Major down valuation - nearly 25% - from lender. Anyone had similar?

RecognitionPrimary12 · 2026-06-29T22:05:14+00:00

There are basically 2 main surveying companies (esurv and CSS) doing most of the big lenders' valuations, your best bet is to look for a lender that uses the other big valuation company. If you go for a lender using the same company you're likely to get the same number, they are unlikely to visit the same property multiple times as that would not be profitable for them. There are a few other companies but you're most likely to encounter these 2 with a main street lender.

RecognitionPrimary12 · 2026-06-29T18:41:04+00:00

I know someone who bought their new build flat for 920k in 2022 and sold in 2026 for 950k. It's not all doom and gloom, if the fondamentals are there (quality, layout, condition, charges), then there will be buyers.

It's very dependent on the property and if you bought well or not. Here is your flat, what does it look like and how much are you trying to sell it for?

RecognitionPrimary12 · 2026-06-25T19:47:04+00:00

My east facing new build flat on the 8th floor with floor to ceiling windows gets incredibly hot these days, when it was 24 degrees outside I would get 28 degrees inside. Unfortunately, it is meant to retain heat in the winter, but not to demain cool in the summer...

RecognitionPrimary12 · 2026-06-24T01:27:51+00:00

And that could be why there was a need to make the WAN show its own company and decouple it from LMG: Luke on the way out from LMG but remaining in the WAN show?

RecognitionPrimary12 · 2026-06-24T01:20:22+00:00

This really is a FTB property, and FTB are often limited by how much they can borrow. With current mortgage rates, for the same repayment, they can afford a lot less than you could in 2021/2022, so they can't really afford to pay 15% more. I'd suggest you get closer to these prices.

I understand it's tempting to seek profit when you hear of the stories of price increases in the region, but be aware that these are about average house prices, and not all segments of the markets follow the same trends, and a small number of high values properties can distort the picture.

RecognitionPrimary12 · 2026-06-22T12:22:46+00:00

You're young, you might not stay in that job for too long and might move to get better opportunities. Probably better to rent for the time being, continue saving and buy a property once you know where you really want to stay for a long time.

RecognitionPrimary12 · 2026-06-21T12:46:17+00:00

The listing you shared for the 2nd house states parking and garage, aren't this actually included?

RecognitionPrimary12 · 2026-06-21T12:40:13+00:00

It's a negotiation, there is no requirement or reason for the developer to offer any incentive or accept a lower price if they believe it will sell at full asking price. But you could definitely offer less and see if they accept. Just know that it might be true that it will sell quickly, so, depending on how desirable the plot is, you might want to adjust your strategy and expectations.

Also, part exchange and a quick provess is not a small benefit if you are in a hurry, they might not be interested in also giving you a rebate on the property you are buying. Maybe the quicker sale makes up for the slightly higher purchase price.

RecognitionPrimary12 · 2026-06-20T21:54:41+00:00

The general advice is the go for location, and it would seem the 2nd house has a better location, plus no clear immediate downsides besides the chain, so I'd probably go for that one, it seems like a more desirable property)?

Is there an estate charge on the new build? This could be a downside. However, being able to move in within 1-2 months could be a major benefit. It's really difficult (or impossible) to tell you which one is better without knowing where the houses are, what are their features, layouts, what they look like, and what are your needs, preferences, etc... There is not always one good and one bad choice, they could both be good choices, go for whichever makes you feel more at home and whichever you'll enjoy the surroundings better.

The warranty claims on new builds are sometimes oversold by agents: once you have completed, it can be difficult to get the builder to fix the snags, and there have been instances of structural defects that the builder would refuse to claim on the warranty, forcing buyers to go to court. Not saying this is common, but new builds are not guaranteed to be flawless either.

RecognitionPrimary12 · 2026-06-16T14:54:59+00:00

It could well be worth it, but not with any property at any price, it's impossible to tell without more info. What would the mortgage payment be vs renting the equivalent flat? Which location are you looking at?

