FTB in a panic: Lender down-valued property by several thousand. How do I renegotiate price?

Sophie8916

Crashy_Time said:

PirateSwan said:

Hi property peeps

Jumpy / red-faced FTB here

I'm looking for some advice on the down-valuing of a property I offered on a few weeks back

My lender has down-valued it at £7k less than the price I offered (and had accepted). (Backstory: it went to sealed bids. I am at a low ebb life wise and fell for all of the EA's selling tactics when making my bid. Properties are slipping out of affordability reach where I live, so panicked and offered the outer limits of what I can afford. £7k is a huge amount for me as my wage isn't fantastic)

I am totally kicking myself and am also worried if the down valuation will go against me in the future. I have read that when I come out of my fixed rate mortgage then a down valuation could work against me when I apply for a new fixed rate mortgage for the house.

Has anyone ever renegotiated after a down valuation? And If so, what sort of facts / figures did you put forward to support your case?

Buyers, how did you go about it? What did you say to the EA / vendor? And what was the outcome for you?

Sellers: Have you accepted a down valuation and what prompted you to make the decision?

I'd be eternally grateful for any advice anyone can give me. 

Thanks in advance.

P

Are you sure you should be buying a property, what happens when you get a large repair bill? The good news is that when mortgage rates rise houses are going to get cheaper, you should just wait IMO, or alternatively drop your offer by 10k citing "market conditions".

ah this is interesting, when do you think it will be? weve just sold out property (doing a sell high buy cheap approach!) and hoping within 6 months things may be cheaper for us

Sophie8916

PirateSwan said:

Dear all, thank you so much for your speedy replies. I really appreciate you taking the time and trouble to put together your responses. This whole thing is a stress fest and a half so it's reassuring to read what other people have to say about the issue.

Anytime Can I ask out of interest - was the surveyor from a company called Valunation?

I had an issue from "the other side" I bought my 2 bed ground floor flat in a desirable location in 2015 for 150k, sold for 180k and valuation down valued it by 15k and the surveyor was really arrogant telling me "he always down values flats as no one wants flats anymore and they will soon not exist!".

Doing research Valunation are notorious for it, I since had 2 other surveyors who came and said £180k was about right and laughed at Valunations approach.

PirateSwan

@Sophie8916 . Thanks for your message. It was the lender's surveyor; I don't have their name to hand but it wasn't Valunation. 

Sophie8916

PirateSwan said:

@Sophie8916 . Thanks for your message. It was the lender's surveyor; I don't have their name to hand but it wasn't Valunation. 

It will all work out in the end, ive had a stressful time as a seller recently so any advise you would like please feel free to pm 

SpiderLegs

Sophie8916 said:

Crashy_Time said:

PirateSwan said:

Hi property peeps

Jumpy / red-faced FTB here

I'm looking for some advice on the down-valuing of a property I offered on a few weeks back

My lender has down-valued it at £7k less than the price I offered (and had accepted). (Backstory: it went to sealed bids. I am at a low ebb life wise and fell for all of the EA's selling tactics when making my bid. Properties are slipping out of affordability reach where I live, so panicked and offered the outer limits of what I can afford. £7k is a huge amount for me as my wage isn't fantastic)

I am totally kicking myself and am also worried if the down valuation will go against me in the future. I have read that when I come out of my fixed rate mortgage then a down valuation could work against me when I apply for a new fixed rate mortgage for the house.

Has anyone ever renegotiated after a down valuation? And If so, what sort of facts / figures did you put forward to support your case?

Buyers, how did you go about it? What did you say to the EA / vendor? And what was the outcome for you?

Sellers: Have you accepted a down valuation and what prompted you to make the decision?

I'd be eternally grateful for any advice anyone can give me. 

Thanks in advance.

