Worried abour mortgage lender down valueing.

dazedNconfused

We're FTBs and have had an offer on a house (£235k) accepted above the asking price (£230k). We're happy going above as the house is in great condition and in a really nice area. We're applying for a mortgage with a 10% deposit but we're concerned that the lender may value the house lower than £235k. This would mean our LTV would be >90% and would probably mean we won't be able to afford without finding extra cash and /or getting the price down. As we don't know how willing the vendors will be to lowering the price, there is a chance of the sale falling through.
We currently haven't instructed a solicitor or booked surveys. We're not sure whether it is prudent (and acceptable) to wait until we have a valuation from the lenders before committing £100s to solicitors and surveyors. What do you guys think? Should we wait or do we need to bite the bullet?

eddddy

There's often no harm in waiting to get the valuation before starting the legal stuff...

But how quickly is your seller wanting to proceed? Are they buying another place? Have they found somewhere? Is there a chain?

If your seller is wanting to sell quickly, they may be unhappy with you delaying the legal stuff.

dazedNconfused

We're not too sure on their situation yet (need to find out) but the EA seems keen for us to proceed. We are tempted to hold off on the legal stuff but might risk getting a Home Buyers Survey. Whilst we would be risking £400, it would hopefully keep the vendors off our back for a bit and would include a second, independent valuation. If then both valuations are low, it might help persuade the vendors that they need to come down in price to sell the house.

Dollydaydreama

We have just had a valuation on a house that we had to over bid on, same as you and for the same reasons, we too have applied for 90% mortgage, I was very worried about the valuation however from the moment I saw the house I was surprised it was not on the market for more money compared to other local properties. We only went 2.5 k over and the valuation came back at the price we offered which was good news. Have faith and wait for the valuation to come back.

Ours came back in 24 hours.

Thrugelmir

Solicitor (unless instructed) won't commence chargeable work until there's a mortgage offer on the table. If the lender you are applying through is charging for a valuation. Might as well upgrade to the next level and have everything done at the same time.

Offering over the asking price with little room to manoeuvre, does leave you a little exposed.