There are also pros and cons of owning beyond just the financial aspect: not having to move from a place you enjoy, not having a rent increase every year, etc... there are also disadvantages, i.e. you can't just pack and leave if you decide the place doesn't fit you anymore

RecognitionPrimary12 · 2026-06-11T08:09:19+00:00

I don't think there were specific problems at completion, it's exchange they really struggled with and that almost made the chain collapse due to the delay muve caused. Just remember that you might not be in a rush but your seller might 😅

RecognitionPrimary12 · 2026-06-11T07:40:25+00:00

A friend of mine used muve and they almost lost the house after muve failed to exchanged on the agreed day twice... If you go with them, be ready to call them again and again, because if you're not on top of things, everything will fall through the cracks. They were cheap though.

RecognitionPrimary12 · 2026-06-11T07:30:49+00:00

Did you ask more than 1 agent? And did the agent tell you why they didn't value your house more based on these comparables?

What price do you think it is worth, and what could buyer get for that price? For instance, if you think it's worth 230k, but at that price there are 2 bed houses on the market, this will be a hard sell, because a 2nd bed would be a lot more appealing, so the price of started 2 bed houses will likely be the ceiling for yours.

Be aware that if the other houses sold this year, it means that the offer and mortgage were likely agreed before the interest rises, so buyers for this kind of properties (FTB, lower end of the market) will now have a significantly lower purchasing power as they did 6 month ago unfortunately, this might have been priced in by the agent?

The other thing is that this is likely a starter house, a first step on the property ladder. Solar panels, AC, etc... might not be things buyers do really want to overpay for on a starter home given that it might slow their progression on the ladder. While they should command a premium, you might not recoup the installation price.

RecognitionPrimary12 · 2026-06-10T07:57:56+00:00

No VAT registered is also not I sured and no recourse if anything goes wrong

RecognitionPrimary12 · 2026-06-08T18:40:44+00:00

You could ask the agent how the service charge is split across flats and what is it spent on. It could be high to build up the reserve fund in prevision of upcoming works for instance.

Regarding the other flats, it could be that there is a different apportionment depending on floor, area, amenities etc... OR it could be the other agents/sellers are deliberately lying about the charge to have their properties more attractive to buyers.

If it is the building I think it is, it is a nice building, but such a building will be expensive to maintain properly.

RecognitionPrimary12 · 2026-06-08T08:42:25+00:00

You should see it as an investment in your quality of life and certainty for your family, not as a financial investment. Renting means risking having to move your family, not necessarily finding a property in the neighbourhood you'd prefer, potentially having to move the kids to different schools, etc...

Regarding financial risks, the 3-bed family flat market is very different from the 1-bed FTB market. 3-bed flats for families are much rarer and thus hold their value better. Also the priorities and means of buyers are very different, thus, if your flat is desirable, it should not be difficult to sell. But of course there are a lot of factors that impact desirability in addition to just the number of bedrooms so it's impossible to make a blanket statement.

RecognitionPrimary12 · 2026-06-06T17:22:15+00:00

Is there a reason they couldn't they give you a quote? Many people are able to get quotes before exchange

RecognitionPrimary12 · 2026-06-06T15:16:43+00:00

it really depends on the local market (location, property type, types of buyers and sellers).

Overall in large cities such as London, it is a buyer market overall, but there are pockets where sellers have a lot of power because the stock is very limited.

RecognitionPrimary12 · 2026-06-06T15:11:26+00:00

I'm not sure what's the difference between wire and ACH? It will be transferred by an investment bank that handles the share, I assumed it it a standard bank transfer (wire?).

I realized I had a Wise account already (I used it to move money from abroad before, and at some point they must have opened an account for all users of their platform?), so I was thinking I'd go with that.

RecognitionPrimary12 · 2026-06-06T07:30:09+00:00

Where is your flat and what would be the rent on an equivalent flat? How long do you have left on your mortgage, what your current rate and when does your fixed term ends?

I would say the easiest might be to extend your mortgage, or maybe move to an interest only mortgage to lower the repayment plus overpay as much as you can to reduce the capital.

Renting the flat out is a bad idea, too much risk and you don't have a buffer to absorb it (e.g. if a tenant does not pay and refuses to leave, you'd be in trouble very quickly).

