Halifax have undervalued my house - HELP!

Sheppo88

Hi all,

Looking for some advice—we recently listed our property on the market and had it valued by three estate agents between £500,000 – £525,000.

It’s a 5-bedroom detached home with several standout features. Most properties in our area are 3-4 bedrooms and are typically listed between £350,000 – £450,000.

We secured a buyer within 11 days of listing, and another interested party later pulled out after learning that an offer had already been made.

Fast forward two weeks, and our buyer’s lender (Halifax) has down-valued the property to £463,000, making it difficult for them to secure the mortgage at their desired loan-to-value (LTV). While they can still afford the purchase, the interest rate they’d now have to accept is significantly higher, making things more challenging for them.

We had agreed on £495,000 and have already negotiated as much as possible on our onward purchase—our sellers won’t go any lower, so we’re now stuck.

I suspect the £463,000 valuation is an automated, computer-generated figure from Halifax, as no surveyor has visited or even been outside the property (CCTV confirms this). Halifax is known for this kind of valuation approach.

We’ve suggested an independent RICS valuation, which we’re willing to contribute towards, or alternatively, trying a different lender. What else can we do? Should we brace for this sale falling through, or is there still reason to remain positive?

One positive is that our buyer is very level-headed, thorough, and also surprised by Halifax’s low valuation—they know the property is worth what they’re paying.

Any advice or suggestions to help ensure a positive and successful outcome would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Shep

TheSpectator

What immediately jumps out is that does an extra bedroom equate to an extra £50,000 worth when you are looking at 4 bedroom listings? What did these properties actually sell for, the listing price is irrelevant. Are there no recent 5 bedroom properties sold as a comparitor?

To be honest mortgage companies are unlikely to budge on their own valuers figure, they tend to look at a worst case scenario.

Sheppo88

TheSpectator said:

What immediately jumps out is that does an extra bedroom equate to an extra £50,000 worth when you are looking at 4 bedroom listings? What did these properties actually sell for, the listing price is irrelevant. Are there no recent 5 bedroom properties sold as a comparitor?

To be honest mortgage companies are unlikely to budge on their own valuers figure, they tend to look at a worst case scenario.

It's not just an extra bedroom.

It's an extra bedroom (5 double beds), double garage, larger plot, larger dining kitchen, 2nd ensuite, Study and overall larger rooms—approximately a 400 sqft bigger floorplan. 

Recent sold prices for 4-5 bedrooms in our area show the following:

£450,000 - £650,000. Not listed, sold prices. It's a very green area with the odd built-up area. Where we are, we are overlooking fields and not directly overlooked at the back or to the side. 

We are within 10 minutes' walking distance to town. We purchased our property for £480,000 and have made significant improvements and changes with top-quality fittings. The property is neutral but ready to walk into. We had no issue with our mortgage or valuation at that figure, and properties haven't dropped in our area.  

ReadySteadyPop

Sheppo88 said:

Hi all,

Looking for some advice—we recently listed our property on the market and had it valued by three estate agents between £500,000 – £525,000.

It’s a 5-bedroom detached home with several standout features. Most properties in our area are 3-4 bedrooms and are typically listed between £350,000 – £450,000.

We secured a buyer within 11 days of listing, and another interested party later pulled out after learning that an offer had already been made.

Fast forward two weeks, and our buyer’s lender (Halifax) has down-valued the property to £463,000, making it difficult for them to secure the mortgage at their desired loan-to-value (LTV). While they can still afford the purchase, the interest rate they’d now have to accept is significantly higher, making things more challenging for them.

We had agreed on £495,000 and have already negotiated as much as possible on our onward purchase—our sellers won’t go any lower, so we’re now stuck.

I suspect the £463,000 valuation is an automated, computer-generated figure from Halifax, as no surveyor has visited or even been outside the property (CCTV confirms this). Halifax is known for this kind of valuation approach.

We’ve suggested an independent RICS valuation, which we’re willing to contribute towards, or alternatively, trying a different lender. What else can we do? Should we brace for this sale falling through, or is there still reason to remain positive?

One positive is that our buyer is very level-headed, thorough, and also surprised by Halifax’s low valuation—they know the property is worth what they’re paying.

Any advice or suggestions to help ensure a positive and successful outcome would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Shep

Halifax lend mortgage debt for their business, they are experts at assessing the market, best not to think of it as "undervalued" but more "valued for the current market"?

ReadySteadyPop

TheSpectator said:

What immediately jumps out is that does an extra bedroom equate to an extra £50,000 worth when you are looking at 4 bedroom listings? What did these properties actually sell for, the listing price is irrelevant. Are there no recent 5 bedroom properties sold as a comparitor?

To be honest mortgage companies are unlikely to budge on their own valuers figure, they tend to look at a worst case scenario.

They look at realistic economic outcomes and the global economic climate at the moment is pointing to higher costs for mortgage debt and debt in general.

Sheppo88

Halifax doesn't do physical valuations, though. It is done through a computer that uses Land Registry and recent sold prices. None of these have been showing since 2023 due to the delayed LR office. Speaking to my FA he said that Halifax are renowned for this. 

