of several valuations), or can involve the input of an individual valuer/surveyor. For the latter, there would be a fee. Don't you pay it! :)

    Your side of the valuation bargain will be undertaken as part of your mortgage deal. Your lender will insist upon, at the least, a basic valuation of the property, so that the amount they're lending you accurately corresponds to your required mortgage LTV, and so on. This can range from free, to a good few hundred quid (or more), depending on the level of valuation undertaken (i.e. basic valuation, to full structural survey). Payment of fees can vary from stand-alone payments, to fees simply being rolled up into your mortgage loan - but it completely depends which product you apply for.

    If a 'proper' survey does not feature as part of your mortgage approval, you can still arrange one yourself - but it makes no sense to do so before you're approved the mortgage (which will be 'subject to valuation').
  • G_M
    G_M Posts: 51,977 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Saving_NOW wrote: »
    .... She has said for us to arrange a valuation so my question is who would be the best person to value it? Does a surveyor do that or is that something different. Also any advice regarding this situation would be appreciated.
    Ask 6 estate agents to come round (not all together!) and say you are thinking of selling (don't go into ownership....). Ask them to send a written proposal (their costs and recommended price).

    Select the lowest two and show the owner. Then point out that estate agents always overvalue as they hope to encourage owners to use their services. And alsopoint out that by selling to you, they will save the estate agents fee (2%?), and offer to buy for a few thousand less than the lower of the two valuations.
  • Thank you so much for your quick reply's and valuable information, there has started this winter some damp in the loft on the chimney breast aswell only noticed how bad it was this week so would that factor into the valuation? My landlady has always sorted out every problem so I will inform her she could get it done now or reduce price and we could do if we buy it. Is that how it works, sorry but this is our first time venturing into the world of home ownership.

    Thanks again.
    Regular saver £200 Saving for emergency fund (£2000)
    ISA £30 Saving for new clothes/ new laptop (£1000)

  • would suggest you do your own research (not on here) before committing to anything, especially if there are repair issues with the property.

    also get your credit files and check your eligibility with some mortgage lenders - you may have the deposit together but need to check whether your likely to be accepted first.

    In terms of the EA valuation, you shouldnt be running around sorting that out. Thats for the landlord to sort. The only thing you will need to think about is your mortgage valuation but you are no where near that stage yet.

    Like i said do some proper research before jumping in head first. And just because shes your landlord doesnt mean she shouldn't be doing things that are her responsibility as the seller i.e arranging a landlord valuation.
    An opinion is just that..... An opinion
  • grifferz
    grifferz Posts: 568 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 500 Posts Name Dropper Combo Breaker
    Saving_NOW wrote: »
    there has started this winter some damp in the loft on the chimney breast aswell only noticed how bad it was this week so would that factor into the valuation?

    Yes, you should point it out and say that it affects your offer and may affect it more depending on what the survey says as you will specifically ask the surveyor to look at it - although if it comes to that, that will open a whole new can of worms as surveyor is not a damp specialist, will just say to ask a specialist, then specialist will have a service to sell to is bound to recommend work is needed! But cross that bridge when and if you come to it.
    Saving_NOW wrote: »
    My landlady has always sorted out every problem so I will inform her she could get it done now or reduce price and we could do if we buy it. Is that how it works

    Yes you could do that. Just bear in mind that if she pays someone to do the work then you are trusting her that she has found the root cause of the damp and paid for that to be fixed properly, as opposed to just paying for a cheap cosmetic fix that only holds long enough for the sale to go through.

    Normally when buying from someone that you don't know at all, you can't be so sure about that, so you prefer to reduce your offer and fix yourself - they shouldn't have marketed it with such an obvious problem.

    You may consider your situation different.

    Also you might like to point out that in a lot of ways you would be doing her a favour by buying it as:
    • She doesn't have to give you notice and wait for that to expire (usually 2 months at least)
    • She doesn't need to renovate the property to make it ready for market. Unless you live like a monk in a show home, no property goes from home to market-ready with absolutely nothing needing doing. And you said this is a rental property with implied 3 years of reasonable wear and tear.
    • She doesn't need to either have a void where she is getting no rent or else try to market the property while you are still in it. At best even if you co-operate 100%, viewers don't like it; from the buyer's point of view it can be open ended as to how long it will take to get the tenant out and no matter how much your landlady insists you are good tenants who will leave at the end of the notice period, the third party has no way to know this is true.
    • Presumably you will result in a quick sale
    The above plus not having to pay an agent should justify a bit of a reduction from market value in my opinion.

    Of course, having to find a new rental will be significant disruption and expense for you as well, but you don't need to mention that! :)
  • kloana
    kloana Posts: 431 Forumite
    also get your credit files and check your eligibility with some mortgage lenders - you may have the deposit together but need to check whether your likely to be accepted first.

    This...
    In terms of the EA valuation, you shouldnt be running around sorting that out. Thats for the landlord to sort. The only thing you will need to think about is your mortgage valuation but you are no where near that stage yet.

    And this...

    Agreed. Don't treat it any differently to buying any other property, and certainly don't do your LL's donkey work ;)

    Sorting out your finances and likelihood of mortgage eligibility/acceptance, as above, is the first crucial step for any buyer of any property. Otherwise it's all academic. Good luck though :)
  • ValHaller
    ValHaller Posts: 5,212 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    If you arrange valuations, then the information is for you. If you get an Estate Agent valuation, this will be for the price to put it on the market at. If you get a surveyor valuation, this would be the likely selling price on the open market. You will probably manage to get Agent valuations for free, but you will have to pay for a surveyor valuation. In your position, I would not be sharing a valuation I paid for with the Landlady, unless it said what I wanted it to say .... Oh, don't tidy up for valuations, either

    I would suggest getting your own valuations and making an offer, leaving the Landlady to get her own valuation

    Bear in mind that although the Landlady will save Estate Agent fees, you will save moving fees and removal time, plus you will have a house you know in a location you are comfortable with. So even if you don't get a bargain, it may be much better value than finding and buying another place.
    You might as well ask the Wizard of Oz to give you a big number as pay a Credit Referencing Agency for a so-called 'credit-score'
  • Update, I informed the landlady that she needs to get the property valued, whilst I need to inquire regarding the mortgage. I have a local mortgage broker coming over on Thursday for an initial consultation, so I will keep you all posted as to what he says.
    Again I'd like to thank you for your help.
    Regular saver £200 Saving for emergency fund (£2000)
    ISA £30 Saving for new clothes/ new laptop (£1000)

  • JQ.
    JQ. Posts: 1,919 Forumite
    If I were in your shoes, when getting the mortgage valuation completed, I would state clearly that the price has not been agreed and you would like the valuer to provide their opinion of value without undue influence.

    If their valuation is lower than the agreed price you have a bargaining tool, if it's higher, keep quiet and buy the house.
  • ValHaller
    ValHaller Posts: 5,212 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Combo Breaker
    JQ. wrote: »
    If I were in your shoes, when getting the mortgage valuation completed, I would state clearly that the price has not been agreed and you would like the valuer to provide their opinion of value without undue influence.
    Good advice for OP employing own surveyor. But for a mortgage valuation, almost by definition, a deal has to be already negotiated. The question to be resolved at that point is whether the property has enough value to support the mortgage. Too low a valuation at this stage might cause the deal to collapse ....
    You might as well ask the Wizard of Oz to give you a big number as pay a Credit Referencing Agency for a so-called 'credit-score'
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