Browse Forums Home Finance 1 Jan 18, 2010 7:26 pm I'm wondering if anyone has had any success disputing a bank valuation and how they went about it?
This is where we are at: (I have tried to simplify this as much as possible - hopefully it makes sense) Back in October we enquired about borrowing extra money for landscaping and a patio extension (about $30k). Our broker told us it should be fine, we can just add-on to our home loan. After a few weeks she came back to us and said we could borrow the money as a personal loan (but we'd have to pay excessive set-up fees), or we could submit quotes to prove that what we were going to do would add value to the house. No problem, it took a few weeks but I got the quotes together and sent them off. Mid-december she got back to us saying that we could only borrow $8k because our valuation only came in at $357,114 . Know I now that bank valuations are usually pretty conservative, but I also know that the house 3 doors down from us sold in October for $460,000. Its a smaller house on much smaller block Needless to say we weren't happy with the valuation and asked if we could dispute it. The broker told us we would have to go to the bank and do it directly. So we made an appointment with the bank after christmas, only to be told that they can't dispute the valuation for us, the broker has to do it. The lady at the bank was actually qutie helpful, even though she couldn't help us with the dispute. She told us that all the times she has disputed valuations VALEX they have never changed their minds. She was also able to look up the valuation and told us that it was a "desktop" valuation. Meaning whoever had put the value on our house had never left their desk So, we went back to the broker. She gave us a form to fill out and we had to provide recent sales data for similar houses in our area. That was easy, 5 mins on the REIWA website and I had all the info I needed. There were actually 3 houses in our street that had sold in the past 6 months: Oct 09- a 3x2 on 362m2 block - $460,000 Aug 09- a 4x2 on 360m2 block - $475,000 July 09- a 3x2 on 363m2 block - $446,000 Compare that to our 4x2 on 653m2 block supposedly worth $357,114 and I think its pretty obvious we have been undervalued. Anyway, it has been two weeks since I sent the forms back, and today I received a call from the broker. She had spoken to someone from VALEX this morning who said that we can't dispute the valuation because it has expired. It was only valid for 60 days. If we want them to do another valuation we will have to pay Its fortunate that we are not in a great hurry for the extra money, and still have the option of a personal loan (and not forgetting of course, the old-fashioned save up and wait method) but this whole valuation thing is a bit of a joke. The broker has suggested just going ahead and applying for the loan regardless, because when the bank receive it they will have to do another valuation anway if the previous one has expired. We will probably end up doing that, but I can't imagine a new valuation would be much higher. So we would probably have to dispute it AGAIN......... Oh, did I mention GRRRRRR??? Re: Bank Valuation Dispute - GRRR! 2Jan 20, 2010 2:17 pm I've had a similar problem just recently. Nothing we could do about an undervaluation really. The valuation was enough for us but was at least 150k under what is currently on the marked for and also based of previous sales. In your situation, it's not looking good. The valuers think they are god. But they don't have all knowledge like god. If they did they would do their job correctly and research the property in the surrounding area as well as the components and quality of the house to be built. Re: Bank Valuation Dispute - GRRR! 3Jan 20, 2010 2:43 pm make sure they got the figures (eg land size # of bedrooms etc right) A friend last year had a valuation done that came in considerable lower than would reasonable be expected. Turned out the place was valued as a 3bed house, not a 4 bed. He missed out the main bedroom with ensuite/WIR and the guy had actually been to the house can you lay the blame of any of the delay at the bank to get a revaluation waived, especially if there has been some fundamental oversight? Re: Bank Valuation Dispute - GRRR! 4Jan 20, 2010 7:52 pm 4walls make sure they got the figures (eg land size # of bedrooms etc right) A friend last year had a valuation done that came in considerable lower than would reasonable be expected. Turned out the place was valued as a 3bed house, not a 4 bed. He missed out the main bedroom with ensuite/WIR and the guy had actually been to the house can you lay the blame of any of the delay at the bank to get a revaluation waived, especially if there has been some fundamental oversight? I'm not sure why it took us so long to be told the what the valuation amount was. I asked the bank myself in october and they couldn't/wouldn't tell me, and our broker had been trying to find out as well but it wasn't until mid-december after I submitted the quotes that we found out what it was. The fact that its expired