Can I influence a property valuer decision?

[tropic]

I like to know if I can influence a property valuer decision to value my property at a high end of the price range.
We had our PPOR valued 2 years ago and the valuer I felt was unfair and valued our property lower than the market price.
I am increasing my home equity loan to the max and going to have our PPOR valued today.

 

[MarkB]

Yes, its possible, but it requires a knowledge of the facts such as what other properties have sold for recently and how your property is either superior (if they were cheaper than the valuation you want) or equal to them (if they were at the higher price you want).

One one occasion I got a valuation revised $35k up simply over the phone (I pointed something out to the valuer that he had not considered).

M

 

[Arkay]

Hi,

I think there is every chance that you can sway them in their pricing. Collecting supporting evidence would be a good start. If you can provide comparative sales over the past 60 days to the valuer it will help. They often don't have the latest figures and often come in low in a rising market.

Getting them to actually come on site to do a valuation also helps. Many do curb side valuations which from my experience are more like desk side "guesses"

While they're on site you have the opportunity to talk it up a bit. Show them things of value and tell them why you think it makes the worth of your property more etc and if you get lucky and get someone you get on well with it always helps.

It might not make a huge difference but none of the above can hurt

Cheers,

Arkay.

 

[beachgurl]

I have been told that if you spend time with the valuer in your home, chat about the rising values in the area and give them a figure you are interested in, then you have a greater chance of a higher valuation. (we have had some terrible vals in the last 2 months so were trying to pull everything out for our PPOR valuation).

My hubby tried all the niceness and repeating a figure and in the end it was valued only 3K more than we paid for it last year. So I guess that didn't help.

Our biggest issues were that:
1. We bought our PPOR for 32K less than the reduced asking price (original asking price was 83K more than our purchase price). The valuer has our purchase price info with him so that price is taken into account, not what the value of the place at the time of purchase.
2. There are very little properties in our area that are comparable properties. The valuer doesn't know how to value our unit so just threw a few thousand on top of last year's purchase price.
3. There are properties currently on the market in our unit complex for an asking price 50K higher than our valuation figure but as they have not yet sold these figures are useless.

It is possible to dispute a poor valuation by providing the valuer with comparable property sale data. Realestate.com.au and domain.com.au have info on recent sales and you could also ask the local agents for sales data for the last 6 months. So before the valuation have a look on the websites and in the meantime, contact the local agents so you may have some ammunition to dispute the valuation figure if you are unhappy with it.

sorry for the long post but this is currently a bugbear for me.

good luck!

 

[Pushka]

We recently had our IP valued - it was bought off the plan in a very new unique development. So other than the sales for this development, there were no other benchmarks. Lo and behold, the valuation came in at the exact amount we had purchased it for. I am thinking, the only thing he looked at was the contract! Still, it could have gone lower I guess!

 

[units4me]

You can be like that bloke in the movie "The Castle" in the scene where he's showing the valuer around his house and pointing out the big antenna and the fake fretwork.

 

[want2bewealthy]

Carry out any repairs prior to evaluation

be honest in your dealings, valuers see through lies

small jobs like painting will help substantially

first impressions count [yes, even for an evaluator]

dont ask for a rough estimate as he leaves your property [he may even give you one but once hes back at the office and finds that that verbal quote was insufficient, he may not feel compelled to tell you as he might feel unprofessional about his prior dealings]

have the property thoroughly cleaned before the job is done

Valuers are people too and they exhibit the same attributes we all do, if a property is in good condition, clean and tidy, etc etc, this leaves a lasting impression.

 

[Debt Junkie]

This will sound really sad, but it's what I do

Organise a time for the valuer. Advise I can't be present but my mum will be there to show them around.

Update my mum on what value I want ... and then she goes in hard with the valuer.

So far the plan is working out really well - I got exactly the value I wanted last time. My mum will pull stunts and wrangle increases in ways I would be embarassed to propose ...

