I want to buy a house but am worried about downvaluation as I only want to put down a minimum deposit. Is it normal to offer to buy on condition that if the house is downvalued my offer will be reduced to reflect that fact. And will the other side accept the new figure. If not do I have to find extra to put down?
Len
No, you make an offer, you get the valuation and you might then make a new offer. The seller is free to say yes or no.
Depends. I'm currently selling. I had people falling over each other to pay the asking price. I accepted the offer from the one that seemed in the best position to complete in my timescale. If however he now offered me less he would be told NO, in previous years I would probably had said yes.
Yes, afraid so (though you can find some BS that do 105% loans)
Tim
It is normal for the value of a house to be the purchase price. However, if the valuer has good reason to think you've paid over the odds he will downvalue the house. But this is rare.
Rob Graham
It happened to me a few years back when I was buying a couple of BTLs in Wimbledon. The valuer knocked the value by about 10%. Even when I spoke to him and discussed the other sales in the area, he would not budge. I went to another lender with no problems. :)
"tim" wrote
Well no, not really - the OP could simply walk away instead (not purchase). [No obligation to buy between offer & exchange of contracts.]
well obviously, but I rather thought that the guy more meant, "do I have to find more if I want the house" rather than "am I legally comitted", but you're right there are an awful lot of people who don't know the most basic things like this.
Tim
Basically correct, unless the property is in Scotland.
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