What to do if your next home is down valued

You’ve found a house you love. It’s on the market for £290,000 and there’s been lots of viewings, and there’s still loads of interest, but you really want it.

So you end up paying £10k over the asking price to secure it, as today’s market is incredibly competitive. But you’ve got a £30k deposit, your Agreement In Principle’s lined up for a mortgage of £270k… it’s all systems go, right?

But that’s until your mortgage lender sends their surveyor out who says the house is only worth £275k…. so what happens now? 

That means the bank won’t lend you £270k, they’ll now only lend you £245k. And with your deposit of £30,000, you can now only afford a property worth £275,000. The sale is now likely to fall through – but is there anything you can do to save the sale? Here are a few options that are worth trying.

Can you increase your deposit?
Maybe you set aside some money for a rainy day, or money to cover updates to the new property. If so could you divert some of these funds to add to your deposit? Or are you able to ask any family members to lend you some money?

Re-negotiate 
Explain the situation to the seller and see if they are willing to reduce the price. If the property has been down valued by your lender’s surveyor, explain that another surveyor could do the same and if they stay with you at least there’s a chance the sale could move through quicker.

Change lender
This is a bit of a gamble but there’s a chance that a different lender’s surveyor could value the house at a higher price. You need to be aware though this will take extra time, might frustrate the seller, and might not result in the answer you want.

Try the smart way
At smarthomes we only provide realistic valuations. We don’t believer in over-inflating asking prices to encourage customers to sell their homes with us – we offer a practical approach based on in-depth local market knowledge.

If you’d like to find out how much your home is really worth call smarthomes on 0121 744 4144 (option 2).

If you’re planning on moving in 2022 then click here to see why you should choose to work with smarthomes:
https://www.smart-homes.co.uk/why-choose-smarthomes/always-choose-smarthomes

Check out our property for sale in Solihull and the local area here:
https://www.smart-homes.co.uk/search-properties/for-sale-solihull

Article source:
https://www.zoopla.co.uk/discover/buying/what-to-do-if-your-house-gets-down-valued-by-the-bank/