If mortgage rates have dropped, property sales in the area are high at all price ranges, and 4 months ago, they lent on the same property as ours, despite it having no flooring downstairs and not in as good of a plot, but quite happily borrowed against a property valuation of £485k. How does that make sense?

ReadySteadyPop

Sheppo88 said:

Halifax doesn't do physical valuations, though. It is done through a computer that uses Land Registry and recent sold prices. None of these have been showing since 2023 due to the delayed LR office. Speaking to my FA he said that Halifax are renowned for this. 

If mortgage rates have dropped, property sales in the area are high at all price ranges, and 4 months ago, they lent on the same property as ours, despite it having no flooring downstairs and not in as good of a plot, but quite happily borrowed against a property valuation of £485k. How does that make sense?

Because mortgage rates dropping are really just "teaser rates" to get people hooked into 20 or 30 year debts at very high house prices, mortgage rates really run off the bond market, it particular the "Ten Year Yield", there has been a massive sea change in the global economic outlook in the last four months (think U.S, Tariffs etc.) that Halifax are taking account of, they obviously expect mortgage debt costs to go up not down and for sales to fall as result of that.

Albermarle

One positive is that our buyer is very level-headed, thorough, and also surprised by Halifax’s low valuation—they know the property is worth what they’re paying.

They should try another lender.

ReadySteadyPop

Sheppo88 said:

Hi all,

Looking for some advice—we recently listed our property on the market and had it valued by three estate agents between £500,000 – £525,000.

It’s a 5-bedroom detached home with several standout features. Most properties in our area are 3-4 bedrooms and are typically listed between £350,000 – £450,000.

We secured a buyer within 11 days of listing, and another interested party later pulled out after learning that an offer had already been made.

Fast forward two weeks, and our buyer’s lender (Halifax) has down-valued the property to £463,000, making it difficult for them to secure the mortgage at their desired loan-to-value (LTV). While they can still afford the purchase, the interest rate they’d now have to accept is significantly higher, making things more challenging for them.

We had agreed on £495,000 and have already negotiated as much as possible on our onward purchase—our sellers won’t go any lower, so we’re now stuck.

I suspect the £463,000 valuation is an automated, computer-generated figure from Halifax, as no surveyor has visited or even been outside the property (CCTV confirms this). Halifax is known for this kind of valuation approach.

We’ve suggested an independent RICS valuation, which we’re willing to contribute towards, or alternatively, trying a different lender. What else can we do? Should we brace for this sale falling through, or is there still reason to remain positive?

One positive is that our buyer is very level-headed, thorough, and also surprised by Halifax’s low valuation—they know the property is worth what they’re paying.

Any advice or suggestions to help ensure a positive and successful outcome would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Shep

How many other offers do your sellers have?

Sheppo88

ReadySteadyPop said:

Sheppo88 said:

Hi all,

Looking for some advice—we recently listed our property on the market and had it valued by three estate agents between £500,000 – £525,000.

It’s a 5-bedroom detached home with several standout features. Most properties in our area are 3-4 bedrooms and are typically listed between £350,000 – £450,000.

We secured a buyer within 11 days of listing, and another interested party later pulled out after learning that an offer had already been made.

Fast forward two weeks, and our buyer’s lender (Halifax) has down-valued the property to £463,000, making it difficult for them to secure the mortgage at their desired loan-to-value (LTV). While they can still afford the purchase, the interest rate they’d now have to accept is significantly higher, making things more challenging for them.

We had agreed on £495,000 and have already negotiated as much as possible on our onward purchase—our sellers won’t go any lower, so we’re now stuck.

I suspect the £463,000 valuation is an automated, computer-generated figure from Halifax, as no surveyor has visited or even been outside the property (CCTV confirms this). Halifax is known for this kind of valuation approach.

We’ve suggested an independent RICS valuation, which we’re willing to contribute towards, or alternatively, trying a different lender. What else can we do? Should we brace for this sale falling through, or is there still reason to remain positive?

One positive is that our buyer is very level-headed, thorough, and also surprised by Halifax’s low valuation—they know the property is worth what they’re paying.

Any advice or suggestions to help ensure a positive and successful outcome would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks,
Shep

How many other offers do your sellers have?

what do you mean by offers - mortgage offers? They are, say, in the late 40s or early 50s, moved from Jersey to the mainland, have a considerable deposit and are looking at a 65% LTV, so ideally, a lower rate. Currently in rented and have been for 18 months whilst finding the next property in this area. 

Just had the following response from our agent:

We accept all points made by the sellers - the valuation from Halifax was £463,369. We are as disappointed by this turn of events as they are, but we remain committed to this, so we have challenged the Halifax valuation and await a response. if an independent valuation can be helpful we are very happy to go down that route. I am also willing to look at alternative lenders but I don't want to do that unless I absolutely have to.

I feel they need to try a broker or alternative lender. But, positive so far. I don't think Halifax will budge.

RHemmings

Another vote for trying a different lender. If other lenders value higher - all is good. I wouldn't want to assume that Halifaxes estimate is accurate before seeing what others say. But, if a number of lenders independently come up with a similar figure, then a re-evaluation needs to occur.