Chesterton, a leading international property agency, announced that the company is currently working with 35 leading banks in the region for property valuations.

“We are delighted to work with 35 leading banks in the region with Emirates NBD being one of our largest clients. We are aiming to reach out to more banks in the region and support them in providing our wealth of expertise that we have gathered over the years,” said Robin Teh, country manager & director of Valuations & Advisory – Mena.

“Valuations are important for the Industry here as it provides transparency and an unbiased value based on actual market transactions. Valuations are done for accounting purposes, financial use, transactional, mortgage lending, investments and court arbitrations.

“Valuations done by a third party independent company such as ours provides international investors the ease to understand the market and also in case of disputes, provide support as per the international accounting guidelines,” he added.

“Property valuation is an essential part of the home loan application process and is used to determine the security value of a property being offered to secure a home loan. A valuation needs to be carried out when you borrow to buy a new property, when refinancing, or when you want to access the equity in your home,” Teh explained.

Valuation is required for mortgage transactions both in retail and corporate banking. Chesterton abides by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, UK valuation guidelines and conducts valuations based on a fair market value which are unbiased and based on current market trends and transactions, Teh added.

To assess a property’s value, Chesterton measures the property, records details on the number and type of rooms, along with fixtures, fittings and any modifications or improvements, Teh said.

A property’s unique attributes is also taken into consideration, such as the location, building structure and its condition, building/structural faults, standard of presentation and fit-out, access, e.g., good vehicle access and a garage, planning restrictions and local council zoning among other important aspects. Chesterton then combines these attributes together with recent comparable sales in the surrounding area and prevailing market conditions to produce a valuation report.

“Investors should keep in mind that the cost to build a property or the asking price doesn’t necessarily equate to value. It is easy to over-capitalise in real estate or be drawn in by a seller who is pitching their property above the market price,” added Teh. – TradeArabia News Service