P

Are you sure you should be buying a property, what happens when you get a large repair bill? The good news is that when mortgage rates rise houses are going to get cheaper, you should just wait IMO, or alternatively drop your offer by 10k citing "market conditions".

ah this is interesting, when do you think it will be? weve just sold out property (doing a sell high buy cheap approach!) and hoping within 6 months things may be cheaper for us

I know someone who tried this approach. Unfortunately they made a right mess of it and are still paying their landlords mortgage ten years later! Whoops!

still I hear the bedsits in Edinburgh aren’t too grotty, and they’ve still got their sense of humour despite the vast amount of money they’ve chucked away.

I guess you’ve worked out where your break even point is. Presumably you aren’t needing to rent, nor need a mortgage for your next purchase. Personally I doubt there’s going to be much movement in the next six months, maybe back to 0.5% which obviously isn’t really going to have any impact on house prices.

hope it works out for you

morhen

I had a 15k down valuation from the survey the other month.  I took the survey around to the seller, and we went through it while drinking a cup of tea.  When we reached the end, I asked how would they feel about changing the sale price to match the survey valuation?  "Yes, seems fair to me" was the reply.  If you don't ask, you will never know

user1977

morhen said:

I had a 15k down valuation from the survey the other month.  I took the survey around to the seller, and we went through it while drinking a cup of tea.  When we reached the end, I asked how would they feel about changing the sale price to match the survey valuation?  "Yes, seems fair to me" was the reply.  If you don't ask, you will never know

And did your seller have other potential buyers in the wings, some of which had (I guess) also offered more than the valuation?

rexmedorum

Sophie8916 said:

Crashy_Time said:

PirateSwan said:

Hi property peeps

Jumpy / red-faced FTB here

I'm looking for some advice on the down-valuing of a property I offered on a few weeks back

My lender has down-valued it at £7k less than the price I offered (and had accepted). (Backstory: it went to sealed bids. I am at a low ebb life wise and fell for all of the EA's selling tactics when making my bid. Properties are slipping out of affordability reach where I live, so panicked and offered the outer limits of what I can afford. £7k is a huge amount for me as my wage isn't fantastic)

I am totally kicking myself and am also worried if the down valuation will go against me in the future. I have read that when I come out of my fixed rate mortgage then a down valuation could work against me when I apply for a new fixed rate mortgage for the house.

Has anyone ever renegotiated after a down valuation? And If so, what sort of facts / figures did you put forward to support your case?

Buyers, how did you go about it? What did you say to the EA / vendor? And what was the outcome for you?

Sellers: Have you accepted a down valuation and what prompted you to make the decision?

I'd be eternally grateful for any advice anyone can give me. 

Thanks in advance.

P

Are you sure you should be buying a property, what happens when you get a large repair bill? The good news is that when mortgage rates rise houses are going to get cheaper, you should just wait IMO, or alternatively drop your offer by 10k citing "market conditions".

ah this is interesting, when do you think it will be? weve just sold out property (doing a sell high buy cheap approach!) and hoping within 6 months things may be cheaper for us

The famous cristal ball, but I wouldn't hold my breath for an overnight property crash. Also don't forget: higher rate = more expensive mortgage!

[Deleted User]

PirateSwan said:

Dear all, thank you so much for your speedy replies. I really appreciate you taking the time and trouble to put together your responses. This whole thing is a stress fest and a half so it's reassuring to read what other people have to say about the issue.

.... and it will be every single time you move house - it doesn't get much easier !
It's a reason why some people put it off for years, especially older people.

[Deleted User]

morhen said:

I had a 15k down valuation from the survey the other month.  I took the survey around to the seller, and we went through it while drinking a cup of tea.  When we reached the end, I asked how would they feel about changing the sale price to match the survey valuation?  "Yes, seems fair to me" was the reply.  If you don't ask, you will never know

That is a very unusual scenario and it would have made me twitchy/suspicious/edgey/whatever ..... 
Sellers aren't usually kind and sweet and this scenario shouldn't be used as any form of yardstick.