Advice on valuation/renegotiating price

PresentTense

Hello


I’m a FTB and have agreed the purchase of a one bed ex-local authority flat in SE London for the full asking price. The mortgage lender has carried out a valuation and sent through a mortgage offer based on the asking price however - I’ve just had a homebuyers survey report done which has highlighted some repairs but crucially has valued the flat at £35K below the asking price…! To support this, the surveyor included 3 solid examples of near identical flats sold in the last 12 months within the same estate for between £35-60K below the asking price. Also, the property needs a fair bit of modernising throughout (which I knew).


I really love the flat but I think they’re taking the p*** and that the property is clearly not worth the full asking price in context of the current market value.


I am in the process of trying to renegotiating the price with the EA however he is insisting that the asking price is reasonable, that the mortgage valuation supports this and by way of evidence has listed similarly sized/priced ex-local properties a few streets away…


I have made a new offer at £12.5K above the RICS surveryors’ suggested valuation, which is £22.5K less than the asking price, but the estate agent is not budging at all.


So I need a bit of advice and clarity:



1. I have no prior experience of this situation – is the EA fully aware it's overpriced and just trying to blag it/save face? (I suspect yes)
2. Surely the 3 properties sold in the same estate are the most comparable rather than his examples of properties on other streets?
3. What’s the best way to negotiate/get the seller to compromise?
4. Is it worth appealing the mortgage valuation?


Any advice much appreciated! J

martinsurrey

PresentTense wrote: »

I really love the flat but I think they’re taking the p*** and that the property is clearly not worth the full asking price in context of the current market value.

If its CLEARLY not worth what you offered, why did you offer it?

PresentTense

martinsurrey wrote: »

If its CLEARLY not worth what you offered, why did you offer it?

I offered it because in my research I didn't see those 3 flats (one of them went on the market sometime after I'd made my offer and sold immediately) and other flats I was looking at in surrounding areas were roughly around the same, and obviously I wasn't aware of the some of the repair and updating issues (which contribute to the overall value) until after the homebuyers survey was carried out.


Yes, in hindsight I would have done things differently but as I said I'm a FTB.

ceminem

If you offered the asking price then that was the price you were willing to pay. Your mortgage valuation confirms the value so if I was in the sellers position I wouldn't budge either.

Jox

You could threaten to walk away unless they reduce the price but you could lose this flat.

PresentTense

ceminem wrote: »

If you offered the asking price then that was the price you were willing to pay. Your mortgage valuation confirms the value so if I was in the sellers position I wouldn't budge either.

It was the price I was willing to pay based on the limited information I had at the time. That's the whole point of surveys right?

bebewoo

It's in London though if you wait a few months it'll probabkly be worth what you offered.

Hoploz

The question you have to ask yourself is ... Can I buy another flat I like as much, for the lower price? If other similar properties are readily available then forget this one and buy one of the others. If there is nothing as good for the agreed price, then it is worth more than the other cheaper properties - and the mortgage valuation is fine so there's no reason not to proceed.

PresentTense

Jox wrote: »

You could threaten to walk away unless they reduce the price but you could lose this flat.

Ultimately I can't pay the full asking price whilst there are essentially the same flats in the same estate being sold for £50K less at this very moment. Perhaps I could make that clear to the EA and see what the vendor wants to do about it...

ceminem

If you wanted to play hardball I would question the mortgage valuation and ask them to revalue based on your new information so you have more ammunition to go back to the seller, but you run the very real risk of losing the flat.

Hoploz

PresentTense wrote: »

It was the price I was willing to pay based on the limited information I had at the time. That's the whole point of surveys right?

The point of a mortgage valuation is to enable the lender to assess their risk. And they are happy to go ahead at this valuation as they feel they could get their money back if you default and they need to re-sell.

The point of a homebuyers survey is .... Well tbh it doesn't say a lot, but is a basic evaluation of the property's condition.

The point of a structural survey is to report more detailed information about condition, in order that the buyer can assess whether further costs will be necessary in future.