The Force of Unexplained Presence

When buyers bid a house above what similar houses nearby have sold for, the bank's valuation often comes back below the price, and the buyer has to cover the gap. It happens most with houses that have presence, the older homes with wooden floors, deep verandas and gardens that took decades to grow, the kind people fall for in the first minute.

The valuer works from different material. The report looks at size, condition, location and recent comparable sales registered at the Deeds Registry, and it has no column for the feeling in the lounge on a winter afternoon. So the bank lends against the figure it can defend, and the bond approval arrives smaller than the buyer needed.

From there the options are few and plain. The buyer can find the shortfall in cash, go back to the seller about the price, or let the finance condition in the offer run its course so the sale falls away. Each choice is easier for a buyer who understood beforehand that the part of the house they loved most is the part a bank will not count.