Some of George’s valuation experiences
Over the years, I have come in contact with numerous owners who have sought to obtain top value for their home in order to invest in another property or refinance for other purposes. It has been critical that their properties are presented in the best possible way for valuation. A home in good clean order returns much more at the time of valuation. A little fresh paint and a pleasant odour certainly never go astray! Here are some examples of how I have helped my clients get their properties up to scratch.
TOM
Tom wanted to refinance to obtain the best possible interest rate at the time in order to convert his repayments to interest only, as the property was being rented in another state.
The owner knew the property was a little down on presentation and showed me some photographs. I knew in my mind that the property would not reach valuation unless there was considerable work done by the tenants. The garage was piled full of junk, the surrounds and presentation were terrible. The yard and gardens were indeed in need of a lot of attention. Photos of the interior were not available so I could only guess, but if the inside was like the outside, then what was the valuer to say? They can only value the property as it is at the time.
The client was hoping for an external valuation of the property to avoid looking at the interior, but the valuer did not oblige and proceeded to undergo a full inspection and valuation. Unfortunately, on inspection, the property was valued at $50,000.00 less than expected! The tenants were asked to rectify the property, which they did, as there was no threat to their continued tenancy.
In this case the valuer would not revalue the property, so we had to submit the application to another lender and this simply eats up time and blows out deadlines. After a bit of elbow grease, the property did receive a better valuation by some $30,000.00. It was sufficient for the applicant to achieve his goals but the extra would have made life a little more comfortable.
ALEX
The second instance was a really nice home in a good suburb and the property was up for sale. It had beautiful gardens, and although it was on a main road through the suburbs, I suggest the reason that it didn’t reach a satisfactory sale price was the state of the kitchen. It was old and outdated and really let the rest of the beautiful home down. A renovation loan would have helped to update the home and it would have added to its value.
BRYAN
The third is an absolute classic. This home needed total renovation. There was a large family living in a 4-bedroom home, and it needed to be refinanced in order to let this home and purchase a larger one. One of the car spaces had been converted to a bedroom and the inside needed to be totally repainted. Appliances and light fittings didn’t work and the yard was in desperate need of attention. I believe the home would have reached valuation the first time had the work been done. (It is extremely difficult to have a lender revalue a home if it doesn’t reach valuation the first time, and it is usually three months in between valuations.)
On this occasion, the owners had the two following weekends to rectify the major faults and have the home revalued. There was a small outlay for paint, carpets, curtains, light fittings, a new front door and other things, such as the replacement of door handles etc. For an outlay of under $10,000 dollars and a week of working solidly into the night, the property valued at $30,000.00 above the original valuation!
The time to have considered this was well before the purchase of the new property. It is wise to consider the state of your property and seek advice from someone like Georgemortgages, who has considerable experience, before getting it valued. For more information… Just ask George.