Can I appeal surveyors' valuation?

Mokka

I might be panicking unnecessarily but I just had a mortgage valuation done and was left with a rather disconcerting feeling that the surveyor really did not know what he was doing and intensely disliked our flat.
The valuation was very rushed as I was late for work (he was 90 min late) so I guess we were both under stress.

I guess he probably thought it's mad to buy a small flat in Central London for the price of a house in the country, but his own experience (getting stuck in traffic for over an hour) should have given him the clue: for as long as jobs are in London, and travel is either very expensive or impractical (who drives to London in the rush hour and expects to be on time?!)- housing in London will be more expensive because there is more demand for it, even if it's of worse quality. Unlike him I cannot get away arriving for work one hour late. Thus I have to live in a poky flat.

I looked up the company- Direct Valuations and they have terrible reviews.

Do all banks have appeal procedures?

Do surveyors have to check sold prices or do they just make up the price?

I can easily provide sold prices of identical and nearly identical properties in the block and next door for the same price or higher.

If things don't go our way is it worth taking it up with RICS?

Or FSA?

I was told by a broker we are very sure to get a mortgage approved with another lender, but we already wasted so much time on this and we will lose the booking fee and valuation cost. Also the rates are better.

The mortgage was already approved by the underwriters so it would be a real shame for the whole thing to be derailed in the last minute by someone who simply does not understand London housing market.

Dave_Ham

You are worrying about something that has not yet even happened.

Appealing a valuation is next to a waste of time I am afraid. You can do all of the things mentioned (not sure about the FCA one) although you are likely to just waste further time.

See what comes back and plan from there

A rate is only the best rate if you can achieve it

TheMortgageAdviser

Completely agree with the above. An appeal of a valuation is almost always a waste of time. Valuers are always right even when they're wrong!!


In most cases they know what they are going to put before they even set foot in your property! They have already done their comparables from other properties that have sold in the area and are only really looking at the condition of your property or any quirks that yours might have over and above the others (i.e. an extension on a house etc.)


They are commissioned by the mortgage lenders to protect their interests and therefore the mortgage lender will almost never go against them.


Wait and see what comes back and take it from there. Your Broker will advise you on the best course of action.

Mokka

Thanks for your responses, but this is exactly the reason I am worried - it was very clear the surveyor has not done any of the things below

TheMortgageAdviser wrote: »

In most cases they know what they are going to put before they even set foot in your property! They have already done their comparables from other properties that have sold in the area and are only really looking at the condition of your property or any quirks that yours might have over and above the others (i.e. an extension on a house etc.)

.

He did not even remember which bank he was valuing for!
THere are no quirks- the property is identical to the ones sold.
Also it had been already valued by 2 surveyors- one valued it at 204k the other one at 160k. This guy had implied that the bank would not get their 55K back.
Does he HAVE to look at sold properties? If not can he be challenged?

The first surveyor did not explain how she arrived at her 204K valuation- don't they have to say how did they arrive at the figure? (whether it's a market comparison valuation, rebuilding cost valuation or predicted income valuation?). Funnily enough the flat seems to be currently worth £204K (but it definitely wasn't in Feb 2013 when it was done). The market has gone bonkers in the past 6 months. It's frankly quite scary.

Dave_Ham

Dave_Ham wrote: »

You are worrying about something that has not yet even happened.

Appealing a valuation is next to a waste of time I am afraid. You can do all of the things mentioned (not sure about the FCA one) although you are likely to just waste further time.

See what comes back and plan from there

A rate is only the best rate if you can achieve it

Nothing has changed. Wait for the valuation to come back

TheMortgageAdviser

Dave_Ham wrote: »

Nothing has changed. Wait for the valuation to come back

Completely agree. Don't worry about it until it comes back. Surveyors are strange creatures at the best of times and you can't second guess


You might have thought it had gone badly and it comes back fine. They are poker faced! Sometimes they'll go into a clients house gushing about it and still down value it! That happened to us when we sold and I knew the surveyor!!!


Just wait and see. They get a max of 3 working days to report back and often it's a lot sooner as they use the hand helds these days so not long to wait.

Mokka

Thanks for your support, it was much needed as the wait was very stressful.

The valuation was OK and we got the mortgage.

I think it's very mean for the surveyors to play 'mind games' with people for their entertainment. I don't know if that's what happened with us or whether the surveyor was genuinely taken aback by the fact that there are still lenders out there willing to give a mortgage on a tower block, and he is doing a valuation for one of them.
Also as a FTB I guess I did not quite understand the process- I don't think the surveyor actually had the power to 'fail' the property, and having it undervalued wasn't a worry with our LTV anyway.
Very relieved it's all done and we got the rate we wanted.

Thrugelmir

"I think it's very mean for the surveyors to play 'mind games' with people for their entertainment"

Why were you present at the valuation?

Mokka

To let him in?
And out?

Edi81

It sounds as though the buyer is RTB.

Goldiegirl

I think it's very mean for the surveyors to play 'mind games' with people for their entertainment.

Surveyors don't play mind games, they are just there to do their job.


I think the issue here was that the OP got completely stressed out and was imagining problems that weren't there in the first place