House Downvalued - think I’ve messed up

stokegal

Currently porting our mortgage with Leeds building society and borrowing more to buy a bigger house.

when applying for the mortgage the advisor asked if I was having a level 2 survey and I said I was intending to.

he said they could arrange that and I would just pay them £400 for the level 2 survey

I submitted my mortgage application and was told that they wouldn’t process it until I paid for the valuation fee. I paid the £400 and they started the application.

It’s been 2 weeks and I haven’t heard anything aside from being told that they were going in to do a valuation and a level 2 survey yesterday.

i contacted the mortgage advisor at Leeds and said I was concerned that they were doing a level 2 before 1. They had credit checked me and 2. Before they had valued the property. As if there was an issue with either of these then I wouldn’t want the level 2 to go ahead (it was refundable up until the point of it being completed)

the advisor came back and said that the valuation was only for them to confirm the property is suitable to lend on and there shouldn’t be any problems with the lending as long as my documents supported my application and that they couldn’t guarantee that the application is fully assessed before the survey is completed. (This was not stated on the first call)

the survey has now been completed and the house has been downvalued by 35k (the asking price was 335, we offered 330 and the level 2 says 295)

we have no idea what the mortgage company valuation was or if they will have the same valuation as our survey.

Does anyone know what happens im this scenerio - is the mortgage valuation likely to be the same as our survey valuation?

user1977

Yes, I would expect it to be a single surveyor doing the whole thing (they just produce a precis of the level 2 survey on the mortgage valuation form).

stokegal

I feel sick - we were in such a rush to get this house moving. We have wasted £400 on a survey and also spent £315 on searches.

i never take risks normally and i really pushed myself out of my comfort zone doing this and it sounds like it will cost me £715 + whatever the solicitors charge for nothing 😭

BikingBud

On the other hand perhaps it has saved you from over committing.

If the mortgage valuation and your level 2 survey both come out with a lower price then why would you continue to offer £330?

Have you addressed this with the vendor of the EA?

GDB2222

How much would a lvl 2 survey cost on its own? You got it for £400 because the surveyor was able to combine the two jobs. 

silvercar

This really is standard procedure. You either pay for a level 2 survey with the lender or you pay for a valuation and arrange a separate level 2 or 3 survey yourself. You save money by asking the lender to arrange a level 2 survey while they are doing the level 1 survey. If the lender’s values is doing the level 2 and valuation the valuation will always be identical to what was stated in the level 2 survey.

Now you need to go back to the seller and negotiate a reduced price based on the reduced valuation. Having done the level 2 survey gives you the ammunition you need to renegotiate.

stokegal

Mortgage valuation has come back at £330k 🤷‍♀️🤷‍♀️

stokegal

Sooooo after further investigation… realised that I shouldn’t read documents on 2 hours sleep (I’m in the us and the survey came through at 4am after I went to sleep at 2)

the level 2 survey said it was worth 330k (which is what we offered) and the reinstatement cost is 295k 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

sorry everyone who took the time to read and respond… turns out I’m an idiot 🤦‍♀️

lincroft1710

stokegal said:

Sooooo after further investigation… realised that I shouldn’t read documents on 2 hours sleep (I’m in the us and the survey came through at 4am after I went to sleep at 2)

the level 2 survey said it was worth 330k (which is what we offered) and the reinstatement cost is 295k 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

sorry everyone who took the time to read and respond… turns out I’m an idiot 🤦‍♀️

A happy outcome anyway and you're not the first and certainly not the last who will have done similar

ReadySteadyPop

BikingBud said:

On the other hand perhaps it has saved you from over committing.

If the mortgage valuation and your level 2 survey both come out with a lower price then why would you continue to offer £330?

Have you addressed this with the vendor of the EA?

Exactly, for a few hundred pounds you have potentially made a substantial saving of many thousands!

kingstreet

stokegal said:

I feel sick - we were in such a rush to get this house moving. We have wasted £400 on a survey and also spent £315 on searches.

i never take risks normally and i really pushed myself out of my comfort zone doing this and it sounds like it will cost me £715 + whatever the solicitors charge for nothing 😭

Has the search money actually been spent; or was it an "on account" payment to your solicitor which will be spent on the searches when you authorise them?