Survey problems - can I appeal or complain?

[Greygirl2019]

I am in the process of selling my property and had a buyer contracted for a price of 210,000. He applied for a mortgage and all was ok, until the valuation. Valuer spent less than 5 minutes in the house. They came back with 165,000 but stated no reason for this, no problems with the property. There aren’t really any comparable houses in the area that have sold recently. There is one very similar looking, but half the floor space of mine, mid terraced rather than end of terrace like mine, it sold for 160k 4 years ago. My own mortgage valuation, through NatWest, placed the property at 189,000 4 years ago and their estimated value is now 207,000. I checked this before listing my property for sale.

Obviously this valuation has scuppered the sale as my buyer can’t reach the amount required for our agreement and based on the NatWest data I have, on which I was granted my mortgage I wonder if I can challenge this or appeal it in some way? The estate agent has been supportive and is suggesting that challenge is necessary but I don’t know how to go about it or if I’m wasting my time. Whilst my property maybe isn’t worth the amount agreed, and I would be open to accepting less if necessary, there does seem to be a huge disparity and I wonder if the surveyor has based their figure on the smaller, similar looking property. Other properties for sale in a similar price range to that of the valuation in the area are smaller, or don’t have a garden, or in need of serious work. Mine is ready to move in to with no issues.

appreciate any advice, I am finding the process very stressful.

Wow that seems far out, even with the current state of the market, I’d be surprised if anyone’s house has lost that much value, unless anything has happened in the surrounding area within the past 4 years that have pushed all house prices down considerably but you’ll have seen that with others on sale.

I would expect you can appeal. Do you know which mortgage lender they’re using? Do you have a mortgage broker who can advise?

That sounds really stressful and disappointing. I don't know if there's any way to challenge it but it sounds like the estate agent has possibly over valued the property and prices have been coming down in most places. If no lender will value it that high then it doesn't matter if you find another buyer. Could you get some further valuations done from other estate agents?

Wow, that is a huge discrepancy. Can you ask the potential buyers to apply for a further valuation or pay for a red book valuation yourself? Lots of places have been valued lower than the offer price in the last couple of years as lenders are, no doubt, more cautious now.

What did the estate agent base their valuation on if nothing similar has sold lately?

I can find out the lender, the buyer is still really keen and they’ve themselves contacted other agents. I actually went for the agent who valued it lowest just because I know them and they have a good reputation.

Locally, prices are very slowly rising and haven’t encountered any falls for the last few years, it’s quite a sought after area and people don’t move often once here! Nothing around me within a fair few miles that would impact sale prices either. I’m flummoxed.

When I was deciding on agents to use, I actually went for the ones who gave the lowest value. It is a massive difference isn’t it.

They provided me with a series of data; which looked at local inflation, houses of similar size/design, and then roads which they see as comparable. They also have branches elsewhere in the country and one of those towns is comparable, but surveyors are tied within a certain radius I believe? As I did challenge this with them when this happened - though I do truly think 165,000 is far under when looking at other properties for sale in the area - things such as a large amount of off road parking, good sized private garden, garage, etc which the properties in that price bracket don’t have. I appreciate people may think I am using my own bias there though!