Homebuyer's Survey

dccarm

How long does a homebuyer's survey usually take to conduct, and report back?

We have accepted an offer on our flat subject to survey, and the surveyor is coming round tomorrow for an hour. Is that long enough for a survey to be done? How long do they usually take to report back?

freebo_2

An hour is plenty of time to do a homebuyers on a flat, the homebuyers on our 4 bed det took about an hour. In terms of getting the results the lender will get a copy of the basic valuation within about a week usually, the buyer will *usually* get their copy of the report in about the same timeframe. I say usually as we didn't manage to get hold of ours until a couple of days before exchange (about 8 weeks after the report was done), we where verbally told that there were no problems on it though...

claireandella

I agree that an hour is plenty of time and you should get the results within 1-2 weeks (any longer and I would chase it up as you may want to pull out or revise your offer if there's a serious problem!). I would point out though that this level of survey is really just confirming that the property is structurally sound and the lender's money is safe, if you want a detailed survey they are more expensive and take considerably longer although you have much more come-back on the Surveyor if he missed something.

Good Luck with the purchase, it's stressful but worth it.

emg

Hi-jacking your thread a little, sorry op!

My survey was done yesterday and I received the report today! My question though is do I need to send a copy of the survey to my solicitors and mortgage lenders or does this happen automatically?

claireandella

If you require a Mortgage then the surveyor should provide a copy of his report directly to them to prove that the property is not a waste of their money. You may wish to check that they are happy with your choice of Surveyor(if you haven't used one of their recommended ones) and that he has the Mortgage lender's details. Your Solicitor will not usually require a copy of the survey.

Hope this helps. Good luck with your purchase too.

MissMotivation

claireandella wrote:

I agree that an hour is plenty of time and you should get the results within 1-2 weeks (any longer and I would chase it up as you may want to pull out or revise your offer if there's a serious problem!). I would point out though that this level of survey is really just confirming that the property is structurally sound and the lender's money is safe, if you want a detailed survey they are more expensive and take considerably longer although you have much more come-back on the Surveyor if he missed something.

Good Luck with the purchase, it's stressful but worth it.

Sorry but the above is incorrect, a Mortgage Valuation is the most basic survey.

A Homebuyers Survey and Valuation is the next step up and a more detailed and thorough report, the Surveyor should still only need an hour and I would expect the report to be back within 7 days

MissMotivation

Sorry......I should also have said in my last post that the report goes to the purchaser and their lender, you won't get a copy.

emg

thanks Claire - I used a recommended surveyor so that should be ok. There were some things in the survey that it said my 'legal advisor' (solicitor?) should look into - mainly stuff to do with the lease as i'm buying a flat. My solicitor hasnt received a copy of the lease yet (its taking ages, maybe because its a repossession?). Should I highlight the things to my solicitor now or wait until we have both seen the lease?

claireandella

I think this depends on how your Solicitor is charging for the transaction. If you're paying by the hour (which I believe is not usually the case in house purchases) then wait, so that your Solicitor only has to go through the Surveyor's report once and can relate it directly to the lease wording.

If it's a set purchase fee then you could highlight the things now so that he is forewarned and can hopefully move fast when he does eventually get the lease. This may be particularly useful if other parties are interested in the property (repossessions do tend to attract investment buyers etc. who may pay cash and not require surveys). I think I would keep pushing the Solicitor, in a polite way, to encourage the vendor's to get a move on.

In my experience repossessed properties tend to be more complicated than most sales as the previous owner often doesn't provide any information and can be downright obstructive and the mortgage company rarely takes a direct interest in the sale. Still, a lot of bargains to be had this way!

Good Luck!

dccarm

claireandella wrote:

I agree that an hour is plenty of time and you should get the results within 1-2 weeks (any longer and I would chase it up as you may want to pull out or revise your offer if there's a serious problem!). I would point out though that this level of survey is really just confirming that the property is structurally sound and the lender's money is safe, if you want a detailed survey they are more expensive and take considerably longer although you have much more come-back on the Surveyor if he missed something.

Good Luck with the purchase, it's stressful but worth it.

In this instance I'm actually the seller - and I'm just sitting with my fingers crossed that nothing bad comes out in the report so that we can makie an offer on the house we've been after for 4 months. I was just curious as to whether the (potential) buyer was getting a valuation survey, or a more thorough going over.

izoomzoom

Just to add, we had our HM survey on the Tuesday:

Valuation obviously sent straight away to lender as we got verbal confirmation of our Mortgage offer on the Friday and written confirmation on the Saturday.

We received the HM survey the following Tuesday.

Surveyor was appointed by Lender on our behalf.