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Vals clattered by clutter?

ended 16. October 2024

A broker on the News Desk has alerted us to a client who recently had a valuation but, due to all the tat and clutter in the house, was returned a zero valuation, so the lender can’t commit to it. They now need to pay for a re-inspection. Another broker had a client whose property was deemed uninhabitable because, errr, a plumber was round at the time fixing a leak. Meanwhile, a third broker said that she has had downvals because properties were in a right state when the valuer turned up. Are consumers sufficiently aware of this and are many too complacent when it comes to getting a val on their home? Also, have you got examples of crazy things that have seen a property valuation refused or a significant down valuation? Any insights or anecdotes, send them across. If you'd like to join the News Desk, upgrade to Platinum and you'll receive the link.

3 responses from the Newspage community

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Editor
Michelle Lawson
Director at Lawson Financial
The problem with valuations are that they are one person's subjective opinion of a small snapshot in time which isn't always right or accurate which creates inconsistency. It should always be just factual and there should be ways to challenge but the system/process doesn't allow this. People should always make sure their property is presented in the best way possible and not give any reason for valuers to give a poor outcome.
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Editor
Simon Bridgland
Director at Charwin Private Clients
For those applying for a mortgage, the biggest worry about the property, other than the price tag awarded to it, is perhaps tidying away things from breakfast and the usual detritus in the lounge and a bit of dirty laundry. So it does leave me feeling at a loss when a surveyor responds with a zero valuation due to clutter in the property. We all have our own standards of tidy or clean but when the person arrives to give a valuation and cannot see the fabric of the building because of the contents are either piled sky high or scattered over every surface in every room, why are applicants then surprised with the abrupt response of a zero valuation. Part of the surveyors role is to protect the lender from a risky investment in you the borrower. So put yourself in the lender/ investors position and ask yourself would you lend money to someone who presents the investment the way you do?
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Tim Allcott
Managing Partner at Allcott Associates
It all depends on the lenders’ criteria. If the lender feels that the valuer hasn’t been able to gather enough information, then the lender can’t make an informed decision and will not lend against the property, resulting in a zero value.
No valuer is going to go back to their employer and claim that they couldn’t value because of a bit of clutter, but they will present the data they could gather. If the mess was to such an extent that the home couldn’t be properly viewed (eg if walls are obscured by stacks of boxes, or loft access is blocked preventing an examination of the construction type of the property) then the lender may determine the evidence insufficient to base a decision on.