so i’m buying a new build flat in scotland and its a 3 bed property. the site is made up of 8 blocks 4 of these buildings have street facing shops on the ground floor and the other 4 are at the back across a closed courtyard. I am looking to buy in the blocks that DO NOT have the shops in them.

couple of my friends have bought in the blocks with flats, they bought a 2 bed above a shop and had it valued at £115,000. I have went for a 3 bed on the top floor of a different building and my surveyor has valued at £115,000 aswell!!!

both properties are valued off plan with the surveyor viewing the show flat, but i dont get how the guy has came up with the same price for mine as my friend when they are two totally different flats and different purchase prices!!

do i have any comeback again his fee? can i ask for a second opinion? I think the guy is trying to protect his PI insurance and valuing low which to me is bad practice.

I got shafted by a (non-local) surveyor as a seller last year. When I tried to contact him with the reasons for my disagreement (all backed up by recent local sales) his reply was along the lines of “I have not been instructed by my client to comment on this.”

He was valuing my flat for a private purchase by a company and his client was the lending bank. He came in £20-30k under various local estate agent valuations and consequently the sale didn’t happen.

do i have any comeback again his fee

because you don’t like the their professional opinion?

is he workign for you or the lender – most valuations are done on the lenders behalf, not yours.

if he’s working for you and the lender is having their own valuation survey done I can’t see what the issue is?

Valuation surveyors are always prone to undervaluing in the current market as they can’t afford to value and then the mortgager be in a position that the lent amount is more than the sale price in the event that the lendee defaults!!! Unless there are good local comparables then you’ll find that they won’t stick their arse out! Not a lot you can do. Hope that helps.

Sounds like you still have time to pull out of the sale before you pay more than the flats worth. And remember the housing market is still being artificially supported by low interest rates, once they start to rise to more natural levels expect prices to fall again.

Most likely you are paying but the instruction is on behalf of the lender – that’s who his client is (though he also owes you a duty of care).

Does seem odd…are there any other factors, lapse of time…is yours overlooking a land fill or something?

BTW I take it it’s a different surveyor? Case-law indicates a variation of +/-10% to be acceptable.

FRom my experience, if you have any dealings with a surveyor then by default, you’ll be fleeced.

Ouch……..offence taken!!!!!

We live in a 3 bed flat above a shop, it’s worth pretty muchthe same as any other 3 bed flat in the area, actualy slightly more because it means we get a 10ftx30ft balcony and a garrage!

Take the valuation to the seller and say youre pulling out unless he matches it?

the surveyor is working for me, as long as the surveyor is on the banks approved list they dont mind who i use so i went to the top of the list that was local

if he had came in with a price 5% or 10% less than i was expecting then fine ok move on try again but his price is 22% less than i was expecting and from knowledge of this block i know people who have had surveys at the asking price

when i asked him about being so low he simply said “well really in the grand scheme of things the 3rd bedroom isnt all that big so it doesnt really count and as for not being above a shop well…” he then tailed off and didnt finish his sentence

cynic-al

yeah my surveyor is different from the other i have actually seen

No other factors mine has a different view from the others but its better, its across the whole cylde valley

problem you have is you’ve asked someone for a professional opinion and you’ve got it.

you could pay for the other surveyor to do another valuation and see what they come up with but the chances of getting a reduction in #1’s fee because you’re not happy will be a long drawn out affair.

from knowledge of this block i know people who have had surveys at the asking price

Go ask who their surveyors are?

I’m not sure I understand the problem.

Is the £115,000 more or less than you intend to pay? I’d have thought it would be a useful tool to beat the seller down a wee bit if there is a big difference. If not, what’s the harm, it’s only a guess.

Or are you just comparing willies with your chum?

maybe he has saved you a lot of money…

You don’t say when your friend purchased, or if there are any areas of repairs required to the flat you are looking at.

If his price is lower than you were expecting, surely this is a good thing? At least you will know if you are paying too much, and can either hold the survey as evidence to the seller or walk away.

Hang on, your friends bought a 2 bed flat and paid £115k.

You have had a 3 bed flat, i.e. a bigger one, valued at £115k and you think you’ve been fleeced? Surely this means you’ll pay less than you thought and it is therefore a good thing or am I missing something?

On the face of it the valuation seems comparatively low (based only on the 1 or 2 details you have provided) but…

Unfortunately valuation doesn’t seem to be the objective ‘exact science’ that most people expect it should be. It tends to be more ‘subjective’ than that. And many surveying firms carrying out this type of work were stung hard during 2008 by banks and lenders who had valuations carried out which turned out to be excessively high…massive PI claims all over the place as a result. Hence, an extreme shift in attitude and trend towards conservative valuations generally, as a result. It’s really not a bad thing in an overall sense but I can see why, in individual cases such as this, it can be hard to swallow.