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Original poster

Surveyor's valuation of a flat - advice needed please

17 replies

AllBuggiedOut · 28/03/2006 22:54

Has anybody any experience of trying to persuade a house buyer to pay more than his surveyor's valuation???

We agreed a price with a buyer and his survey has said that the flat is worth £7K less than the price we agreed. The buyer's obviously now reduced his offer, but I know that an almost identical flat across the road is under offer for £3K more than the price the buyer and we agreed on.

Any advice? Does anybody know what criteria surveyors use? It's a cash purchase, so no mortgage required.

Ta xx

OP posts:

Freckle · 28/03/2006 23:09

Any valuation is just one person's opinion of the current market value. Some surveyors are not local to an area and therefore don't have local knowledge. If you know of another identical flat going for more, I would be tempted to tell the buyer that you've had a couple more valuations done and are now increasing the price.

Are you sure the survey said what he says it did? Most surveys cover the structural condition of the property and don't usually mention market value - which is subject to change. He might be trying to pull a fast one.

starlover · 28/03/2006 23:11

ABO i would hold out, at least for a bit.
just point out what the other flat is going for, and say that you're not willing to sell for less.

our surveyor valued the house we're buying at exactly what we're paying.

you could maybe ask for a copy of the survey?

Nbg · 28/03/2006 23:13

I know that if they find a problem or something crops up on a survey, the general advice is to get an independant survey done to assess the particular problems but that isn't really the case here is it?

starlover · 28/03/2006 23:14

has he actually dropped his offer by 7k?

Freckle · 28/03/2006 23:14

Quite. He doesn't appear to be saying that his survey has shown up a particular problem and therefore he is reducing his offer to cover the cost of remedial work. Just that his surveyor thinks the property isn't worth what he's offered - which is just his opinion.

Wills · 28/03/2006 23:17

Some surveryors simple like to down the valuations if they feel that the estate agents are over doing it.

In the end though it comes down to your personal position. Are you in a position to hold out. If so then refuse to lower the price and wait. Even better give the buyer a deadline and then put back on the market. It really does come down to your position and how desperate you are to sell.

MrsSpoon · 28/03/2006 23:17

We've had a surveyor up his value on two occasions, once for ourselves and once for the buyer of our previous property. IME they will only up the value slightly but if it's just a couple of thousand you need they may be willing to do it. Although if your buyer is a cash buyer it shouldn't matter that much to them if they really want the property. Suppose it depends how strong your nerve is to ride it out and say you are not budging.

All the best!

Freckle · 28/03/2006 23:18

At the end of the day, a property is worth what someone is prepared to pay for it. So, if your buyer really wants it, he'll pay what you are asking. If he doesn't, he'll try to beat you down.

Pixiefish · 28/03/2006 23:19

a surveyor looks at the actual property, condition etc and will also look at properties in the area. they're going to be biased towards the lower end of the price range if it suits their buyer but they work within a 'range'. it is just their opinion though and another surveyor might value it differently.

if you don't want to accept the price then don't. put the property back on the market(if you're willing to do that)

Original poster

AllBuggiedOut · 28/03/2006 23:54

Yes Starlover, he's dropped it by £7K. I'm pretty sure the survey hasn't shown problems because he hasn't mentioned any, but I think we will ask to see it. If nothing else that buys us time!

I sort of think that, in the end, the market value is the point at which buyer and seller agree to meet, and I though we'd done that. I'm also nervous that the buyer mentioned that he'd used the surveyor before, and am getting paranoid that they're old friends!

Mrs Spoon, how did you get the surveyor to up the valuation?

I guess my worry is that if all surveyors are going to say it's worth the lower end, we might lose the cash buyer who's prepared to wait while we trawl the whole of Essex to find a house (yawn yawn) and find ourselves in a long chain or with somebody pushing us to move quickly. It's a horrible business, isn't it? And according to our estate agent, made all the worse by the recent documentary on over-pricing!

OP posts:

starlover · 28/03/2006 23:59

ok... well would you consider getting another surveyor to come and value it?

Original poster

AllBuggiedOut · 29/03/2006 00:24

I could get another valuation, which would give us a better idea of the likelihood of it happening again. But I suspect wouldn't persuade current buyer to up his offer.

OP posts:

Pixiefish · 29/03/2006 00:39

The surveyor doesn't have to show you the survey btw. It's a service that he's sold to your buyer and he is under no obligation to you, in fact I think he's not even allowed to show it to you but the buyer can.

MrsSpoon · 29/03/2006 13:44

ABO, the first time was a survey at our instruction for a re-mortgage, and we needed a couple more grand than in the valuation (new windows/first house), we phoned the surveyors and they put the value up. Second time it was the buyer of our last property that offered more than the property was valued at (we are in Scotland and an 'offers over' system operates). She was a first time buyer and needed an 100% mortgage, there was about £4,000 between the valuation and her offer, we asked her to approach the surveyor to see if he would put the value up which she did and IIRC he added about £2,000 to the value, she lowered her offer and we accepted the lower offer, albeit a little grudgingly as this messed up our new mortgage with the loan to value changing we just missed out on a better mortgage deal.

Hope it all works out!

essbee · 29/03/2006 13:49

In this situation your estate agents needs to get together details of similar properties sold recently/locally and present them to the surveyor to argue the case. Your estate agent should also be able to show them to your buyer esp since they don't need a mortgage. I would def hold out and argur. £7k is a lot of money!! Good luck.

Original poster

AllBuggiedOut · 29/03/2006 20:25

We've now had a copy of the survey, but it's got the valuation blanked out! Am beginning to think he is mucking us about...

Thanks for all your info. Mrs Spoon, it's really interesting that surveyors will sometimes amend values when asked to. Essbee, the agents apparently have provided info to the buyer about other properties they've sold. I suspect he just doesn't want to pay what he offered and maybe he's just not that bothered about buying it. Shame, I love it!

OP posts:

essbee · 31/03/2006 14:42

Or he could be trying it on!

How's it going? Unless I was desperate to sell i'd hold out tbh. If I was desperate I'd think about splitting the difference or something.

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