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House survey down valued the house - money back

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DD92
DD92 Posts: 25 Forumite
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in House buying, renting & selling
Me and my other half are first time buyers and have recently had an offer accepted on a house for 215k. We had a home buyers report carried out and although no significant issues were found the house was valued at 190k. As a result the amount we can borrow has been restricted based on the revised value and if we want to continue with the purchase we would need to stump up the remaining 25k on top of our deposit (no chance!)

The building society we went through for our mortgage in principle has an estate agent's branch which just so happens to be the estate agent selling the property. This is where a bit of frustration has crept in for me. Basically one arm of the company has valued the property at £215k and valuers acting on behalf of another arm of the company has valued it at £190k.

In the likey event that this sale falls through (can't imagine him wanting to accept £25k less and there were other parties interested who may be able to put a little more equity in, even if it's not the full 25k) do we have any grounds to get our money back for the home buyers report as this is £500 down the toilet because the company disagrees with itself.

I'm sure that legally we're probably not entitled to our money back but is this something the building society may cinsider from a reputational / good will gesture point of view?
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Comments

  • Marine_life
    Marine_life Posts: 1,059 Forumite
    Hung up my suit!
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    You have two chances - slim and none at all.

    ....and slim left town yesterday.
    Money won't buy you happiness....but I have never been in a situation where more money made things worse!
  • Typhoon2000
    Typhoon2000 Posts: 1,122 Forumite
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    The mortgage valuation is what the valuer recommends the to the bank as suitable security. The offer you make is what the house is worth to you. The offer accepted is what the house is worth to the vendor. So there is not just one universal 'value' to the property.
  • Slithery
    Slithery Posts: 6,046 Forumite
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    DD92 wrote: »
    Basically one arm of the company has valued the property at £215k...

    No, it hasn't.

    It's not the EA that sets the sale price, it's the vendor.
  • DD92
    DD92 Posts: 25 Forumite
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    Slithery wrote: »
    No, it hasn't.

    It's not the EA that sets the sale price, it's the vendor.

    Based on a valuation given by the EA.
  • teneighty
    teneighty Posts: 1,347 Forumite
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    The valuation included in the Homebuyers Report is just for your guidance,it has no relevance to your mortgage. If you arranged for your lenders mortgage valuation to be upgraded to include a cheap Homebuyers Report then chances are it was undertaken by the lender's valuer and he would have put the same reduced value on the mortgage valuation.

    Estate agents don't do valuations they do market appraisals. Their job is to secure the highest possible price for the property and often inflate the asking price, so securing an offer of £215k for a house worth £190k is pretty good for them and their client, the seller.

    You cannot get your money back for your Homebuyers Report, technically they have done you a favour by pointing out you are over paying for the house. You can go back and query the mortgage valuation though if you feel the valuer has made a mistake.
  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 7,323 Forumite
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    You could also apply to another mortgage lender and get a valuation survey but no guarantee they will come up with a higher value.
  • AdrianC
    AdrianC Posts: 42,189 Forumite
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    You seem to be complaining that the nasty men forced you to offer far too much for the property.
  • shortcrust
    shortcrust Posts: 2,697 Forumite
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    edited 6 December 2017 at 10:01AM
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    DD92 wrote: »
    ....I'm sure that legally we're probably not entitled to our money back but is this something the building society may cinsider from a reputational / good will gesture point of view?

    No chance whatsoever.
    teneighty wrote: »
    ....

    Estate agents don't do valuations they do market appraisals. Their job is to secure the highest possible price for the property and often inflate the asking price, so securing an offer of £215k for a house worth £190k is pretty good for them and their client, the seller.

    ...

    Exactly. No one has done anything 'wrong'. No reputations are at stake.
  • ACG
    ACG Posts: 23,727 Forumite
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    The surveyor doing the homebuyers report was working for you and the lender. Had it been a basic valuation it would have been the lender only.

    Use it to go back to the vendor and renegotiate OR try another lender to see what their valuation comes back at.

    Realistically, you will be very unlikely to get that money back. On the flip side, you have potentially just saved yourself £24,500 on overpaying for a property...Although I know I would not view it like that either.

    It is the risk you take when buying a property.
    I am a Mortgage Adviser
    You should note that this site doesn't check my status as a mortgage adviser, so you need to take my word for it. This signature is here as I follow MSE's Mortgage Adviser Code of Conduct. Any posts on here are for information and discussion purposes only and shouldn't be seen as financial advice.
  • charlesworth82
    charlesworth82 Posts: 313 Forumite
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    happened to a friend of mine.

    Valuation came in unreasonably low on a house even though exact same houses were selling for asking price on the street. Turned out they just valued the house on similar houses in a large radius, which had some very cheap areas in.

    Had to move to another mortgage provider.
    ‘It ain’t over 'til it's over’
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