estate agent v mortgage valuation

lynseys

long thread so apologies!

my ex and i currently own a home however we were looking at him buying me out as my income isnt high enough to mortgage the house by myself. he had a mortgage offer, then on valuation by the mortgage company (firstly bank of ireland - same again with legal and general) the house was downvalued by 30k to what we were told by our estate agent, which meant that if he was to mortgage for the lower amount he wouldn't be able to borrow enough to pay me the sum i need (i have main care of our 2 children so there is some negotiation but not a lot because I need a significant deposit myself).

I've been to a broker today and spoke with them about our options. my worry was with the house already being downvalued that the same would happen with another buyer. the broker and estate agents said that the valuers usually view purchase and remortgage differently, and likely the house wouldnt be downvalued, certainly not to such an extent, in the case of a sale.

does anyone have any experience or advice if this is the case? my broker has got me an AIP for a 95% mortgage on a tiny deposit so thats an option but i would rayher not. renting isnt an option due to my income.

Slithery

Estate agents always over-value a property to get your business.

The fact that the surveyor(s) have down-valued your property means that it's worth £30k less than you think.

The fact that you want/need more is irrelevant, unless you can find a cash buyer willing to pay the higher amount then you just need to accept that you can't get the money that you're hoping for.

lynseys

that's fine, my worry was risking putting it on the market and then being in the same position a few months down the line plus an agent fee, so thought I better check first:)

Doozergirl

What your broker said is correct. Surveyors are anecdotally less generous on remortgages than new purchases.

Valuation is an art, not a precise science either, so the estate agent might have gone a bit high, but it really depends on the value of the house. £30k 'discrepancy' on a million is much lower % than £30k on a £100,000 house.

lynseys

the estate agent said 185-189, where as mortgage valuation came back 160-165 (actually only 20k !!!55357;!!!56834;!!!55357;!!!56834;I cant count!)

G_M

So basically you are asking your ex to pay you more than the house is worth.

Either sell it to your ex for a lower amount, for which he'll get a mortgage, or put it on the open market which is the only true way to find out the real value.

lynseys

well, my question was really whether my estate agent was being truthful about the judgement of value being different if its a sale or a remortgage. that would determine my decision on whether to put on the market or sell to him for a lesser amount. if we put it on the market and don't get what we think/have been told its worth then we both will end up with low deposits.

we also have a shared equity loan on the house which is why we have a lower equity. there's a lot of reasons im asking him to pay the amount he is, and he agreed to providing that he could get the finance in place to do so. im not taking him for a ride.

G_M

lynseys wrote: »

well, my question was really whether my estate agent was being truthful about the judgement of value being different if its a sale or a remortgage.

It's very hard to take at face value anything the EA says.

* EAs frequently over-value hoping the seller will then use their services over a competitor's
* they also like to 'please' their clients - telling them how valuable the property is
* there may be a difference between a lender's valuation for a re-mortgage, and a purchase

How many EA valuations did you obtain before agreeing a price?

Did you get clear differentiation between what those EAs would market the property at, and what they realistically would expect to achieve (again - pinch of salt but perhaps a smaller pinch).

Why not pay an RICS surveyor yourself for an independant valuation?

lynseys

we have got two EA valuations which both have said more or less the same. i know estate agents are essentially salesmen who want you to use them. i am doing this myself without support of family etc as theyre all over 100 miles away and have other things going on. I'm worried about making the wrong decision. so stressed over it.

I'll look into a survey, thank you

lynseys

oh also they said they would put it on the market for 189k to allow some room for negotiation