House Surveying?

[Paddy]

As our house has gone up in value since we moved in 6months ago, I am getting it revalued with a view to a further advance on my mortgage. The surveyor is coming next tuesday but I am concerned that as we are in the middle of 'superficial' decorating, this is going to reduce his value.

There is a house a few doors down going for £160K. It's sound although bland. We have a porch extension, a larger plot with a better sized, flatter garden and only one neighbour as we have a wood on the other side. I am hoping that these will give us an extra £5K on them.

The rooms that we have decorated are to a good standard, but the kitchen, hall and bedrooms are untouched (the house is 5years old). We are in the process of painting the kitchen (tester paint on the walls), and we can get it done before he comes, but i wonder if i should concentrate my efforts elsewhere in an attempt to tart the other rooms up a bit.

I assume that he will look at the size of the house, the location, and then just compare it to the other houses for sale in the area... I just wonder how much room for negotiation there is....

Anyone have any experience in this field?

Cheers!

[az]

Are you planning to sell your house, or why are you concerned about its value?

AZ, knowing nothing about houses until he has the money to get one

[Brian R.]

"I am getting it revalued with a view to a further advance on my mortgage."

Translated: Loan collateral

I don't think decorations and paint have anything to do with the value of the house.

[Tjalfe]

Unfortunately most people just looks at how pretty the place is and sets the price accordingly, but this being a professional should be able to see past that. Call him /her in advance and find out.

here I would be afraid that the property tax would go up if the town found out that it was worth more than what they thought

I am tempted though to get an evaluation myself to see that my work on the place has paid off

[Paddy]

I borrowed 110%, and as the house has gone up in value I can borrow more, but have the total < 100% of the value of the house. This will result in much lower premiums for me.... If it is a 'professional' surveyor, then the 'decoration' should not influence the house value. I would imagine that value is a relative term and he will be more concerned about the physical structure of the house togeather with its location.

In any case, as we are not going to sell, it's true value is academic, this is just an attempt to shift more expensive debt onto the mortgage and still reduce my outgoings.

[az]

Ah thank you

Sounds complicated.

AZ

[Lizzard[MPE]]

you should lay off on the painting and worry about the physical aspects.

my mother bought her house for $10,000. Four years later it was apraised at $85,000.

[Lizzard[MPE]]

nevermind, i for some reason read that you were in the middle of building a porch.

i am on crack. you should do whatever you can by the time they get there.

try not to make everything cluttered so the appraiser can see the rooms

[GNEP]

Paddy mate, tjalfe seems to have the most sensible suggestion (no offense Liz ) - work with the surveyor. If he/she instists on being "professional" then give a call to their closest competitor and see what they say in advance of the survey.

But it also depends on the level of the survey. If it's purely a valuation, then yes, they do take the decorative state into account. It's only the homebuyer or structural survey that look at the potential future problems. Typical valuation survey is IMHO simply them giving it the quick once-over and trying to work out how much it could sell for on average. And decor influences that. They will also tend to be "safe" and go maybe ~10% below market value to protect their own arses.

http://www.mouseprice.co.uk/ (for a fee)
and
http://www.upmystreet.com/ (for free but averaged and less up-to-date)

both should tell you how much similar is going for in your postcode recently.

[breezer]

Paddy,

If your doing any work now or if the surveyor finds anything that needs doing, your will probably be given 6 months to finish/fix it. You will have to privide evidence that its done, photos, bills etc.
The only gotchaaa I can think of is the new regs concering your electrical installation, you may have to have a visual inspection by an approved council official

Breezer

[Paddy]

Cheers lads - looks like i'll be spending valentines day doing the kitchen

[Helevitia]

Here in the US, the Kitchen gives you back the most bang for the buck. Something like 89% of what you put into it. Other things that are considered high value are decks & bathrooms. If you search on the web for "apprasial" you will find artciles about this very issue.

Some things that people think will raise the value of the house but don't are swimming pools and landscaping.

Dave

[Paddy]

Woo! The house has increased in value by £23K since last June. That's way above the average for around here - not bad for a coat of paint

[GNEP]

Way to go Paddy