Valuation advice

sol2017

Hello,

My first post although been lurking for a while and would like to thank you all for invaluable contribution.

I'm currently buying my first house and looking for advice. Offer has been accepted, survey done, mortgage offer received, searches etc underway. Where I am there are very few houses on the market and nice ones go to SSTC in days, so I had to act quickly and offered full asking price after viewing it once. The house is an old terraced house (ca 1900) so understandably has some issues.

The house is built on a slope and has front ground floor and a lower ground floor with the door to the back garden. The lgf/basement is marketed as a workshop and storage area, however the surveyor has listed it as a living room, probably because it's carpeted and current owners have a sofa in there (and also a bathroom with bath only). It has not been properly waterproofed, so some damp was highlighted in the survey.

Would the difference between storage/living area affect valuation? It's over a month since survey and I have only realised this discrepancy now Should I notify my solicitor or lender? I understand it could affect the mortgage offer. I like the house but also wouldn't want to overpay, especially considering there's quite a bit of work to do anyway.

G_M

It was marketed as a workshop. If it were marketed as a living room, the price may have been higher. You've done well.

You saw what it was and what you were getting. What it is called is irrelevant. You are paying for what you saw.

sol2017

Thanks, G_M. I guess my concern is that, aside from inaccuracy, the current valuation is higher than it should be and thus I'm overpaying. (Obviously there's a risk that I would not be able to proceed with the purchase if the valuation was revised down and vendor refused to reduce the price.) As you can see, I'm confused.

G_M

sol2017 wrote: »

Thanks, G_M. I guess my concern is that, aside from inaccuracy, the current valuation is higher than it should be and thus I'm overpaying..

It was marketed as a workshop. If it were marketed as a living room, the price may have been higher. You've done well.

davidmcn

It's a room, I doubt what the current owners or you actually use it for is relevant to the value.

glentoran99

buyers regret kicking in? You bid what you thought it was worth and it was accepted

sol2017

Buyer's regrets? Possibly. I'm in Yorkshire, so it's only expected that I'm unwilling to part from my money unnecessarily

The surveyor thought the basement was a second living room and valued accordingly. That's why I was wondering if the valuation was correct.

So there's no need to tell the lender?

glentoran99

sol2017 wrote: »

Buyer's regrets? Possibly. I'm in Yorkshire, so it's only expected that I'm unwilling to part from my money unnecessarily

The surveyor thought the basement was a second living room and valued accordingly. That's why I was wondering if the valuation was correct.

So there's no need to tell the lender?

The surveyor was employed by the lender not you, They are happy to lend you the money, so no need for you to do anything

Crashy_Time

Sounds like you are over-paying TBH, but without a link there is no way to be sure.

gettingtheresometime

sol2017 wrote: »

Hello,

My first post although been lurking for a while and would like to thank you all for invaluable contribution.

I'm currently buying my first house and looking for advice. Offer has been accepted, survey done, mortgage offer received, searches etc underway. Where I am there are very few houses on the market and nice ones go to SSTC in days, so I had to act quickly and offered full asking price after viewing it once. The house is an old terraced house (ca 1900) so understandably has some issues.

The house is built on a slope and has front ground floor and a lower ground floor with the door to the back garden. The lgf/basement is marketed as a workshop and storage area, however the surveyor has listed it as a living room, probably because it's carpeted and current owners have a sofa in there (and also a bathroom with bath only). It has not been properly waterproofed, so some damp was highlighted in the survey.

Would the difference between storage/living area affect valuation? It's over a month since survey and I have only realised this discrepancy now Should I notify my solicitor or lender? I understand it could affect the mortgage offer. I like the house but also wouldn't want to overpay, especially considering there's quite a bit of work to do anyway.

Your house sounds like the house my son is in the process of buying. His valuation has come come highlighting some work that needs to be done, approx £6k worth.

His attitude is that he's not prepared to pay effectively £6k more for the property so unless there's some movement on the price then he's prepared to walk away.

kinger101

sol2017 wrote: »

Buyer's regrets? Possibly. I'm in Yorkshire, so it's only expected that I'm unwilling to part from my money unnecessarily

The surveyor thought the basement was a second living room and valued accordingly. That's why I was wondering if the valuation was correct.

So there's no need to tell the lender?

Maybe the surveyor shouldn't have done that, but we cannot tell whether it has influenced their valuation. When either a buyer or lender asks for a valuation, they'll tend to either give one at or below the price offered. There's no need for them to give a higher value. You could always ask them, but I suspect as they commented on the damp, they did notice is wasn't a "proper" living space.

Presumably, you thought it was worth asking price when you offered. I hope you weren't planning on a down-valuation as part of your strategy.