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Comments
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ultimatedingbat wrote: »Can't really afford a full survey - It's £850
So will you be able to afford any urgent repairs which could run in to thousands if you don't have a survey and you only discover a major issue after you have purchased the property?
If it was a relatively modern house (post 1980), then I would say a structural survey wasn't essential. Anything older and I think you are taking a big risk.0 -
Right now every penny is tied up in the purchase so spare funds have gone into the deposit.
The vendor themselves got a new mortgage 18 months ago, surely the lender wouldn't have lent them it if it wasnt worth the money? There's nothing obvious we've seen. Surely the homebuyers would flag up most things and possibly advise if we needed a full survey? The advice we've had so far seems to suggest it's a waste of money really if the homebuyers doesnt flag anything.
The full buildings survey seems excessive0 -
ultimatedingbat wrote: »Right now every penny is tied up in the purchase so spare funds have gone into the deposit.
The vendor themselves got a new mortgage 18 months ago, surely the lender wouldn't have lent them it if it wasnt worth the money? There's nothing obvious we've seen. Surely the homebuyers would flag up most things and possibly advise if we needed a full survey? The advice we've had so far seems to suggest it's a waste of money really if the homebuyers doesnt flag anything.
The full buildings survey seems excessive
Yes, a homebuyer's survey will probably do. I've just remortgaged my property and the surveyor was in the house for all of 5 minutes, but then the property is only 10 years old and I was having a low LTV.0 -
Paying for a full survey on an older property is the best money you will ever spend.
Ours identified issues with the roof that wouldn't have been picked up by a basic homebuyers report and allowed us to negotiate almost a £10,000 reduction (the cost to fix it) given that we were not aware of these issues before and they required urgent attention.
We'd have been in a sticky situation had we only have found out afterwards about these issues.
Even if the survey doesn't identify anything major, the peace of mind is worth the cost, IMO.0 -
If £850 is really the best value structural survey you can find then as the house is getting on a bit I think it's worth finding the money.
Think about it, there are bound to be many many things which are imperfect about the house. There is always an element of damp in properties of this age, and frequently roof issues - probably the chimney will need repointing and some tiles will be out of place, with possible other issue with the roof structure or covering, uneven floors, outside ground levels being above the floor level, lead water pipes, ancient boiler, poor condition sash windows .... If you're being mercenary about this, you should be able to use the findings to negotiate a few quid off the price, which will cover the extra you've spent on the survey in the first place. And if something really major is discovered such as dry rot, you might find you want to pull out, having dodged a bullet - it could be money well spent in the long run.0 -
A survey is definitely worth finding the money for. It may come back fine and you will think it was all a big waste of money, but what if it picks up several thousands of pounds worth of work needing doing to it?
Also, if all of your money is tied up in your deposit, have you made sure you have set aside enough money to cover the solicitor fees, stamp duty, first months bills and an emergency fund? Could make things really difficult for you if you are trying to buy with no money other than for the deposit.0 -
All our money is accounted for - There's no stamp duty, solicitors fees are on a separate account.
Just seems like a waste when nothign appears wrong. The homebuyers is already expensive enough0
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