Surveys

bo_drinker

We are about to buy a property and do not need a mortgage. Had a quick trawl on the net and I am trying to work out whether surveys are worthwhile in our position. I work in construction so obviously know what to look for.
When we sold our old house the buyers surveyor came I met him he was there around 20 minutes tops..... money for old rope I reckoned.
If you were me would you bother, is there any advantage ?? Thanks in advance.

Cannon_Fodder

They check details of damp-proof and other warranties, etc, I believe.

Its probably pretty easy, working from a checklist or something, but if you don't have that checklist, you might forget something that bites you in the derriere later.

Age/condition of property might swing the decision.

Radiantsoul

I suppose there is nothing in buying a house that you couldn't do yourself.
If you are pretty confident you could forgo a survey and just look around yourself. It would really depend on the age of the property. The main advantage of using a surveyor is if something goes wrong you can sue them for negligence.

G_M

Impossible to answer as not enough info, and even then it's a subjective decision. Relevant factors:
* how proficient/competant are you?
* how old is the property?
* Is it one of a kind or part of an estate/street?
* does it need renovation?
* do you plan to extend?
* do you need/want the security of someone to sue if it falls down after you buy it?
* etc etc

pastmybest

bo_drinker wrote: »

We are about to buy a property and do not need a mortgage. Had a quick trawl on the net and I am trying to work out whether surveys are worthwhile in our position. I work in construction so obviously know what to look for.
When we sold our old house the buyers surveyor came I met him he was there around 20 minutes tops..... money for old rope I reckoned.
If you were me would you bother, is there any advantage ?? Thanks in advance.

20 minutes tops wouldn't be a survey and would just be a valuation visit often mistakenly called survey.

bo_drinker

G_M wrote: »

Impossible to answer as not enough info, and even then it's a subjective decision. Relevant factors:
* how proficient/competant are you?
* how old is the property?
* Is it one of a kind or part of an estate/street?
* does it need renovation?
* do you plan to extend?
* do you need/want the security of someone to sue if it falls down after you buy it?
* etc etc

*Fairly confident 99%
*1940s
*Part of a small estate, semi detatched.
*No renovation req'd.
*No plans to extend.
*It won't fall down.

Thanks.

G_M

bo_drinker wrote: »

*Fairly confident 99%
*1940s
*Part of a small estate, semi detatched.
*No renovation req'd.
*No plans to extend.
*It won't fall down.

Thanks.

Then do the survey yourself. Crawl all over it from footings through attic to roof and examine everything just like a surveyor would. Take a check list with you.

(but I take no responsibility for the consequences of this advice)

Fire_Fox

You've already made your decision, OP.

david29dpo

Do surveyors look at boundary walls and the like? will you? The reason i ask is the house next door to my parents have piled tons of soil against my parents wall (not a retaining wall) which is now in danger of falling down. Next doors surveyor missed this.

pastmybest

david29dpo wrote: »

Do surveyors look at boundary walls and the like? will you? The reason i ask is the house next door to my parents have piled tons of soil against my parents wall (not a retaining wall) which is now in danger of falling down. Next doors surveyor missed this.

Yes surveyors DO look at the garden walls as they have done with two surveys on my place. And their report was not good reading as we thought the walls were only dividing the gardens but turned out to be retaining walls and in a big way! Our orginal surveyor, when we bought, never picked up and so we are now thinking of what action we can take against them.

pastmybest

G_M wrote: »

Then do the survey yourself. Crawl all over it from footings through attic to roof and examine everything just like a surveyor would. Take a check list with you.

(but I take no responsibility for the consequences of this advice)

I had to laugh when reading this as it reminded me of someone I know who did this. And guess what he slipped in the roof space and put his foot through the ceiling. He did pay the very full bill for the remedial work.