AIBU to feel that we may have "given the house away" too cheaply?

[HouseSale]

Put the house up for sale in March, just before lockdown. When market opened up again, we had three viewings and 2 offers. Accepted the higher one for £279000 (asking price £295000). Buyers are in rented accommodation, so no chain and they have 25 percent deposit. We have been waiting since May for the survey, which has been delayed due to pandemic. Advised by Estate agent today that the valuation has been done without surveyor visiting property. Obviously the results of the valuation must have been OK as the buyers are still proceeding. I can't help thinking that to do valuation without even looking at the property suggests we have sold it too cheaply. Why else would it be deemed uneccessary for the surveyor to actually see the house? We accepted the fairly low offer as thought that we were lucky to have any offers as it is likely that the economy is headed towards recession.

Thanks for any thoughts/opinions.

You sold it for roughly 95% of asking price. I’d say that was reasonable. A lot of mortgage companies do their valuations on paper, I don’t think that means anything.

Drive by valuations are extremely common, ours was done this way both times

@MrsTWH
Thank you for being reassuring! I have had my son on my case saying we dropped price to much and it has shaken my confidence.

@itsonlyforevernotlongatall83

Thank you for this reassurance!

If your house isn't particularly usual in anyway, it's common to do a drive-by valuation (or even a google streetview one). They'll get an idea of condition from the photographs and what they see on the outside, and a 25% deposit gives quite a bit of leeway for getting it wrong.

Well, you had an even lower offer which you didn't accept, I think the higher offer was probably reasonable. I'm sure it would have taken into account prices of similar properties recently sold in the area. A relative of mine had her house valued and when it went on the market it was bought at full price the same day, now THAT made me think it had been underpriced!

It will be more likely loan/value ratio which has meant a desk top valuation done. Even when they come round valuers have a good idea what property worth before they even step foot in it. I would see this as a good thing that you didn't have to have someone in your house.

@HouseSaleAudTheDeepMinded
Yes, I agree that a twenty five percent deposit certainly means that it is relatively low risk for the lender.
I think I freaked out because I didn't realise that online valuations were a thing. I have never heard of a survey being done without visiting property before.

Valuation and survey were done by different people for our house. One went in the house to check for damp etc, the other just did a drive by and agreed it was worth what we were paying.

The bank told me the house had to be over 500k (or more) can’t quite remember the amount before they had to come in to look around. It’s worth a certain amount by existing!
Also the valuation might be cheaper than what the buyers are paying. They just need to make sure the risk of lending the money is acceptable.

@PrayingandHoping
I have been told that no one will be coming out to look at the house. The estate agent said that we are lucky that it is being done this way!

Well, if you are thinking you’ve sold it too cheaply, pull out of the sale and relist and see if you can get a higher price.

Bear in mind though that you might not achieve this. Your house might sit on the market for months/years and you can’t get on with your life, make new plans, and all for what...a thousand pounds or so ?

In my mind once you’ve decided to move then nothing beats the feeling of knowing you you’ve sold up In a timely manner and you are on your way.

@altiara

That's useful to know. Thank you.

@Katinthedoghouse

Well, if you are thinking you’ve sold it too cheaply, pull out of the sale and relist and see if you can get a higher price.

Bear in mind though that you might not achieve this. Your house might sit on the market for months/years and you can’t get on with your life, make new plans, and all for what...a thousand pounds or so ?

In my mind once you’ve decided to move then nothing beats the feeling of knowing you you’ve sold up In a timely manner and you are on your way.

Very true!

Many years ago, when house prices were probably a quarter of what they are now, we sold a house for £50,000 to first time buyers. It was valued at £58,000, but the market was sluggish and we had fallen in love with a property. People told us we were crazy to accept such a low offer, but I have never regretted it for a moment. It enabled us to move on with our lives and to buy a lovely home. You put your whole life on hold when your house is on the market, and I'm so glad we didn't waste many more months and potentially lose another property

No doesnt mean that remotely.

Drive by valuations are common - even more so since the plague. Because they've got a large deposit the bank will be more comfortable with it. They really just want to make sure its still standing - they will have looked at pics and then look at comprable sales.

This is really not something to second guess yourself for.

When we bought our house, the lender sent their own surveyor out to do a valuation to approve the mortgage, he didn't enter the property, just had a look at the outside. We instructed our own independent surveyor to do a homebuyers' report, for more in-depth info, and he definitely did go into the property.

I don't think it's unusual for a valuation survey to be done without going in, or even virtually these days, so I really wouldn't worry.

I would add that most (if not all) Estate Agents put the property on the market for more than it is worth to allow for people to make offers.

Might seem a bit daft! It basically means that if a seller gets the asking price, then they are have actually done better than they should have done.

I recently had a property valued (work related) for £230,000 but we were told to put it on the market for £239,950.

Please ignore the random 'are'!

We sold our property last year within a fortnight. We put it on at a fairly reasonable price as it had a few non standard things which probably wouldn't appeal to everyone. We had a few family members commenting that we sold too cheaply. I have no regrets. We still had enough to purchase a lovely house in a lovely area and also retain some sale proceeds between selling price and purchase price. Being with my daughter and grandson are a joy way beyond worrying about a few thousand here or there. Also so glad the hassle was out of the way last year. Interestingly our type of country property in the village where we used to live seems to have gone up a lot since Covid and are in many cases sold stc on the same day. Still no regrets!!!! We plan for this to be our final home and it's perfect for us. So I would say, look forward to the next stage of your life and be glad that you have had a reasonable offer. Much better than being stuck in limbo for months and months. Personally I believe the property market will look rather different in six months to a year's time. This weird frenzy will not continue.

@HouseSale

That means they've chosen not to have a survey. They must be very sure there is nothing wrong with your house!! Lol

The valuation is done by the mortgage company and is different to a surgery

Survey.... flipping autocorrect!

I worked in an estate agents for many years, valuation surveyors just used to pop in and say how much for a 3 bed terrace in such and such rd, fair condition or whatever and the manager would give a valuation! Money for old rope imo but very very standard practice.

@TheBeeatAmbridge "homebuyers report".... thank you! That was the term I was trying to think of!!

Op that is what is traditionally known as a survey... where they will need access to your house

This will not be relied upon, it will be part of the Information the surveyor uses in forming their opinion. Otherwise estate agents would be able to provide this service, not qualified professionals.