Do you bother with a Homebuyers Survey?

zedyy

I'm a FTB, buying a house which is a terrace and less than 100 years old. Am I OK to assume that when the lender comes to make a valuation and look at the property that will be sufficient or do you suggest I pay £250 for a homebuyers survey which is basic and will probably just tell me what I already know?

Does anyone know where I can see examples of the types of surveys and what is the general feeling towards having a survey done? Is it worth it? What do MSE'ers think?

Fire_Fox

How much less than 100 years old is the house? What do you already know as an FTB, are you a master builder or surveyor yourself? Never ever assume anything when it comes to the biggest purchase of your life, there is moneysaving and there is false economy. More often than not the survey throws up works which would be more expensive than the survey cost and you can renegotiate the purchase price.

The valuation report is for the lenders protection not the buyers. Personally the only properties I wouldn't have properly surveyed are new builds under the NHBC guarantee or new conversions where I know building control have signed off the structure. Information about each level of survey can be found on the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors website.

G_M

You're spending £100K? 200? 300?
If you're confident it "will probably just tell me what I already know?" then save your money.

If you think it might possibly tell you something you don't, then it's money well spent.

When you buy a 2nd hand car I bet either
1) you know about cars/mechanics or
2) you take a mate who does or
3) you pay the AA to check it over or
4) you buy from a dealer with a warranty

And that's when you spend £500 - £5000. Not £500,000!

Which of the above applies here?

Now read this and/or use the search button (top right) and look for 'survey' or 'homebuyers report'.

Fire_Fox

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VQ8pgySec4

timmyt

zedyy wrote: »

I'm a FTB, buying a house which is a terrace and less than 100 years old. Am I OK to assume that when the lender comes to make a valuation and look at the property that will be sufficient or do you suggest I pay £250 for a homebuyers survey which is basic and will probably just tell me what I already know?

Does anyone know where I can see examples of the types of surveys and what is the general feeling towards having a survey done? Is it worth it? What do MSE'ers think?

a lenders valuation is for the lender, not you and is so basic.

if you have been up the laddar and had a look and know what you are lookin for - even surveyors get it wrong - then that is one thing, but there are so many things that could be wrong - damp, electrics, removal of chimney breasts, lead flashing, guttering, firewall, insulation etc.

I agree with G-M - you'd check out a car, but some people do not for the most expensive thing they could buy...I bet your Seller is hoping you don't have a survey though!!

Doozergirl

It will either give you some reassurance or it will save you some moneyon something you didn't know about. Either way, you're not losing. The surveyor of a valuation survey is only answerable to the lender, not to you. If there is something wrong that they didn't spot, you have no recourse...

I rebuild houses but as this one wasn't being stripped back and rebuilt and the budget didn't allow for a case of 'what will be, will be', I had a full buildings survey so I had a comprehensive list before I bought it! I'm not a huge fan on Homebuyer's surveys, sometimes they raise more questions than they answer but it's information you wouldn't have had.

Chris_Quartly

I'm in a similar boat really, I just got the valuation survey back from the lenders and they noted that there was a small issue with the roof (don't have the exact words in front of me) that they estimated would cost £500.

The house is a little under 30 years old and midterrace, my mortgage advisor said he probably wouldn't bother with any further surveys because of the age of the house and the fact that if there was something hugely wrong with the structure then the houses on either side would fall down too.

So now I'm wondering with this potential £500 issue with the roof, should I go with a further survey, ask the sellers to fix the issue before we move, ask for £500 off the price of the house so I can fix it myself, or do nothing.

dianah

we're currently buying an old cottage. i spoke to surveyors before i put an offer in and they for some reason thought i wasn't getting a mortgage (must be my posh phone voice ha ha) - they recommended condition survey rather than homebuyers because while the condition survey is basic, it's basically designed to pick up things that are wrong rather than a full report on everything; they also said if there is something wrong, i'd have to get specialist survey even if i get the homebuyers report done as this will only indicate potential problems.

once i put the offer in, i contacted them again to arrange this and they realised i was getting a mortgage - at which point they said the condition report is very similar to the valuation but *may* go into more detail, i.e. if they find dampness, they'd say 'dampness' in the valuation but *may* say where the dampness is coming from on the condition report.
conveniently, my bank asked the surveyor i was going to use to do the valuation so they called me to tell me they were doing it and i asked whether any problems with roof joists or beams would show on this report, they said, yes, if there's something wrong with them, it will mention it, if they're ok, it won't.

several people on here have mentioned that the new homebuyers report isn't worth the paper it's written on as all you get is 'might be a problem but we didn't check'. i asked a letting agent (not mine, but they're right next to my house and we get on) for advice and they said basically the same, theirs was 'there may be a problem but we couldn't lift the carpet tiles'
people on here recommended if you're concerned, get a full structural survey done as if there is something wrong, you'll end up paying for both, homebuyers and full structural...

sorry, this is a bit long!!