If you are thinking of buying a house, then its vital to make sure that you are not agreeing to pay too much have your potential purchase valued by an RICS Valuer, to be sure.

Although a valuation report gives you, an assessment of value, a Condition Report gives you much more.

The Condition Report is an intermediate level of report – As well as providing our assessment of the value of the property we will carry out a survey on the property and report on its condition. The report provides an outline of the condition of the property on the day of inspection and also highlights the urgency of repairs.

A Condition Report is ideal when you’re buying a previously occupied property as we carry out an internal and external inspection, giving you more information on the condition of the property.

Your Condition Report gives you:

Peace of mind – we take a closer look at the property and report on issues to give you more detail than just an assessment of value

A stronger bargaining position – you may be able to negotiate with the seller if you have better knowledge of the property. An Andrew O’Dowd Condition Report could save you money!

Personal advice – you can discuss any specific issues or concerns directly with your surveyor

We provide a full range of property valuation services, including historic valuations that will help you calculate your capital gains tax. We can value and report on any property, and we work hard to make sure the process is smooth and efficient.

Apart from the standard reports providing Market Value, we currently offer five further different types of property valuations:
Insurance
Matrimony
Probate
Tax
Retrospective

Insurance valuations
An insurance valuation estimates how much it would cost to rebuild your property from scratch. The calculation is based on using modern materials and techniques, and includes costs such as site clearance. It forms the basis of your buildings insurance policy.  This figure is so often mis-calculated leading to shortfalls in insurance claims.

Matrimony valuations
In these days of high levels of divorce and separation, it is usually necessary for matrimonial houses or shared property to be valued to decide upon how the assets will be shared. Many matrimonial valuations are, following “The Woolf” report, usually carried out by a qualified surveyor/valuer jointly appointed by both parties in the divorce with an independent valuation report provided for and to the Court. Valuations are also carried out for the benefit of single parties for negotiation purposes. For the valuations of an individual property asset that will comply with the Court Procedure Rules (35).

Andrew O’Dowd can act as an independent local Chartered Surveyor. We are able to undertake these matrimonial valuations and provide reports compliant with Rule 35 of the CPR 1998. In most cases we can be are jointly appointed by instructing solicitors (on behalf of each party) to provide an independent valuation report for the Courts. We are able to provide matrimonial valuation reports in respect of the matrimonial house and/or other shared residential, investment or commercial property.

Probate valuations
When someone dies, the executors of their estate will often need a valuation of the property they owned. Probate valuations, as they are called, are then used to calculate inheritance tax.

Andrew O’Dowd can help you at these sad times and is sensitive to the bereavement.

Tax valuations
Working out the capital gains tax you need to pay on a property can be complicated, especially when you sell property you have owned for a long time. Our tax valuation service puts historic values on your property, making self
assessment for capital gains tax easier.

Retrospective valuations
These are carried out when there are claims of a surveyor having valued a property too highly in the past. They are often requested by solicitors acting on behalf of banks and other such lenders, in order to defend allegations relating to such things as over-valuing a repossessed property.