I think I may have mentioned in another post that no one will care as much about your property as you do. I was mistaken. Mess with my property, and I swear you will feel the wrath of my mum!

Never, ever, mess with a Greek mother, that's all I can say.

DJ

 

[Les]

G'day Tropic,

I'm with Mark

On one occasion I got a valuation revised $35k up simply over the phone (I pointed something out to the valuer that he had not considered).

In my case, even a $50k re-evaluation increase - over the phone too - was nowhere near the TRUE value of the property IMHO (but way better than it might have been). If you look around, I'm sure you will find posts that highlight how LOW some vals can be. Our role is to get them as high as possible. Find comps that PROVE that your place is worth more (comps need to be "settled sales" though).

Sometimes it may even need re-financing to another lender before you get a more realistic valuation (the new lender probably has access to "what you paid for it" - but they may well be able to be swayed just to get your business - especially if you've been good with your current lender!! ) New lenders want to gain new business, while incumbent lenders want to keep some equity on their side perhaps... And, yes, changing lenders does cost - but staying with your current lender can do likewise ...??? Just a thought,

Regards,

 

[lizzie]

a tidy house, chat personably to the valuer, throw in the value of properties that have recently sold around you as part of the conversation, comment briefly (as part of the conversation) about your investment properties so the valuer "knows" that you know what you are talking about (hopefully) and discuss things that you have done since purchase to increase the value ...

did all this recently and the valuer left with the comment "what value would you like on the house - as high as possible?" i smiled and said "that would be lovely." the valuation increase came back double what we had spent on the reno's, so we were very happy.

valuers are people to - treat them like professionals and well has friendly human's and you'll get a a better result. a bit of personal interest, flattery and friendliness on your behalf doesn't go astray.

 

[Twitch]

Consider that valuers arent supposed to know about the purpose of the loan, your earnings, occupation, net worth etc. They just get asked to value your property. This is so they don't get influenced in their valuation. ding ding opportunity

Consider also that what valuers DO NOT want to have happen is that if a loan goes in default, for the bank to find that their valuation was too generous.

Therefore if in your chit chat with the valuer on site you just happen () to let slip that, say, you have a lot of equity in other properties, or that you/your partner is in an occupation that is highly paid & secure then that may make them more comfortable in giving a higher valuation as they think it's less likely you will default.

Good luck

 

[tropic]

I just received the valuation of my IP from my bank manager.
The valuation is over the phone and the valuer ask me what I think.
It's valued exactly the price I mentioned to the valuer which I think is a fair market price.

I am still waiting for my PPOR valuation which can vary a lot because of much higher price property. Fingers crossed.

 

[rastus2]

I like to know if I can influence a property valuer decision to value my property at a high end of the price range.
We had our PPOR valued 2 years ago and the valuer I felt was unfair and valued our property lower than the market price.
I am increasing my home equity loan to the max and going to have our PPOR valued today.

I am sure there are valuers around whom you can 'influence'... however one must ask, how corrupt is the entire system that you are putting your money into ?

If values are such that they can be easily manipulated, then it's all a ponzi scheme (pure speculation) and I'd exit stage left ASAP.

Unfortunately there has been large scale evidence of questionable valuations and lending... the end result is a boom that is out of sync with yields... so either yields (rents) have to rise up to meet historic returns, values have to drop, or the two have to meet in the middle.

I'd be interested to know which one of these 3 scenarios people really think will happen.

 

[Twitch]

If values are such that they can be easily manipulated, then it's all a ponzi scheme (pure speculation) and I'd exit stage left ASAP

Do you actually own any property? Or are you just spectulating on what you would do if you did?

 

[nats12]

I have just had an awful experience with a valuer and am now asking questions of the bank on how the valuer got to his number because it's not correct based on market data.

