Our suveyors report shows lower market value than offer

[Lovebeingmama]

Hi

We are trying to buy our first home and need some advice please.

We had an accepted offer of £330k (the house was advertised at £335k)
We had our own survey done which gave a valuation of £315k, so £15k less than our offer.

We advised the vendor Estate Agent who accused our surveyor of always under-valuing properties. However, we are in a fairly steady housing market (not London etc.) and the Surveyor is very local, so you'd presume they had a good idea of the local housing market.

The Estate Agent suggested we waiting for the bank survey to take place, which he was certain would show a valuation nearer the advertised/offer price.

However, would this be a foolish move given that the bankers survey is less detailed.

We've sent through extracts from our survey report to the EA which explains the issues with the property and presumably the lower market value.

If the vendors refuse to budge on price and the banks survey is nearer the offer, would this be enough to dismiss our more detailed survey? or should we trust our survey over everything else?

We don't want to pay over the market value, but who is right ?

I'm so confused, please help!
x

[Buckinghambae]

We had a similar situation though even more pronounced - £250kvs£317.5

We live in a very weird area for valuing a property of this type but it's VERY un-nerving. We were absolutely sure that our offer was high but nowhere near as out as the surveyor had suggested. We then watched similar properties sell that validated our original price wasn't that far out at all. But we wouldn't take the risk.

Is your bank survey free? If do I would just carry on so you have more info to make the decision

[NorthernLurker]

Some surveyors do value low. The critical thing is how much the bank surveyor goes for as that will affect what you can borrow. I would wait and see what that says. Is the work needed pretty much what you expected?

[Yayne]

We ignored some things in our detailed survey because we were in a fast selling area where houses got snapped up within but days. Still regretting it - massive problems and may well cause issues when we sell. Definitely: Negotiate down quite a bit or walk

[Lovebeingmama]

Thanks for your responses.
I think we're going to wait for the bank survey and get a response from the EA on issues.
I think the main issue was the lack of lintels over the windows and some concerns over the fitting of a wood burner. Everything else was 'general maintenance' needed.
Thanks again for your help x

[whatsthecomingoverthehill]

Lack of lintels?? That's rather concerning.

[blankface]

Ignore the Estate Agent, he is not your friend, the more the house sells for, the more money he makes, so he is not likely to want you to drop your offer at all. He is running a business, don't let his smarm influence you.

If there's some problem with the lintels, get costs for putting them right. Make sure you have quotes, not estimates.
This is a serious issue and worst case scenario, whatever structure is above the lintels could collapse.

Dodgy installation of a woodburner could result in carbon monoxide poisoning or fire. get it checked by a professional.

You have paid for a survey, it has resulted in two potentially dangerous faults so you need the purchase price dropping to allow for remedial works and certificates and guarantees that the house is now safe to live in on both counts.

Factor in the costs of inconvenience of having the work carried out as well. Talk to your surveyor, he is on your side.

This bears repeating because you are new to house-buying. Ignore the Estate Agent, he is not your friend, the more the house sells for, the more money he makes, so he is not likely to want you to drop your offer at all. He is running a business, don't let his smarm influence you.

[xandersmom2]

Agree with all the above - you paid for a survey so why would you then not take up their advice? At least get quotes for the work they suggest may be needed - best case scenario it turns out your surveyor was being over-cautious and there's little or no work to be done.

Lintels - depending on how many, could be quite expensive. If you don't take care of it, you may end up with serious problems down the line per the pp.

EA works for the seller and has a vested interest in getting this house sold and collecting their commission; it might sound dramatic to say 'don't trust them' but seriously, don't...

Put together a list of your concerns based on the survey and send it to your solicitor, who will raise queries with their solicitor - no need for you to try and haggle with the EA. Be firm in what you want, so "we want to get quotes for the lintel repairs and we want the installation paperwork and HETAS certificate for the woodburner". Then the vendor's side will respond with "come in and get your quotes and here's the stove paperwork" or "go away" - then you decide your next move. It's a bit like chess .

In the meantime your lender can go ahead and prepare their valuation, which may or may not agree with your surveyor's value. You can address that when it comes in.

Don't feel as though you have to appease people; this is your money and your future home. It has to be right for you, and it definitely has to be safe (wrt the woodburner). We've had a similar issue with the woodburner in our (hopefully) new home; initially the vendors told us to go away as there was no paperwork for the stove and they wouldn't allow us to get it inspected (inferring we were being ridiculous for even asking), so we just said 'hmmmm, OK then, we'll have a bit of a think'. Suddenly the vendors showed up with the paperwork at their solicitors a few days ago. Well, whaddya know.....!

[WhistlingBrooks]

We have had a similar case as yours.

Our buildings surveyor valued it 15k lower than the offer price.

We used it to renegotiate and asked for a 7 k reduction, not the full 15 k, we hughlighted the immediate concerns. The the offer price was 10k lower than asking price, so it is a massive drop in valuation (25k). However, the bamk valued it at the agreed offer price, so it was nice of our vendors to agree the renegotiated price.

[sall74]

Surveyors and mortgage lenders appear to be almost routinely down valuing properties now, no surprise given the unrealistic asking prices that most kite flying vendors are trying it on with.

[Lovebeingmama]

Thanks again for your information.
We contacted the EA and forwarded information, his response didn't show much interest. We contacted him a few days later wanting a response form the vendors and he hadn't even forwarded it to them. We are now going through the solicitors.
We've said that either they dispute the findings with evidence or they let our builder do a quote to 'make right' the issues. I think we should then reduce the offer by the 'make right' quote from the builder.
I've looked forward to giving my own house for do long, but this really isn't fun! 😳X