full residential survey

STAR_BUCK

Hi

We're in the process of buying a house and are mulling over whether to get a full survey done or not. The house is only 30 years old and quite a modern build with the roof and walls in very good condition (no cracks on walls and ceilings etc). We're being quoted a figure around £750 for a survey but are tempted to go with our instincts and not get a survey done. My question is have many of you chosen to get a full survey done and just gone with a homebuyers survey?

thanks in advance for any replies

silvercar

recently had a homebuyers report on one property and a full survey on another. the full survey is so much more detailed, with helpful suggestions for remedying faults. You also get to ring around and choose your own surveyor - it may not cost much more than a mortgage valuation + homebuyers report.

andrewbrittain

If you can afford it, get the full survey done. It will almost always give you an enormous list of things 'wrong' with the property, which you can use to drive the price down. Half the time, it's just standard stuff that you might expect on anything other than a brand-new house, but it's good for scaring the sellers in to lowering their price.

They've already accepted your offer and are some way down the path to finalising the sale, so psychologically their minds are set on selling the house. When you come back with a long list of problems with the property, it'll probably scare them in to thinking they've got no chance of selling to anyone else and will almost always concede to a lower asking price if you push them - and will probably be grateful to you for not pulling out all together.

Use a full survey not just as a tool for making sure your new house is structurally sound, but for driving down the asking price. It's almost always likely to pay for itself several times over - I've seen it loads of times before.

Astaroth

On a 30 year old property, unless I had any particular concerns, I would go for a homebuyers survery and make sure it is from a company acceptable to your mortgage company so that you dont have to pay for a valuation too. If there are any specific areas of concerns like damp you can always have a homebuyers survey and a damp survey done and still save on the cost of a full survey

cattie

I'm with Astaroth on this one & would go for the homebuyer's survey.

I only consider full structural survey's with older properties, such as Victorian era unless there appear cause for concern.