Major issues to look for in the property Survey

sarah_id1

Hi,

I am in the process of buying a property. As I plan to get the survey done whats the most important bit I need to be careful about. Will the basic survey include

>cracks in the wall
>leakage in the roof
>Dampness

I suppose they are the top most worrying cost one should worry about!
Any other major issues I am missing!

Thanks,
Sarah

Doozergirl

A basic survey won't cover very much at all. That survey belongs to the lender, not you so you don't have any comeback on even their basic observations.

If you want a proper survey to check things over then you need to pay for a Homebuyers Report or a Building Survey. They are likely to save you money over their original cost, so they are worth doing.

andy208833

If you have a friendly electrician or gas engineer that you know would also be worth having the electrics and heating systems checked. These will cost a fortune to out right if you suddenly find you need a rewire or a new boiler.

A property is a major investment would you not be better off paying the extra for a full comprehensive survey? Surely this would be a spend to save measure and give you peace of mind?

rakkibeth

We had a valuation rather than a survey from the mortgage company (the cheapest option) and then found a local surveyor to do a full building survey for us.

The Valuation was £450 (C&G) and the survey was £495, when the mortgage company charge £1500 for the full building survey option through them (we chose this option first until we found out that the surveyor booked for the building survey was just a valuation surveyor and not a surveyor that regularly does full building surveys).

Plus we spoke to our independent surveyor beforehand highlighting the things we wanted him to look at particularly possible damp patches / drains, and he did a great job. Would recommend doing it this way

x

sarah_id1

andy208833 wrote: »

If you have a friendly electrician or gas engineer that you know would also be worth having the electrics and heating systems checked. These will cost a fortune to out right if you suddenly find you need a rewire or a new boiler.

The property is empty for last 3 months so I and my husband checked the
>electric: All light/switches works
>Gas : Topped up the card and waited for 10 min all the raditors were resonably hot enough. Although boiler isn't new but it functions properly
>Water: checked the force or water in each of the tap for both hot and cold water which were all looking good.

Does that sound reasonable personal check!

All I want to know was something I cannot check which is
>Crack
>Dampness I expect some as its a old victorian house. Not a problem if its not too expensive to fix.
>Any leakage on the roof etc

G_M

sarah_id1 wrote: »

The property is empty for last 3 months so I and my husband checked the
>electric: All light/switches works
>Gas : Topped up the card and waited for 10 min all the raditors were resonably hot enough. Although boiler isn't new but it functions properly
>Water: checked the force or water in each of the tap for both hot and cold water which were all looking good.

Does that sound reasonable personal check!

All I want to know was something I cannot check which is
>Crack
>Dampness I expect some as its a old victorian house. Not a problem if its not too expensive to fix.
>Any leakage on the roof etc

NOOOooo! The lights come on does not mean the electrics are not a fire risk!
The radiators get warm does not mean the boiler is not leaking deadly carbon monoxide!

Your level of naivity makes me recommend you pay for a full survey. Get professional help.

Damp, cracks and roof are just for starters.

iwb100

G_M wrote: »

NOOOooo! The lights come on does not mean the electrics are not a fire risk!
The radiators get warm does not mean the boiler is not leaking deadly carbon monoxide!

Your level of naivity makes me recommend you pay for a full survey. Get professional help.

Damp, cracks and roof are just for starters.

Indeed, I have forgone full surveys in the past but as a calculated risk where I'd weighed up the likelihood of things going wrong, what it would cost etc. That would only be if it was a relatively new property and I did so at my own risk.

Turning a boiler on and seeing the radiators come on is hardly a check that the boiler is fully working.

Always cost for the worst case scenario, so imagine you move in without the survey and find the boiler needs replacing immediately, the electrics are unsafe and fail and need ripping out and doing from scratch and a slow plumbing leak has left you with major damp on top of plumbing repairs.

