FTB - what can I expect survey to tell me?

NervyBuyer

I'm a FTB in the process of buying a property which is about 90 years old. The current owner has completely refurbished the interior, including the windows, but it looks as if the roof is still original (and obviously the walls I guess!).

How much info can I expect to get from the survey? e.g. will it tell me that the roof is likely to need replacing in 2 years, or highlight any other major expenditure which might be on the horizon? Obviously anything like that which came up would influence not only my offer but also whether or not I even buy it. A couple of FTB friends of mine have recently had surveys which seemed to be extremely superficial which concerns me a bit as they might miss something important?

Thanks in advance.

ess0two

All depends which survey you have appointed.

homehunter

Are you having a basic valuation, or a Homebuyers Report, or a Building Survey...? It's really up to you what you go for. We had a Building Survey done on a 40 year old property, which raised eyebrows at the EAs, but glad we did it as surveyor spotted things we did not. Some superficial things but also a patch of damp to address. It would be worth googling the different types, that would tell you what they cover.

homehunter

Oh, and the building survey did mention the roof - a slipped tile, repointing required, comments on timbers.

barnaby-bear

ess0two wrote: »

All depends which survey you have appointed.

If it's a valuation - they'll tell you what they think it's worth
If it's a homebuyer - as valuation plus the information that the surveyor couldn't see anything and isn't qualified to comment on most things....

LandyAndy

Welcome to the wonderful world of home ownership.

Good news: Homes were well built 90 years ago.
Bad news: Homes were well built 90 years ago.

As others have said a standard survey won't tell you much unless there is something glaringly obviously wrong.

If you really want this property get the most comprehensive survey you can and use every negative point in it to argue the price down (you may well save the cost of the survey).

NervyBuyer

thanks for replies.

I do really want the property as they are so hard to come by in the area i need to be in, but I asked about having the most detailed type of survey possible (happy to pay) and the surveyor said there is no point because they won't be able to tell any more that they would from the basic survey because the property is half a converted house so they can't fully inspect it.

Are they fobbing me off? It didn't really make sense to me.