Help! FTB - What survey should I get?

curlyems

Hi

My fiancé and I have had an offer accepted on our first home. We're both very excited but it's all a bit daunting too as there seems to be so much to think about! We've shopped around and think we've got the best deal we can for our circumstances with the mortgage, and for our solicitor. (A friend recommended https://www.house.co.uk - the British Gas website. They offer a conveyancing service through easier2move & they seem not only very cheap - £325 basic conveyancing fee + VAT but so far very good!). We now need to sort out our survey. I've been told by the lady arranging our mortgage that we have a choice of either a basic valuation at £285 or a home buyer report at £500. She said we don't need to go as far as a full building survey which is over £1000 (phew!). I just really need some advice on what we should go for, and if these prices are reasonable? The house we're buying is an older property, a Victorian terrace. It's beautifully decorated and seems to have looked after very well - there is nothing obviously wrong. Now I do want a survey that is going to pick up on things like the roof needing replacing, or subsidence, or damp or I don't know, anything else major! Would a basic valuation do this or do we need to opt for the home buyer report? And should I just go through our mortgage lady for the survey or can I get a better deal elsewhere? Any advice much appreciated!

Thanks everyone!

dougk_2

Go for a home buyer report. The basic survey is just a valuation and won't tell you anything about the house (its for the mortgage companies purpose really).

The Home buyer report checks for basic problems (damp, roof problems, cracking etc).... it acts rather like a form of insurance should any major problem occur as you can always sue the surveyor if they were wrong!

You may also be able to use the report as a negotiating tool should problems be found i.e. reducing the offer price to cover the cost of repairs or getting the seller to fix the highlighted problems before you complete the purchase.

In my opinion its worth the extra £200.

terrierlady

beauty is skin deep, pay the extra money for peace of mind, the house is an older one and decoration can hide a multitude of sins. The home buyers report in my opinion is worth an extra £200 as the above poster doughk said .
As property sales have slowed down maybe worth asking this question of the sellers, would they go half and half with you on the price of the report as you are F.T.Byrs and need every penny,
They just may agree , ask the question they cant kill you.
Let us know how you get on.

curlyems

We'll go for the home buyer report then - thanks for your advice! Not sure that I'll be able to get the vendors to pay towards it - they've already accepted an offer! We want to keep them sweet anyway as they say they'll move out as soon as we're ready to go, even if they've not found another house (going to a parents), and they're leaving us some stuff too. Thanks for your comments!

theGrinch

the best survey you can ever have is the one you do yourself! even if you have limited knowledge you will pick up just as much as a surveyor....as a rule of thumb anything older than 20 years will need replacing or a budget to do the same eventually.

if you really dont have the confidence for this then in addition to your our "survey" take a home buyer report.

bridiej

You should def do a Homebuyer Survey as I'm sure you're covered if you later discover a problem that should have been picked up in the survey....

Plasticman

While the Homebuyer Survey could give you the option to sue the surveyor if they get things completely wrong most people couldn't afford the cost of the lawyers! The real value of the report is peace of mind that the building is sound and if there are any problems it gives you a chance to haggle over the price. I would always choose the Homebuyers report unless the property was in a particularly bad condition.

BrixMorta

Excellent advice given here. I would also ask you to think about using a well respected local solicitor for the conveyancing. I have had some concerning feedback in relation to these large far away conveyancing setups. The work is done by clerks with little to no experiance who just follow a conveyor belt style process. If anything untoward crops up you could face serious and extremely frustrating delays. I appreciate that your on a tight budget but as with the survey an extra £100 or so on conveyancing may save you a lot more in the long term.
Best of luck!

muckell

Totally agree, we're purchasing at the moment and we went for a homebuyers report, and it is well worth the extra money. Try https://www.colleys.co.uk it was £435 all in. and the report really did give good detail of issues and actions required