Ex wants to buy me out but will only pay mid point between valuation and initial purchase cost

[Timeline]

Hi

My ex thinks that estate agents inflate prices. I got a valuation today and my ex wants to take a half way point between what we paid for our flat and what valuation is. The valuation was worked out by looking at sales prices of comparable flats in the area.

Also, my dad has done renovations for free on the flat and my ex would be benefitting from this, and not taking any of that increase in value into consideration.

My ex thinks he is being reasonable and acts like what he is saying is completely normal. The problem is that I feel gaslit. This has been happening for years. He will somehow make it seem reasonable for me to bend over backwards for him and his needs and I realised this and broke up with him.

I’m going to take the valuation report to someone who can give me proper financial advice. Not sure who yet but I was going to phone a helpline.

Lol absolute cheeky fuckery

after you’ve stopped laughing at his transparently pathetic offer, he can talk to your solicitor

So he's trying to scam you...nice.

Did he put a lot more into the deposit or pay a bigger chunk of the monthly mortgage than you? If he did then I can see why he’d want to pay you less (e.g. he paid £50k deposit and you paid £10k deposit) but if you paid equally then he’s being a CF.

Pay for a red book valuation specifically for the purpose of divorce etc .
Then valuer will
Follow the rules of the "red"
Chartered surveyors rule book.
Estate agents are often not qualified.
A recent red book valuation by a chartered surveyors was £518k and same estate agents valued same property at £560k for the purpose of marketing.

We paid the mortgage equally but in the deposit he paid 41k and I paid 23k. That’s an 18k difference, so, I guess if I subtract 18k from 60k that would be fair. I’m going to get a solicitor as soon as they all get back to work.

Go though a solicitor, never known anyone owe the other less than they first offered when going this route.

Just because he says something is true doesn't mean it is.

Ofcourse he wants you to get less. Nothing stopping him selling it properly in 6 months and benefiting from that lovely extra he cons out of you

Just say no. Once you have had your three valuations and a bit of legal advice you put forward the amount you are happy with. Don't let him bamboozle you. If he ist happy with that put it on the open market.

You get 3 valuations, take the mean of them, then you knock off a bit because selling would mean selling fees, 5% would be a reasonable deduction. He pays all costs to do the transfer

No, you subtract £9k from £60k to give him £18k more than you.

So £51k you to £69k him.

If you subtract £18k, he ends up with £36k more than you! (42/78).

Yes this OP! Don't calculate your shares incorrectly, that would be a disaster 😩

Agree it should be 51k to 69k

get 3 valuations take the mean and then also subtract the estate agents fees taking a mean of what the 3 valuations would offer

In your specific case take the equity, take off the mortgage difference, split the remainder, but you need a formal valuation not a single one as others have said. Conveyancing will be around £1000 (just done it in reverse). If you sold fees would be 2% approximately. He certainly would be fair to offer under 59% but considerably more than £22k

At the moment, he is offering you less than you put in as a deposit, plus you also paid for your share of the mortgage plus there has been an increase in the equity. So no way should you take his offer. Unless both deposits were ring-fenced, you are legally entitled to 50% of the equity. You may feel morally that he should get a bigger share due to his larger deposit, but that is for you to decide.

Back of an envelope calculation, if he offered you £45k it seems about right.

It’s quite usual for selling price to be 5-10% lower than asking depending on market, area, etc. but get 3 valuations and research sell prices of similar in your area.

he should be offering based on

price outcome of above
leas mortgage outstanding
less notional selling fees
divided by 2

You can pay for a valuation (which removes the incentive for EAs to inflate the price to win your business).

OP to echo a few others ;

you’re left with 120k after mortgage is paid off.
He gets his 41k deposit back
you get your 23k deposit back

you then split the remaining 56k equally which would be 28k each.

leaving him with 69k and you with 51k.
(obviously this would be the split if you sold) If he’s buying you out then you need to decide what you’re happy with but I certainly wouldn’t be prepared to walk away with less than 45k.

Get a formal valuation from a RICS surveyor. They aren’t motivated to over value and have a professional view of the market in terms of what lenders would value at, which differs from an estate agent’s sales pitch. He’ll find it more difficult to argue with.

230 - 110 = 120
120-41 (his deposit) =79
79-23 (your deposit) =56
56 divided by 2 = 28

He owes you your share of profit (28) plus what you paid in deposit (23) = 51. He's taking the piss.

Formal valuations, as people have said, the average of 3. Did he protect his bigger deposit legally? If not, he should be treating you with a lot more respect than this (he should anyway!) - he doesn't have a leg to stand on. If you're going to allow him to negotiate about deposits, then the home improvements done by your dad and the corresponding increase in the value of thr property also need to be taken into account to your benefit. Your ex is a dick. Congratulations on the separation.

Does anyone have any advice about how to find a suitable solicitor? It’s not a divorce, by the way. We were never married.

As a couple of others have said, you only need one valuation, from a RICS Registered Valuer. This will most likely be a Chartered Surveyor and there are loads of them to choose from - tell your ex to select one if he's going to be funny about it.

This will be an independent and impartial valuation, which an estate agent is not going to give you. It will cost you, but it will be worth it in the long run as neither of you can argue it

You need a Red Book valuation. This is done by a RICS professional and is used in cases like divorce, inheritance tax, capital gains tax etc or where there is a dispute over property. It is the most accurate way of valuing property and is accepted by courts, solicitors, mortgage companies etc.

Did you get advice about this from the conveyancing solicitor at the time of purchasing the house? There should have been a document outlining the different contributions and how much each of you would get on separation or sale of the house.

Just ignore everything he says. Just say “no. We are not doing that. “