Q. I’m hoping to remortgage my property to release some equity. Only problem is I’m hearing there are quite a lot of down valuations going on at the moment, hence I’m reluctant to pay a valuation fee of £600 only to have the property down valued and not be able to release the funds that I need? Is there any information I can collect before hand to ensure the surveyor values the property up?
A. I’m afraid not, as the borrower, the surveyor would not be willing to be swayed in his decision by anything you might say or present. The surveyor is there purely as a representative of the lender. His valuation will be based on his expertise within the area, he will of course take into consideration, the size, the aspect, the floor level as well as whether the apartment has parking and also of course the location. Following his visit to the property the surveyor will then collect comparables from other agents within the area by way of confirming other sold apartments that are of a similar size, aspect and location as the one he has just valued. Once he has collected all this information together as well as visited the property the surveyor will then have accumulated enough information to make an informed decision to report back to the bank. Once the report is issued as long as the Lender is satisfied they will then release the funds to the borrower. If by some bad luck a down valuation were to occur you could challenge the decision with the surveyor if you had enough evidence to confirm otherwise, however the surveyor would always have the final say and to be honest they are rarely prepared to revisit the valuation once a decision has been made. One way you could avoid losing money on the survey is to speak to an independent financial Advisor who could try and find a lender that is prepared to offer a free valuation, in return for your business, at least that would prevent you from incurring any unnecessary expense if a down valuation were to occur.