Halifax have undervalued my house - HELP!

anselld

It is not clear exactly why this is a problem.  If the buyers thought they had a 60% ltv the “undervaluation” will push them up to 75% ltv.  The difference in interest rate is probably less than quarter of a percent.  They can still proceed perfectly easily if they are convinced the house is worth it.

Flugelhorn

I wonder if  starting point was a bit less that you paid for it - trouble with new properties is that they do drop quickly and then take a bit of time to catch up, particularly of there are new examples of the same available 

RelievedSheff

[Deleted User] said:

£463,369 - You can see that valuation had no human input. I don't know if any lenders do physical valuations but you'd think that since it's crucial information for a transaction that will earn them hundreds of thousands from the client, they could do more than just press a button.

When we remortgaged the Halifax came and did a physical valuation of our property even though we were well within LTV bands.

Sheppo88

Yeah, sadly, the valuation wasn't physical, but a computer algorithm. 

ReadySteadyPop

Sheppo88 said:

ReadySteadyPop said:

Sheppo88 said:

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.

Did your onward purchase have lots of people competing to buy, is that why they won`t negotiate?

Not at all, on the market 9 months, no offers or reduction. We fell in love, tried to negotiate, managed to get them to drop £20k on the asking price and they then said that is the lowest they will go and will not reduce any further regardless of the circumstances. 

Interesting, they are definitely not in a strong position then, do you think they could be bluffing, people who market their house for 9 months generally want to actually sell it eventually?

ReadySteadyPop

Flugelhorn said:

I wonder if  starting point was a bit less that you paid for it - trouble with new properties is that they do drop quickly and then take a bit of time to catch up, particularly of there are new examples of the same available 

New build properties won`t catch up now, they are at probably peak price.

newsgroupmonkey_

IAMIAM said:

Its not the lender to change, its the valuer...and there is usually only two that all lenders use...Countrywide and L&G Surveying...and you will find that the same valuer is sent out! 

Just as an aside, Connells (who currently own Countrywide) actually have almost as many.
I'm not going into details, but there are a number of lenders who use other companies.

The Connells ones are NOT the same surveyors as the Countrywide ones.

dander

I might be wrong, but my sense is that really the valuation is more about how much risk the mortgage company are prepared to take on the buyer than it is about the house. If you've got a low LTV and comfortable affordability, they'll pretty much just cut and paste whatever you have offered on to the valuation. If you're shaking the last pennies out of the piggy bank to scrape your deposit together and maxing out on the affordability, they'll analyse every last detail and hedge their bets.

ReadySteadyPop

They are protecting themselves from losses, they are not really interested in the buyer`s losses.