Valuers need to be doing more to ensure brokers are kept informed of what’s happening in the valuation industry, say brokers.
While regulators have been cautious about avoiding any collusion between valuers and brokers, Victorian broker Marios Rokka says it’s time to “open up the lines of communication”, to make work easier for both parties.
“I think that will really help the industry. Create a little bit of awareness so that brokers can handle any potential issues that may come up with the client upfront. That way you’re walking into something with eyes wide open and you know how to handle it if the valuation comes in short.”
Valuation disparities continue to be a bane for brokers, but regular communication efforts by valuation firms could help to address expectations, says Rokka.
“If there are the same sorts of valuation issues happening in a particular area, if there are trends occurring, the valuation companies should address this with the aggregators and let that information filter down to the brokers.”
Sandy Joseph, broker at Mortgage Solutions Australia, says regular panel discussions with valuers would go a long way to solving the current problems.
“Occasionally the banks might bring in a valuer to a PD day or something, but to actually have something where, for example, you could have a representative from each of the different valuation firms and have the opportunity to ask questions it might help the industries move a little closer together,” says Joseph.
“We need to look at working closer in certain areas and things like that may bring to a head a lot of the issues for both valuers and brokers to see if there’s something that can be done.”
The call for greater collaboration comes as
CBA launches as a new valuation disputes process to “enable valuers to better understand the broker’s position and brokers to better understand the valuation outcome”.
The product claims that brokers will be put in touch with a valuer or dispute manager directly within one business day.
While this may go some way towards remedying the problem, says Rokka, brokers ideally should be able to form relationships with valuers similar to what they currently have with credit advisers.
“First and foremost brokers as a group need to understand if there are any problem areas with valuations, brokers need to understand why valuations in particular areas are coming in low and how valuation reports are actually being done, how these opinion are being made by valuers to be able to contest a valuation, and being able to deal directly with the valuer is the first step towards that.
“If we had the ability to pick up the phone and have a five minute phone call with the valuer, that could help the valuer to move along or help the broker to understand where the problem lies and discuss that with the client.”
