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I had no choice but to do a Homebuyers Survey on my first house. I did have the choice for my current house - but chose to have one (and not just because I'd accurately summed up what the vendor was like...:cool::().
It's worth it imo. My surveyor of first house was useless in the event (though that was in the 1980s - and things may have moved on since then):mad:. But my 2nd surveyor did clarify that the house was worth what I had agreed to pay for it and made a useful point of something I needed to get sorted out by the vendor before I went ahead with purchasing it.
Right at this moment - there is a thread on this page by someone that bought a house recently without a survey and come to realise since that the vendors lied by omission to him - as the house has turned out to be non-standard construction. Agh:eek: on two counts - one of them being that he overpaid in the region of £10k-£20k for it (as he paid the same as he would have paid for a "standard" one - because he thought it was a standard one). I expect a surveyor would have spotted that fact - I know mine commented on current property having cavity wall insulation (ie one of the signs that it is standard construction).
I know it's money "wasted" in effect - but you might land up wasting a good bit more if the house turned out to have had particularly major defects hidden by the vendor.0 -
If you are buying an older house you need to have a survey to show up what might need repairing in the near future. If you are having trouble affording to pay for a survey then house ownership is not something you should be considering as you do not have enough savings for any emergency repairs that might be needed. Owning a home is expensive. Older homes tend to need more repairs than newer ones.
I am always surprised when people are prepare to spend many £1000s buying something they they don't really know anything about. Surveys show up things that many people would not notice or think to look for. It is always a good idea to know what you are buying.0 -
We haven't bothered to have a survey on the last three houses we've purchased, but - even though these were older (Tudor, Georgian & Victorian) - we consider ourselves relatively able to identify issues having renovated a few period properties with our own fair hands
However, if I were a FTB or someone inexperienced/one that doesn't know what to look out for, I would definitely be getting one done.
Imho - and I speak from personal experience - I don't think Homebuyer's Reports are worth the paper they are printed on and as such I'd go for a Building Survey, especially on a Victorian house.
Previous buyers of ours had a Homebuyer's Report on the Tudor house we had restored. The surveyor actually made copious errors, not least stating that the house dated from the 1930s
Mortgage-free for fourteen years!
Over £40,000 mis-sold PPI reclaimed0 -
you get what you pay for with a survey. I chose a 'cheap' surveyor for my current property based on his online reviews rather than going with the more expensive FRICS surveyor (who'd been in the business 40 years) we'd use previously. I suspect the reviews were mostly from people who had no idea what to expect and were just delighted to get a big thick report back.
The fact that he incorrectly assumed that the house had no cavity wall did make me rather wonder what else he'd got wrong. That he also said at least one of the manhole covers was too covered with undergrowth to remove was also a surprise given that I'd lifted them all up a week previously on a visit to the property.
He did catch the subsidence, but even I had noticed that. The other thing that should have set off alarm bells is that I specifically asked him to address a number of points which he failed to do so in his report.
Despite all that, I'd never buy an older property without some sort of survey, but I would certainly choose a surveyor who has more experience over one that has less. As someone else said, anyone with good local knowledge is ideal.
Finally, if watching Sarah Beeny's 'Help! my house is falling down' has taught me nothing else, it's that once you get a survey make sure you read it and action anything urgent that it says needs attention!0 -
I've often wondered if there is a book out there on the market of a laypersons guide to surveying a house. A sort of Readers Digest type book of things to look out for, followed by list of things that might mean and a rough figure as to how much time/money would need to be spent to put things right.
I certainly looked for one come the time I bought current house and couldnt find one for love nor money.
Someone somewhere must have written one surely? Or are surveyors and the like such a "closed shop" that they soon have their colleagues doing their darndest to make sure they don't write one like it?
It would be very helpful to many of us to do our own personal survey and would ensure we don't pay to send in surveyors for things the book could have told us (ie because we changed our mind about buying the house for instance). Thus we'd be much less likely to send in surveyors for a house we could have spotted wasnt worth buying anyway imo.0 -
Surveyors have told me that a full building survey is over the top for most cases - it's still going to be caveated with all the things they couldn't see (assuming sellers generally aren't willing to move furniture / carpets / allow holes to be made in floors/walls etc) and only useful if you need to know more about the structure (e.g. because you're planning major alterations). And will still give you a list of other specialists they recommend you get in to check the electrics/gas/timber/roof etc.0
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Our surveyor offered us a homebuyers to start with, on the basis that he'd seen 100s of similar houses so knew what he was likely to find. But he said that if he found something that raised a greater concern than normal we could "upgrade" to a full structural survey and only pay the difference in price, even if it needed another visit.
Bear in mind also that a survey can be a useful objective benchmark against which to negotiate the price... i.e. if there is work needed on the roof or the electrics some sellers may be more willing to agree a price reduction if it's backed up by an "independent" report (even though you're the one paying for it).0 -
Yes, someone has had a go at writing a self-survey book, but it only has one review omn Amazon, and that's not exactly glowing with praise.moneyistooshorttomention wrote: »I've often wondered if there is a book out there on the market of a laypersons guide to surveying a house....
Someone somewhere must have written one surely? Or are surveyors and the like such a "closed shop" that they soon have their colleagues doing their darndest to make sure they don't write one like it?.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Self-Survey-Secrets-Dennis-Coote-ebook/dp/B006OLO02S
There is nothing very complex about the construction of most houses, so an experienced builder will often be as good as anyone to give a house a careful going-over. I use trades people in the family as back-up.0 -
Can't really afford a full survey - It's £8500
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Yes worth it for the professional eye on a purchase that your heart can be leading.0
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