Property Valuation for Switching

Background:
I am in the process of switching my mortgage and my application has been approved. A requirement of this process is that I have the house valued. I provided an initial estimation of the house value which is in and around 2003 prices. The official valuation of the property will have implications for Loan to Value rate of my mortgage and consequently the interest rate which I will be given. We have been approved on the basis of a 50%-80% LTV. If the valuation of the property is lower than my initial evaluation by 20k then we will still quality just at the 80% level, but I am concerned about what will happen if the valuation is far lower than my estimate.

Questions:
In very general terms are Auctioneers valuations of properties on the high or the low side?
Is the lender potentially going to have an issue with any difference between my valuation and the Auctioneers valuation?

I have to select the valuation company first and get approval from the Bank, so this rules out getting the valuation done by one company and then 'shopping around' to try and get a higher valuation from another company.
When I am calling around auctioneers for a valuation would it be acceptable to ask what they think the property might be worth ballpark, before actually selecting them for the job?

I have genuinely tried to make an educated guess as to the value of the property and I hope I don't appear to be trying to deceive anyone, I am just anxious that the switch will proceed without a hitch.

I would discuss the ballpark with the company/person you intend to use for the valuation. Problem is that the bank may not approve the person you choose and narrow your potential valuers. The first thing any valuer will do is google house prices in the area so that should give you an indication of how close you are to your own estimate.

Tell them if you are looking for a particular valuation - low or high. They may ignore you and just do their job but they may also take it on board. I did this when I was looking for a particular level of valuation recently.

seanistaken said:

Questions:
In very general terms are Auctioneers valuations of properties on the high or the low side?
Is the lender potentially going to have an issue with any difference between my valuation and the Auctioneers valuation?

When I am calling around auctioneers for a valuation would it be acceptable to ask what they think the property might be worth ballpark, before actually selecting them for the job?

Click to expand...

If there are no comparables (similar houses that have sold recently) then it will be on the low side.

Yes, the lender can only go on the valuation as per the valuation report.

No harm in calling different valuers but you might as well be up front with them about the price you need but be ready to be disappointed. It is rare for a clients expectations to match a valuers in this market.

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Thanks for the responses. I will only be calling valuers who say on their websites that they are approved by the bank in question. I will as has been suggested tell them both the purpose of the valuation and the figure that I have quoted.

There are a few fairly similar properties on websites, most have Price On Application which is not particularly encouraging, some are far above and one slightly below which I am hoping is for a quick sale!

Anyway I will call and see how I get on. As I say I have 20k wiggle room down which I hope will be enough to both a) remain within the 50-80% LTV ratio and b) Not scupper the whole process.

If all comes to all I can pay down some more of the mortgage with a lump sum but I am already paying it down by 5k and don't want to invest any more cash in it. I will update this thread when I have more information for the benefit of those reading this thread in the future.

I had my house valued recently for the purpose of switching mortgage provider.

The bank itself chose the valuer even though I was paying for the valuation.

The valuation came in at a figure that was less that I had expected.

When doing the valuation, the valuer took into account the 'sale prices' of three similar properties in my area that had been sold recently.

The valuation of my property was very close to these three 'sale prices'.

The reason my expectation was higher was because I was going on recent 'asking prices' in the area, (not 'sale prices')

Luckily, the valuation didn't affect the mortgage offer.