Asking price price accepted but now think it's overvalued, torn between surveys to get a valuation

alri08

I am in the process of selling to FTB. They offered me the asking price and I accepted on the first day. I had three offers, accepted them precisely because they offered the asking price.

If they had come back to me after two weeks and reduced their offer, I would have assumed they were not serious. I would have said no and put it straight back on the market.

dander

As others here, if I accepted an offer on a flat from someone who just randomly reduced the offer after two weeks, I would immediately pull out of the deal and put the flat back on the market. In terms of red flags about non-serious, problematic buyers, you couldn't really be waving a bigger one!

Tracet74

A Level 3 is excessive for a flat unless in a ridiculously run down condition.  Always a Level 2 as you will have natural restrictions to what the surveyor can see, i.e. they can only test for rising damp if a ground floor flat, they might not be able to get to roof level etc.

For a Level 3, you can ask the surveyor to do an independent valuation but the report template provided by the RICS does not have scope to include the valuation so it should be a separate report.

theartfullodger

If someone in your circumstances offered a reduction in price buying from me, I'd thank them politely (in writing), saying I didn't realise the price was flexible and it had now gone up the same amount you suggested it went down.

And play hard ball.

Best wishes to all 

blueskies1985

If the flat sold for £500,000 10
years ago I think you have a deal considering house prices have risen on average 45% since 2014. 

If I were the seller I would put the flat back on the market if you tried to renegotiate.
your going way ott with a level 3 for a flat. Save your money and stick with Level 2, it’s perfectly sufficient. If there’s anything flagged then you can renegotiate.
the desk top Val by the bank would still be accurate. They’re not going to lend more than what it’s worth and they know what they’re doing.
remember house prices dropped by 2% in 2023 and anything from slightly worse decor, kitchen, bathrooms etc can lower the final sale price of a house. You can have 2 exact flats sell for £20k difference just because one has a better kitchen and bathroom and nicer decor. A house is only worth what you’re willing to pay and the cheaper flats you’ve seen might not be as sought after when they sold. 

ReadySteadyPop

MegaLeon said:

Hi all,

I put an offer on a ex-council flat for its asking price of 545k which I now believe was overvalued. Reason for that was researching market prices for the other flats in the estate which have sold for 465k to 530k in the last 10 years (during the which flat prices haven't fluctuated much from what I can see, on top of ex-council properties appreciating slower than other properties); and the fact that the offer was accepted on the same day, after the property was on the market for ~20 days (according to the EA they had "a plan for a different offer level" and another offer with a substantially higher deposit, but obviously wary of any word coming out of an EA's mouth). We are both chain-free and I'm a FTB.

I think a price of 530k would be more realistic for the place, and I do appreciate the seller wanting to make a profit (they bought in 2014 for 500k). I'd love to have something to back me up when I potentially open this discussion. Problem is my mortgage lender complete an "automated valuation" and simply accepted my required borrowing amount. I have a level 3 survey paid for and ready to go, but it doesn't come with a valuation. I'm torn deciding on wether to switch it to a level 2 which includes it, but then again I'd appreciate the throughness of the level 3 in regards to the state of the flat and potential repairs cost.

Or should I try and open the discussion now / earlier (it's been 2 weeks since offer was accepted)? I don't want to risk overly alienating the seller as I think the property would be the right place for me at this point in time and would like to go through the sale, and I realize my research and this negotation should have happened at the offer stage (which was 2 weeks ago now) and this is mostly on me being a newbie at this game, and whilst I do feel a bit like a !!!!!! bringing it up now, at the same time I can't shake the sour taste off. I do realize 15k is pennies in the grand scheme of things but that extra money (I would scale down the deposit accordingly to keep the montly payments the same, mortage advisor already mentioned that won't be an issue with my accepted mortgage offer, plus I'd also get reduction in the FTB stamp duty) would be a non-trivial addition to a furniture/redecorating fund.

Any advice is appreciated!

Let the effects of the budget filter through before making a decision.

https://www.ft.com/content/483303ca-cd2e-404c-97af-a6f588ab0d4c

MeteredOut

ReadySteadyPop said:

MegaLeon said:

Hi all,

I put an offer on a ex-council flat for its asking price of 545k which I now believe was overvalued. Reason for that was researching market prices for the other flats in the estate which have sold for 465k to 530k in the last 10 years (during the which flat prices haven't fluctuated much from what I can see, on top of ex-council properties appreciating slower than other properties); and the fact that the offer was accepted on the same day, after the property was on the market for ~20 days (according to the EA they had "a plan for a different offer level" and another offer with a substantially higher deposit, but obviously wary of any word coming out of an EA's mouth). We are both chain-free and I'm a FTB.

