FTB: Home Buyers Report vs full survey

FTB83

Hi

I am in the process of buying my first house and have spoken to two surveyors regarding getting a survey done on the house. The house itself is around three years old, mid-terraced and has two bedrooms. My research tells me that a Home Buyers Report would be sufficient due to the age of the house, and I have been quoted for this by a local company (£330). As is habit, I also went to a surveyor recommended by my estate agents to get a second quote. They told me that they do not agree with Home Buyer Reports as they are just a case of box-ticking on a provided form and just not thorough enough, and recommended a full survey - they said that they would do this survey for the same price as a Home Buyers Report (£300 + VAT).

I am stuck on what to do. I guess the second company sounds better if they would do a full survey (and perhaps the obvious choice), but the first guy was so helpful and friendly and has been in the business for 40 years - I got a slightly better instinctive feeling from the first guy.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Being a first time buyer it's pretty hard to know who's right and acting in your best interests.

FTB83

claz

ask them both to send you information about what each survey covers and then you will know you are getting a good deal, perhaps the other company is justing doing something similar to a homebuyers report but not calling it that

compare what the companies send you, if they have a website check that out

i don't see the person being a fully qualified strucural engineer at those prices

we had a home buyers report done on our proerty which is 40 years old and it cam back that a structural engineer had to look at it even then we dod not have a full structural survey done as a local company offered a diagnostic survey which was cheaper and met our needs

also bear in mind the mortgage company insited we use their surveyers and had a home buyers report done so chack with you lender if you have one if you can instruct you own surveyor and not pay for theys otherwise you might end up paying out twice

FTB83

Thanks for your reply.

I have been sent a written quotation and details of what the report would include from the first surveyor (Home Buyer Report), but the second one (Full Survey) didn't seem too sure about being able to send me this information as it's not in their 'main terms and conditions'. So I seem to only be able to get a verbal agreement, hence my apprehension. They honestly do sound ok (and not suspicious at all), it may just have been crossed wires as I asked specifically for a written quote and also a list of what the survey would include (although this does seem like a standard request as a customer).

I might just contact one more surveyor to see what they offer, and make an informed decision.

Thanks again for your advice.

village_life

there are fixed definitions for each type of report - i think they are backed off against the "institution" who certify the surveyors..... ask your EA for a copy of the scope of each report, and ask the second to confirm they can delvier all thats on that list....

given that the house is only 3 years old, then a 'box ticking' should be fine to give your lender assurance of the houses worth - however, our house is 20 years old, we did the other type and its come back with lots of "useful projects" for the next few months and years - perhaps those we'd never have looked at ourselves!

claz

contact as many surveyors as you can, that is what i did when we had to instruct our own

but please remember to check if the mortgage company insists on using their own as it will be a waste of time and money

FTB83

Great, thanks everyone for their input. I will ring around more surveyors and also contact the mortgage provider to see what they stipulate. From memory of the meeting with the mortgage broker, the only thing they want is a valuation which we have paid £325 for their own people to carry out, but I will certainly double-check.

I really appreciate the unbias information - we have solicitors, estate agents etc. who are all doing their job well so far, but none of them are really there to guide us through our first time buying, so thanks!

micheleen

On a full survey there'll still be all the caveats about electrics may need checking, gas boiler may need checking, anything structural may need checking, damp may need checking. I know next time I buy I'll just get a friendly builder to accompany me and have the cheapest valuation survey done.

dreamypuma

Hi,

Just read your post and I was in the same boat as you. My Home buyer survey landed on the mat yesterday, and trust me its a bit mor comprehensive than a series of tick boxes. I used a company called SPS Surveyors.

There report has highlighted some major issues and things that I would neve have thought about. For instance there appears to have been damp in the garage which has caused the reinforcing steel in the concrete walls to corrode, sugesting that the garrage which would have added £8k to the properties value could colapse at some point. I've agreed to meet the vendor tonight to go through the survey point by point and feel it has given me real bargaining power.

Just bear in mind that it is not in the estate agents interest for you to find defects in the property as it will have an impact on the price of the property.

In my case the Homebuyer survey cost me £499. If the survey you have been quoted for is the same as mine its worth every penny. It will probably highlight issues that you wish you didn't know about, but it's best that you know.

As Village_life says above, given the property is 3 years old a simple roadside survey may be adequate. Don't be folled by any NHBC warranties as I'm pretty sure they are not applicable for any subsequent owners of the property. (first owner only)

pavlovs_dog

dreamypuma wrote:

Don't be folled by any NHBC warranties as I'm pretty sure they are not applicable for any subsequent owners of the property. (first owner only)

if that is true, how can estate agents legally advertise such dwellings as having x years NHBC guarantee remaining?

Doozergirl

dreamypuma wrote:

Don't be folled by any NHBC warranties as I'm pretty sure they are not applicable for any subsequent owners of the property. (first owner only)

The NHBC insurance policy stands for 10 years, no matter how many owners the property has. Definately.

I'd be confident that the mortgage company's valuation would cover the points needed on such a new build. Remember that if there is a hint of anything major being wrong, they won't lend you the money.

It's no surprise that the other company are offering you a full structural survey for the same price, as there will be very little work for them to do!

suki1964

There report has highlighted some major issues and things that I would neve have thought about. For instance there appears to have been damp in the garage which has caused the reinforcing steel in the concrete walls to corrode, sugesting that the garrage which would have added £8k to the properties value could colapse at some point. I've agreed to meet the vendor tonight to go through the survey point by point and feel it has given me real bargaining power.

Wall ties should be made with stainless steel so that they dont corrode. If the garage was built at the same time as the house then I would be suspect about the wall ties in the house as well. Here where I live a large proportion of houses had wall ties that were made of iron which are now corroding - and you cant get a mortgage for a house here without a hoop iron survey being done. Luckily we werent the first buyers so we had the original survey to refer to