Different valuations from different mortgage providers?

Charlieuk01

I'm about to embark on a remortgage after several years of renovations, so the hope is to release some equity to refinance the short-term debt.

With this in mind the valuation is going to be really important. Whatever the valuation is dictates the LTV as well as how much equity we can release to clear the credit cards.

First question: Is there any justification to applying to 2 or 3 mortgage providers to see what each of their surveyors value the property at? As they could theoretically be different? Downside is possible survey costs and credit score impact.

Second question: where does the value come in the application process? I'd quite like to know what value they have decided on before I commit to a LTV. If it's valued highly, I'd keep more equity in the property and vice versa.


Finally, my thoughts to assist in the valuation is to provide the valuer with a mini-pack
> Example of house-sold for prices, along with their particulars
> Because there aren't any comparable houses, I'm hoping to use these values with their past sold prices to show their increase in value.
> A list of improvements we've done in the house and the cost e.g. damp proofing, plastering, bathrooms, kitchens etc (possibly with some before/after photos
> This is all in addition to the usual stuff, nice clean house and a bribe in the form of a cuppa and bit of cake!
*** Have I missed anything that could help achieve the maximum value?***


Any help from the forumites is really appreciated.

Cheers, Charlie

davidmcn

I don't have all the answers, but bear in mind:

• The valuation is done by firms of surveyors, not by the lenders themselves - and some of them are likely to instruct the same surveyors, who will come up with the same value no matter who is asking.
• You don't need to spoon-feed surveyors on how to value a property, they'll manage it themselves.
• How much you have spent on the property is irrelevant (and don't expect that you'll necessarily make it back), they'll value it on its current condition. And they're not going to assess your cleaning skills!

muhandis

Lenders use a panel of surveyors so it is quite possible that 2 (or 3) lenders instruct the very same firm of surveyors for your house.

Charlieuk01 wrote: »

First question: Is there any justification to applying to 2 or 3 mortgage providers to see what each of their surveyors value the property at?

With regard to LTV, from experience, even after the offer stage you can add to your deposit to go down an LTV band. That shouldn't be an issue.

One tip that my broker used for a recent remortgage was to put in a very optimistic value on the application. He said there's nothing to lose as the worst that can happen is that the property is notionally "down valued". Best case scenario is that the valuer values it at what you put in, which is what happened in our case.

However, if you put in 200k on your application, even if the valuer thinks its worth 220k, the report will still say 200k.

Anyway, I would recommend consulting a broker who probably would know better as to how to go about a scenario like yours.