I think a price of 530k would be more realistic for the place, and I do appreciate the seller wanting to make a profit (they bought in 2014 for 500k). I'd love to have something to back me up when I potentially open this discussion. Problem is my mortgage lender complete an "automated valuation" and simply accepted my required borrowing amount. I have a level 3 survey paid for and ready to go, but it doesn't come with a valuation. I'm torn deciding on wether to switch it to a level 2 which includes it, but then again I'd appreciate the throughness of the level 3 in regards to the state of the flat and potential repairs cost.

Or should I try and open the discussion now / earlier (it's been 2 weeks since offer was accepted)? I don't want to risk overly alienating the seller as I think the property would be the right place for me at this point in time and would like to go through the sale, and I realize my research and this negotation should have happened at the offer stage (which was 2 weeks ago now) and this is mostly on me being a newbie at this game, and whilst I do feel a bit like a !!!!!! bringing it up now, at the same time I can't shake the sour taste off. I do realize 15k is pennies in the grand scheme of things but that extra money (I would scale down the deposit accordingly to keep the montly payments the same, mortage advisor already mentioned that won't be an issue with my accepted mortgage offer, plus I'd also get reduction in the FTB stamp duty) would be a non-trivial addition to a furniture/redecorating fund.

Any advice is appreciated!

Let the effects of the budget filter through before making a decision.

https://www.ft.com/content/483303ca-cd2e-404c-97af-a6f588ab0d4c

Linking to a paywall site without at least giving a synopsis of what is says is not much help.

ReadySteadyPop

MeteredOut said:

ReadySteadyPop said:

MegaLeon said:

Hi all,

I put an offer on a ex-council flat for its asking price of 545k which I now believe was overvalued. Reason for that was researching market prices for the other flats in the estate which have sold for 465k to 530k in the last 10 years (during the which flat prices haven't fluctuated much from what I can see, on top of ex-council properties appreciating slower than other properties); and the fact that the offer was accepted on the same day, after the property was on the market for ~20 days (according to the EA they had "a plan for a different offer level" and another offer with a substantially higher deposit, but obviously wary of any word coming out of an EA's mouth). We are both chain-free and I'm a FTB.

I think a price of 530k would be more realistic for the place, and I do appreciate the seller wanting to make a profit (they bought in 2014 for 500k). I'd love to have something to back me up when I potentially open this discussion. Problem is my mortgage lender complete an "automated valuation" and simply accepted my required borrowing amount. I have a level 3 survey paid for and ready to go, but it doesn't come with a valuation. I'm torn deciding on wether to switch it to a level 2 which includes it, but then again I'd appreciate the throughness of the level 3 in regards to the state of the flat and potential repairs cost.

Or should I try and open the discussion now / earlier (it's been 2 weeks since offer was accepted)? I don't want to risk overly alienating the seller as I think the property would be the right place for me at this point in time and would like to go through the sale, and I realize my research and this negotation should have happened at the offer stage (which was 2 weeks ago now) and this is mostly on me being a newbie at this game, and whilst I do feel a bit like a !!!!!! bringing it up now, at the same time I can't shake the sour taste off. I do realize 15k is pennies in the grand scheme of things but that extra money (I would scale down the deposit accordingly to keep the montly payments the same, mortage advisor already mentioned that won't be an issue with my accepted mortgage offer, plus I'd also get reduction in the FTB stamp duty) would be a non-trivial addition to a furniture/redecorating fund.

Any advice is appreciated!

Let the effects of the budget filter through before making a decision.

https://www.ft.com/content/483303ca-cd2e-404c-97af-a6f588ab0d4c

Linking to a paywall site without at least giving a synopsis of what is says is not much help.

Basically this....

https://news.sky.com/story/money-blog-treasury-will-be-concerned-as-pound-falls-and-borrowing-costs-surge-after-budget-13040934

macman

'What it's worth' is ultimately a subjective meeting point, at which the vendor is prepared to sell, and the buyer is prepared to buy. No surveyor can tell you where that sweet spot is.
Defects revealed by survey are a starting point for negotiation, but in my experience some surveyors are absurdly over-cautious, and over estimate the actual cost of rectifications considerably. None are just going to say 'the property is in great condition and well worth the asking price', because that implies that you've wasted your money even bothering with a survey.

ReadySteadyPop

macman said:

'What it's worth' is ultimately a subjective meeting point, at which the vendor is prepared to sell, and the buyer is prepared to buy. No surveyor can tell you where that sweet spot is.
Defects revealed by survey are a starting point for negotiation, but in my experience some surveyors are absurdly over-cautious, and over estimate the actual cost of rectifications considerably. None are just going to say 'the property is in great condition and well worth the asking price', because that implies that you've wasted your money even bothering with a survey.

Maybe they don`t want to be sued for over-valuing?