Any ideas how to ensure the house valuation is on the low side?

[Iliveinahovel]

I need a valuation to be on the low side for the house I now live in. Not out-of-this-world low, but somewhere realistic, i.e. 10% to 15% lower than an "average" similar house would be valued at. Currently the house is probably "average" with respect to the overall appeal and condition.

Have around 6 months until the valuation will be done. Any ideas? Let the garden overgrow?

@Drunkpanda

I was about to post a suggestion but deleted it as I don't think it would be honest!

I am not asking for anything that is dishonest. But, if it is morally OK to increase the appeal of the house (all the recommended tricks you read about - freshly baked bread / coffee smell, flowers etc etc), then surely the opposite is also OK.

I think you should get proper legal advice.

Have you spoken to a lawyer about this? If it was yours before you married, the marriage was less than two years, and he hasn’t contributed to the mortgage - are you quite sure he has a claim on it?

I think PPs saying it'd have to be something pretty major in order to knock off the value, like literally not having a kitchen or bathroom something (but then it would be unmortgagable). Anything else would be a few k here and there, you'd have a hard time getting what I assume would be a whole 5-figure sum off the value.

I mean, if you think there are issues like damp, maybe point them out to the valuer to make sure they investigate thoroughly. If it's a fairly standard house, I'm not sure they'll send a valuer, it could be a desktop valuation.

You don’t owe him anything.

Legal advice would be cheaper than giving him a share of your property fgs.

Less than two years and it was your property to start with? He’ll be laughed out of court.

I think you need to speak to a divorce lawyer or get a new one.

You shouldn’t have to lose your pre marital assets over a short marriage.

Are you the main cater? How much contact does he have?

Hide mouldy bread it absolutely stinks like there is mould problem in the house

Place mice traps around the house with fresh bait in them

Put a damp line on your kitchen ceiling like your bath leaks

Is your boiler visible? (I would assume they would look in the boiler cupboard?) Get a condemned sticker put on it

Make sure you arrange for the valuation not him tell them your not selling so they won't make any money they might give you a more honest valuation

Find out how much your neighbours houses go for too because it's no good the agent saying its worth £200,000 if all the houses in the surrounding area only ever sold for £150,000 it's unrealistic

My mom wiped thousands off her house valuation to buy my dad out just let it run down as soon as she paid it off she did the property up

If he paid maintenance for the children would it increase your ability to borrow?

Decent legal advice would be a useful investment OP.

@goody2shooz

Have you spoken to a lawyer about this? If it was yours before you married, the marriage was less than two years, and he hasn’t contributed to the mortgage - are you quite sure he has a claim on it?

Yes, it is in our financial order. I got legal advice at that time that it would be easier to concede (his side asked for 20%, which did not sound like a lot then) than to go all way through to the final hearing. The advice was probably the right one at that time. I expected to buy him out pretty much immediately, but then life happened, youngest had some health issues, eldest got diagnosed with SEN. Managed to hold on to employment, but not much more. Now, seven years after, both the house had appreciated massively and I paid off quite a lot of equity. Have until the end of 2022 to buy out or sell.

@user1471504747

I think you need to speak to a divorce lawyer or get a new one.

You shouldn’t have to lose your pre marital assets over a short marriage.

Are you the main cater? How much contact does he have?

He almost doesn't have any contact (voluntarily), I am the main carer. Divorce and the settlement have been finalised many years ago.

Does the order say the value of the house at that time or this time? My moms was at this time but later agreement made by my friends family (different divorce obviously) fixed the value at that time so it's fixed in stone

I had an estate agent round to value mine and told him exactly why I wanted his lowest plausible valuation 😂

@Theunamedcat

Does the order say the value of the house at that time or this time? My moms was at this time but later agreement made by my friends family (different divorce obviously) fixed the value at that time so it's fixed in stone

This time, have to have three valuations by local estate agents or one by a surveyor.

Im semi joking here:
Borrow a barky dog and get your neighbours to have it in their garden
Ask your neighbours to chuck weed on fire pit
Turn the water off so it seems like there's a plumbing problem

What would the value of maintenance have been in the period, had he paid it?

I’d be going back to court.

In this case I think you just need to make your house as unappealing as possible then. Poor maintenance, dirt and clutter will devalue a house. I agree with neglecting the garden for a bit (finding and throwing in an abandoned fridge freezer for brownie points). You need to make it smell bad (sure you can use your imagination on that one). Getting your neighbours on board would be great. You could make up some fake disputes which legally have to be logged. Perhaps they’ll also be on board with playing loud music/making lots of noise whilst your house is being viewed.

Can't help on the house - but if he is not paying maintenance, put claim in via CMS?

Use the smallest bedroom as wardrobe space - it has knocked a fair chunk off a house on my estate.

Have the house cluttered, dark, etc.

Overgrown garden, get the neighbours to play loud music.

When we had ours valued for repaying the Help to Buy loan the RICs valuer asked us what we wanted. She valued it at £525 (only 25k more than we paid 8 years ago). So we only had to pay back slightly more than we borrowed.

The mortgage company sent their own valuer and again asked what we wanted. They valued it at £575k. This meant we could get the LTV we needed to borrow enough to pay back the H2B.

So based on that bit of anecdata, they will go with what you ask for.

@GaiusHelenMohiam

What would the value of maintenance have been in the period, had he paid it?

I’d be going back to court.

I don't know how to estimate it, he lived in a different country and I don't know his income. 50% of child related costs over this time, with the early years childcare fees and all, is definitely higher than the amount discussed. Unfortunately, it was a clean break and cannot be reviewed.

Kitchen and bathroom.
Those are big expenses for buyers to update so make it look shit.
See if you can get hold of some old knackered cupboard doors to put up in kitchen. Get some suitable paint and paint your bathroom suite mint green and wall tiles pink.
Put the biggest bed you can fit in the smallest room or turn it into a cupboard/wardrobe.
Half build a brick bbq in back garden, maybe a pond too.
Paint the livingroom deep red.
And clowns, as many clowns as you can fit into the decor.

Ask around on local FB groups and see if anyone who has sold recently had a variety of valuations.

Could you tell the estate agents about all the noise complaints that are going on between you and your neighbours? I doubt they would actually check whether there had been any,

When I looked at one house there was so much stuff in one room we weren’t even able to go in one room, you could only open the door a crack. I’m not an estate agent but not being able to view rooms must be off putting. Like wise lots of falling down sheds in the garden or bottles of mould killer everywhere and the smell of harsh chemicals so that you appear to be covering up issues?likewise carefully set the taps to dripping mode and forget you have serviced the boiler..l maybe get some plug in heaters just in case the heating doesn’t work.

If you are desperate you could put up some awful decorations like black or neon walls or naff wallpaper (maybe held up with blue tack) and swap nice pictures for very naff and dated ones.

Could you borrow extra furniture to make the rooms feel cramped?

Curb appeal is always on the dream house programs so I would think about what you can do to negate any good points... dead plants, an old sofa some naff ornaments, take the battery out of the door bell and loud music from next door.

Do you have pets? If not can borrow a few dogs and get that wet dog smell? Then get shed loads of plug in air fresheners and only switch those on when the estate agents arrive?

I'm in the same boat OP - buying out my STBXH and the house has gone up so much.

I found that being honest with the estate agent made them look fairly sympathetically on me, and I made sure the house was looking a bit shit.