Q. My property has just been down valued by the surveyor who carried out the mortgage valuation last week. Is there any thing I can do about this?
A. Down Valuations are the Bain of estate agents. Unfortunately from time to time this does happen. Surveyors rely on comparable evidence from other completed sales that are similar to the unit they value. Following a valuation, surveyors collect comparable evidence from local agents of recently sold similar properties. If they fail to get at least 3 like for like comparables they will likely down value the property. Surveyors act on behalf of the lenders and in times of recession leading to repossessions the lenders will go straight back to the surveyor if they believe they have allowed an incorrect valuation to be approved, hence surveyors tend to proceed cautiously if they feel the property maybe overheated on price. Your agent, if he feels strongly that the surveyor is wrong, can confront him and on some occasions, if he is able to provide enough reliable information of recently sold comparables able to get the surveyor to reconsider. However this is not always the case, and the down valuation can sometime’s still be upheld as the surveyor will have the final decision. That being the case, negotiations between both the seller and the buyer will usually resolve the difference as long as both parties are prepared to be flexible in order to hold the sale together.