Valuers wait to see who's aboard Nama gravy train

AROUND THE BLOCK: WITH THE property market still in trouble, most chartered surveyors have turned their attention to the main Irish banks and Nama as they pitch for the much coveted valuation work that is due to come on stream over the next few months.

An estimated 20,000 properties with loans of €55 billion are likely to end up with Nama and, according to one firm of chartered surveyors, this should yield fees of at least €25 million over the next few years – a godsend at a time when buying and selling fees have virtually dried up. Banks such as Anglo Irish, AIB and Bank of Ireland are currently recruiting a panel of valuers to handle both commercial and residential buildings and sites which have run into trouble.

First indications are that they will stay with surveyors already familiar with the properties but those getting the work will be expected to trim back on the standard 1 per cent valuation fee that applied in the good old days.

The real gravy train will be operated by Nama which is due to appoint 35 valuers mainly from Ireland but also from the UK, Europe and the United States to audit the valuations provided by the various banks.

Anyone who thinks that this will be a mere rubber-stamping of the original valuations should check out the ground rules. Nama will be looking for an extremely detailed report running to between 20 and 30 pages based on international valuation standards set by the Red Book. The reports will cover issues such as size, title, planning and transportation but will not put an “economic value” amount on any of the properties. That will be a matter for Nama and the Minister for Finance. The bottom line is that all of the poorly performing properties will be valued not once but twice and, with intense competition already under way between the various firms of chartered surveyors, fees for valuing portfolios may well be down to one 10th or even one 20th of that once magical 1 per cent fee.