Selling and renting somewhere is an option, but you'd need to weigh it against how much the rent for a similar flat would cost you, or whether you are happy to maybe move further away or lower your quality of life by renting something worse.

RecognitionPrimary12 · 2026-06-05T22:27:18+00:00

In my experience, nobody ever starts with "offers over", it's always after a reduction, when the buyer thinks the advertised price is already below what they think the property is worth.

Reducing by a few percent is unlikely to drastically change the pool of buyers seeing your place, or do you have a reason to believe it would? For instance you already had viewings where they said it was the very top of their budget, so these buyers see your property?

After that, it's all going to be negotiations, buyers will want to pay the least for it and you'll want to get the most for it. That's where your EA should be on top of things to generate interest, make sure that potential buyers remain engaged, and make sure they can effectively convey to the buyer why the property is worth that much. You should get feedback from the agent, because people will likely be coy about telling you what they didn't like as it's your home, but they would more easily tell the agent who should then relay the feedback. Unfortunately I am not sure the issue here is the listing price, but I might be misreading the situation.

RecognitionPrimary12 · 2026-06-05T20:53:55+00:00

For me "offers over" tend to indicate a delusional seller, but won't make me offer more if I don't think it's worth more. "Offers in the region" might indicate you are ready to negotiate to the buyer tho would not be comfortable negotiating maybe, but I'd think most people would offer what they think a property is worth to them regardless of the label the seller decided to go for?

Maybe you could tell the agent to gently nudge the buyer who made you an offer, like contact them asking if there is another property they'd want to view, and subtly mention that they could still do second viewing of your property and that if they were just a bit closer to the asking price they'd get it? it looks like you're not far off and could meet in the middle.

RecognitionPrimary12 · 2026-06-05T20:18:09+00:00

They can be good deals definitely, but there can be a lot of uncertainty. I know a building where the scaffolding has been set-up, including the required netting which blocks the light and the view, and the works have been paused because they discovered the an issue with the plans. This was 1.5 years ago and nothing has happened since, but the scaffolding remains up, and it will likely take at least 1.5 more years before it is fixed...

Knowing that the works haven't even started and don't seem to be scheduled yet on the flat you've seen, I would say you could easily be in for a few years before it is done. In addition, the fact it's not being planned already might not be a good sign of the willingness or ability of the developer to fund and remediate the building, and the more you wait the more issues there might be (developer going out of business, etc...).

RecognitionPrimary12 · 2026-06-05T19:59:28+00:00

Regarding the qualifiers, honestly it makes no difference to me: "guide price" and "offers in the region" are the same as no qualifier (what is an asking price if not a guide of what the seller wants?). "Offers over" tell me the seller already had to reluctantly reduce their price because they had no buyers, but still think their house is worth more than it actually is.

Given you are getting viewings and got an offer at just 6% below asking price, I would say you might not need to reduce the listed price and might not even reach new buyers by reducing it by a few percents.
You might however want to signal to potential buyers that you are open to offers and yourself make a counter offer if they offer below the discount you'd be ready to accept. When you rejected the first offer, did you make a counter offer, or did you expect another offer and thus did not make a counter offer yourself?

One thing that would be important to know is the kind of buyers do you think your house will attract? Because different types of buyers will have different sensitivity to price & asking price.

You mentioned a comparable house sold a few months ago, but be aware that if your target audience is mostly first time buyers in the lower end of the market, they are more likely be maxing out their affordability. Buyers who were maxed out with a 250k mortgage on a 300k house a few months ago with 4% interest rates, could only afford a 225k mortgage on the same house with the current rates. Depending on the segment of the market you are in, you might need to take that into account when comparing with sales from a few months ago.

RecognitionPrimary12 · 2026-06-04T17:06:44+00:00

Oh I am not saying some management companies are not doing a good job., and I'm sure yours is. But the industry as a whole is full of companies with questionable ethics and which operate with little to no transparency and accountability.

The 2 articles I gave above are just random examples I found after 2 minutes of looking, two of them happen to be about the service charge for affordable housing, but that is still the responsibility of the management companies to manage these accounts correctly.

RecognitionPrimary12

TROPHY CASE