means they had that information a long time ago, but for whatever reason weren't forthcoming. If they do try to make us pay for another valuation I will definately argue the point that if they had of told us the valuation amount when we started this whole process we would have been abe to dispute it in time. Re: Bank Valuation Dispute - GRRR! 6Jan 27, 2010 9:22 pm Why don't you try applying directly through the bank next time? That way there is no question as to who deals with the dispute (you or broker). Also, banks don't have as much mortgage business as they did a couple of years ago and therefore they can deal with the number of applications they receive more easily without relying on brokers. You may possibly find you have a better experience this way. This has been my experience recently. Re: Bank Valuation Dispute - GRRR! 7Jan 31, 2010 8:26 pm Hi Shell I have no idea if you can dispute it or not. We are with the NAB and our house we bought was valued at $20k less then we paid for it prior to the boom four yours ago. Branch manager said value came back at a certain amount and they take 20% off. Even the valuation was about 200K under what it would be worth today and then add the 20% the bank takes off. Was not a pretty figure. Lucky for us it doesnt affect us one bit as we are not buying or re financing. Just had to be done as part of selling our other house. May be thats why your valuation is lower. Good luck. Caz Re: Bank Valuation Dispute - GRRR! 8Jan 31, 2010 8:37 pm I have worked for property valuers for 8 years and I have NEVER heard of a desktop valuation where they haven't been to the block/residence, that to me sounds bizarre. Also banks usually employ independant valuers they don't do them using anyone from within the bank itself. Re: Bank Valuation Dispute - GRRR! 9Feb 01, 2010 10:22 am The lenders do desktop valuations - not the valuers themselves - so maybe this is why you had not heard of them and definitely do not go out and look at the bricks and mortar so to speak. Only used in set circimstances and this depends upon the lender as to what those criteria's are. If there is too much deviation between the estimated value for the property and details from the desktop they will ususally then do a full valuation. Re: Bank Valuation Dispute - GRRR! 10Feb 01, 2010 12:53 pm Hey, we did the exact same thing and our valuer did a "drive by" once we got back the valuations we requested that they do a walk through instead and once that had been done they added $40,000 onto the price. We didnt have to pay for this as I believe they are supposed to "walk through" the house anyway. Its a pain but its worth getting it done properly. THE LIGHT OF MY LIFE IS 495 SQM OF BEACH SAND AND WEEDS! http://missvintageshouseofpain.blogspot.com/ Re: Bank Valuation Dispute - GRRR! 11Feb 03, 2010 3:32 pm Desputing a valuation has a 3% success rate, why bother? Go to another lender. If you go through a mortgage broker then you can select a lender that allows you to order a valuation before applying. That way you know you are safe before you apply and end up with extra enquiries on your credit file. Re: Bank Valuation Dispute - GRRR! 12Feb 04, 2010 6:16 pm jb_money Desputing a valuation has a 3% success rate, why bother? Go to another lender. Switching lenders would mean hefty exit fees from our current lender. Re: Bank Valuation Dispute - GRRR! 13Feb 04, 2010 6:26 pm Finally we are getting some where. The broker sent us two lots of incorrect paperwork, along with a form to authorise her to act on our behalf. We decided not to sign the form cos we have no confidence in her, and went into the bank to see if we can deal directly with them. Within an hour we had conditional approval and a new valuation has been ordered. The valuer is coming by tomorrow afternoon. So now we wait to see what the new valuation amount is.... Re: Bank Valuation Dispute - New valuation ordered 14Feb 08, 2010 4:04 pm Thats Great Shell Glad its all starting to come together for you. I will keep my fingers crossed for a good amount. THE LIGHT OF MY LIFE IS 495 SQM OF BEACH SAND AND WEEDS! http://missvintageshouseofpain.blogspot.com/ Re: Bank Valuation Dispute - New valuation ordered 15Feb 08, 2010 6:06 pm MissVintage Thats Great Shell Glad its all starting to come together for you. I will keep my fingers crossed for a good amount. Thanks Miss Vintage! We should know tomorrow what it is. Re: Bank Valuation Dispute - New valuation ordered 16Feb 10, 2010 12:28 am Yay, new valuation is enough for us to borrow the amount we want, so we don't need to dispute it this time The bank lady said she couldn't tell me exactly what the amount was, but it must have been over $420,000. Re: Bank Valuation Dispute - All good this time! 17Feb 10, 2010 12:34 am Thats fantastic to hear Shell!!! viewtopic.php?f=31&t=22766 - my build thread! Time waits for no man. Unless that man is Chuck Norris. yes it does, you've just not understood it. theres a difference. 4 2776 9 19162 How much are you ahead in payments compared to where the build is at? Have you fully drawn down the loan? 5 9158 |