When the valuer turned up to my brand new 1 week old property I asked him to remove his shoes and he asked if he could leave them on. i politely said to him 'unfortuantely even my mother has to remove her shoes when she visits me because this carpet is brand new so there's not really exceptions to the rule'. i tried to laugh it off but he obviously wasn't happy when he had to obey.

anyway i tried to be friendly with him but he was just a c()ck if you know what i mean. i even gave him some addresses of properties that sold for $370k and 380k (smaller), 460k and neighbouring properties which are 6-8 squares smaller that sold for $335k over 6 months ago. anyway, the valuation comes in at 355k. i know on the private market i'd get over 400k definitely.

i am annoyed more so at the valuer than anything. becuase i'm not refinancing a large amount of money i'm still covered under 80% for the funds i need so i guess it doesn't matter, but i definitely got the feeling from this valuer that he was doing a disservice to the bank and his valuation may have been more a personal thing than a professional evaluation. he was in his late 50's trudging around telling me that units in the area are worth low 300's. when i gave him 7 examples of recent sales he wrote them down but obviously did nothing with them to really evaluate the value.

from the information he gathered that day about me personally he would know that we are young, own the house next door and are obviously doing ok. i really felt that his just trying to utilise his power to our detriment. it probably means i'll leave westpac bank becuase they contract tools like this to do vals.

my most recent purchase has been via the NAB and i can't tell you how great they have been to deal with to date. if anyone wants a mobile banker to speak to in melbourn PM me and i'll put in touch with this guy. i talked to westpac at the same time about this recent purchase and they just didn't seem to get it when i was telling them where we're going and what we're trying to achieve.

 

[grossreal]

hi all
couple of things
first you can't influence a valuer.
what you can do is steer them to a value that you understand the property is worth
and to do this you need to get your hand on a valuation that the valuer has done before ( I keep all my valuation and make sure I get the once the bank holds) once you have there format then you present to them your valuation that you have composed to there format( if you don't have a copy a real estate will have valuers and properties that they have sold with valuation)(got to look out side the square a bit)
its the same as buying a property the more information in a format that is easy for a valuer gets you the result you want.
with regards to westpac and nab
nab use internal valuers and westpac use external
so for westpac you find out who is on eth panal and you organise the valuation and get westpac to ask for it
for nab very different you find out who the manager for the area that the property is in is and send you valuationto him to give to the valuer before he comes to site(usually the manager is the valuer him/herself)

 

[Gremlin]

Do you actually own any property? Or are you just spectulating on what you would do if you did?

I own plenty of residential property that I've purchased over the course of the last few cycles. In my experience, the extent to which valuations need 'massaging' is a very good forward indicator of price.

To that extent, I always take heed when I'm told the valuation has come in lower than I want - simply put, that's never happened to me at the bottom of the cycle.

 

[rastus2]

Do you actually own any property? Or are you just spectulating on what you would do if you did?

Short answer - Yes... PPoR pretty much outright. Thanks for asking.

Long Answer - I gradually sold my IP portfolio as I watched this boom expand far beyond it's long term trend.

I'll repeat my question now... which one of the three scenarios I listed do you expect to realistically happen ?

Or do you expect an alternate one from those ?

Genuine interest on my part.

 

[Andrew_A]

I just tried talking property and the market generally with a valuer, not sure how that helped but was satisifed with the results. Actually got a value over purchase price by 20k which I'm told is a bit unusual.

 

[the_captain]

Hey Andrew_A, If that is a first purchase, that is extremely rare, good for you. I had a similar thing happen to me back in 2003. However the bank would not come to the party.

The valuer valued our place at $390K, we paid $350K. We borrowed 95% and capitalised the LMI, effectively borrowing 97% of the $350K. However when the value came back the bank would not charge us a reduced rate of LMI, as our debt to equity raito was now 87%. A bit of a bun fight ensued, in the end - we lost and had to suck up the higher LMI.

At the end of the day the place has performed quite well and we are still happy.

As far as influencing valuers goes, you can do everything everyone here says, but I have found it to be 50/50 in my experience. Although I have not tried out what Grossreal has suggested.