To Survey or not to Survey?

real1314

...I've had 2 valuations done recently - agreed the price, no work requested.
I've had 1 homebuyers - damp work required to the tune of £900 - price reduced accordingly, work done for free in effect.

ok, maybe the work wasn't really necessary (real damp or lifestyle?) but the price was reduced to cover it.
for a couple fo hundred quid you might get some work done that would cost you £1000 in a few years.
you can tell the vendor that YOU think it needs some work, but they are unlikely to do anything until the mortgage co says that they won't lend until some work is done.

Doozergirl

I'm going to revise my reply. If you think there is nothing that needs doing to a house, then you should definately have a survey carried out. There's always some kind of maintenance issue.

littlereddevil

In Scotland we cannot buy a property without a survey being carried out.

maryjane01

We just got a full structural survey £800, mainly because the seller disclosed minor subsidence, a crack had been repaired and monitored. We were concerened they were not telling us the whole truth and we were concerned about being tied into using their previous insurer who was quoting near £850 pounds for home and contents insurance!!!

The full structural survey showed no signs of subsidence, we fully disclosed everything to a new insurer and got insurance for £270, so the survey paid for itself for us.

The rest of the survey was a complete joke though, there were so many things added in so the surveyor would not be liable eg, can't lift carpet, move hanging picture frames etc. A hanging picture frame or carpet could be there to hide something! So many things it is says to get a specialist to check eg plumbing , electric, chimney stack. I felt the whole report was written in such a way as it was a huge disclaimer the surveyor would not be liable for anything.

I would say if your dad has 30 years experience i'd personally work with that rather than pay the extra if you have no cause for concern from the outset

dccarm

littlereddevil wrote:

In Scotland we cannot buy a property without a survey being carried out.

That's a valuation survey though. And it's only required if you're getting a mortgage.

Headintheclouds_3

You'd be surprised the issues that even a 30-year-old house might throw up - as clairehi said if anything is wrong you may be able to negotiate a drop in price greater than the £400 that a Homebuyers report costs (and presumably if your dad is a tradesman you could get the work done for a good price anyway!)