Any Homebuyers Out There?

patch3228

Hi,

My Mortgage Lender has just carried out the Valuation Survey. In the meantime I was thinking about the Homebuyers Report.

I have gleaned from another thread that a Homebuyers Report is basically to Instruct, Instruct and Instruct one party or another to check out the different areas of the house.

Hoping to tap into people's stories here, who have had this survey done:

1) Whether anything substantial has been reported (not just instruct so and so)?

2) How much money you have spent arranging for these experts to come in?

3) End result did you manage to negotiate lower price?

Or is the Mortgage Lenders Valuation usually sufficient (in my case it is for a good condition house built ~1950's)

I understand in the grand scheme of things, ~£600 is nothing in comparison to the £house, but it would be good to find out people's opinions on this...

suki1964

We had to have a homebuyers report when we bought our last property and basically they said - get a plumber and electrician in to check wiring and boiler and this that and the other done. Totally failed to pick up the fact the patio out back had not only been poured over the main drain access but had taken the outside level to above the damp proof making the kitchen floor a swimming pool and causing wet walls.

Did we get anything knocked off the cost? Nope but that was back then when house prices were on the way up and if you wanted that house you paid asking

lethal0r

id also like to hear how a homebuyers report compares to a full structural survey if the OP doesnt mind ^_^ saves me startin a new thread.

AdrianW2

Colleys have a table showing the difference between their 3 types of survey on their website (which the forum software says I'm not allowed to link to, put Colleys into Google and go to Products)

Our homebuyer/property check has come back with lots of "you need to instruct" but also includes other advice like where the woodwork needs painting.

Too early to comment on whether we'll be able to renegotiate the price.

Sprintz

lethal0r wrote: »

id also like to hear how a homebuyers report compares to a full structural survey if the OP doesnt mind ^_^ saves me startin a new thread.

structural one is bout £200 more then homebuyers

if you are thinking about doing homebuyers then opt for structural - you will get lot more value

sweetiedre

patch3228 wrote: »

Hi,

My Mortgage Lender has just carried out the Valuation Survey. In the meantime I was thinking about the Homebuyers Report.

I have gleaned from another thread that a Homebuyers Report is basically to Instruct, Instruct and Instruct one party or another to check out the different areas of the house.

By the sounds of it, the valuation I received from my mortgage lender is more detailed than a typical homebuyers report

The valuation did come back with 2 conditions of the mortgage that had to be met first, for instance "The presence of asbestos is suspected in the soffit"

Even that alone is more detailed than many of these homebuyer reports - so that's quite strange (there were no valuation fees to be paid either) :cool:

LillyJ

We got the homebuyers survey.

It told us that a few of the double glazing units had failed. We got £1k knocked off the price. We are going to get OH's work colleague who is an ex double glazing man to fit new ones cheap in the summer.

It told us that the roof might need redoing at some point in the future. Well duh.

It told us that the house was built in the 1930s, and that we should get an electrician in at some point.

It told us we could have more insulation in the loft. Got £500 knocked off the price for this. Bought some cheap insulation stuff from B&Q when they had some deal on and rolled it out in the loft ourselves.

charliee_3

we paid for a homebuyers survey on top of the mortgage valuation survey, i looked online on one of those comparison sites (they have them for everything now!) and a company called me and said that they had a chap in the area and to fill his day they would do it for £275.. i said make it £250 and you have a deal and they accepted. he was a lovely chap, really helpful and spoke to me at great length about his findings and experiences, so much so we decided to pull out of the house we were after as it was a potential nightmare. he is coming to look at our 2nd attempt house next week.. better luck this time eh??

our houses were 70's build, if it were a 50's i think i would pay the extra for a structural.. just for peace of mind.. whats 200 quid when you are investing hundreds of thousands??

also i feel that because he has been employed by us, not the mortgage company, he is working only for our interests..

patch3228

Goodluck Charliee, hope the survey does not bring up any serious conditions.

Yeah I am seriously considering the Full Structural, after seeing the Valuation report from the Bank's Surveyor.

However, based on the Valuation Survey, it looks like I need to bring in a heating engineer, timber damp surveyor and a licensed asbestos inspector [how much will all this set me back ]

I think I will have to negotiate this with the Estate Agent to pass onto Vendor ... or do I inform Solicitor first that I am planning onreducing the accepted price?

chickmug

patch3228 wrote: »

I think I will have to negotiate this with the Estate Agent to pass onto Vendor ... or do I inform Solicitor first that I am planning onreducing the accepted price?

Negotiate through the EA and once a new figure has been agreed tell your solicitor then. That will be OK as there is no need for your solicitor to be told of anything else.

sweetiedre

This is one of the best chances for negotiating, but make sure you maintain a good relationship with the estate agent

You can easiy recoup the costs of the Structural Survey through a quick haggle!