Cost all that up, and if you can afford it and are happy with the "level of risk" that can only be assessed by you, as you have all the available details, then go for it. If you can't afford it and/or are not happy taking the risk then its a full survey!

alanmilstein

Doozergirl wrote: »

A basic survey won't cover very much at all. That survey belongs to the lender, not you so you don't have any comeback on even their basic observations.

If you want a proper survey to check things over then you need to pay for a Homebuyers Report or a Building Survey. They are likely to save you money over their original cost, so they are worth doing.

These are not the only options for surveys.

I would suggest that you also check out the Home Condition Survey (HCS) as offered by many surveyors who are members of the Resdiential Property Surveyors Association (RPSA).
This is a full survey that will look at everything that it is possible to look at in the property but is presented in a much more user friendly format that some of the older fashioned surveys.
It will be carried out by a fully qualified specialist residential surveyor who is regularly monitored and audited for the quality of their work. One other vitally important point is that it is the survey itself that is covered by professional indemnity insurance and not the surveyor. This means that in the unlikely event that the surveyor missed something you can still claim recompense even if the surveyor has gone bust, retired or disappeared.

Personally I would not recommend a Homebuyers survey at all. These may be cheap but inevitably a reduced fee means you get a reduced amount of work. A typical Home Condition Survey will involve the surveyor in around 3-4 hours in the property and he/she will look to answer any questions you have. This can't be done on the cheap!
A typical HCS will cost between £350-500 (ish) depending on the size and age of the proeprty.

Yes, I'm a surveyor so I would be recommending EVERYONE to have a proper survey (and remember that a valuation is NOT a proper survey - even the lenders themselves recommend that you get a full survey carried out), but the facts show that the cost of not having a survey can be very high. Which? found that 1 in 4 buyers who did not have a survey had to spend an average of £2500 to put right defects that would have been identified in a survey, and for 1 in 20 it was more like £10,000. In contrast those who did have a survey managed to negotiate the cost of the property down by an average £2000 (several times the cost of the survey itself).

andy208833

sarah_id1 wrote: »

The property is empty for last 3 months so I and my husband checked the
>electric: All light/switches works
>Gas : Topped up the card and waited for 10 min all the raditors were resonably hot enough. Although boiler isn't new but it functions properly
>Water: checked the force or water in each of the tap for both hot and cold water which were all looking good.

Does that sound reasonable personal check!

All I want to know was something I cannot check which is
>Crack
>Dampness I expect some as its a old victorian house. Not a problem if its not too expensive to fix.
>Any leakage on the roof etc

Trouble is how safe are your electrics? Do the lighting circuits have an earth? Is the fuse box fuses or breakers? As its an old victorian house these are likely to be out of date. Without out an earth you will be limited as to what light fittings you can use.

Water pressure can be fudged by opening the stop !!!! up but having it too 'open' can cause fittings to leak, joints to blow.

As iwb100 says just because the boiler comes on and the radiators heat up it doesn't mean the boiler isn't faulty or leaking carbon monoxide.

All the above could possibly cost you serious money to put right if something happens and as you state dampness is ok as long as its not too expensive to fix i guess your budget is not unlimited.

As its an old victorian house i would suggest a full survey is probably advisable.

sarah_id1

Oh dear that is making me worried.

I got the EPC report would that be of any help atleast assessing the serious issues.

Energy Effiicient Rating is 55 (Potential 67) and following is the summary and recommendation

Summary:
Walls Solid brick, as built, no insulation (assumed) -> Very poor
(It a vistorian house so I expect that)
Roof Pitched, 100 mm loft insulation -> Average
Floor Suspended, no insulation (assumed) -> -
Windows Single glazed -> Very poor
(This is visible and am happy to change it)
Main heating Boiler and radiators, mains gas -> Good
(If I do change this I am assume it would cost £1500!)
Main heating controls Programmer, no room thermostat -> Very poor
(Dont know if this is serious issue)
Secondary heating None - -
Hot water From main system -> Good
(Is that any helpful)
Lighting Low energy lighting in 75% of fixed outlets -> Very good
(This doesn't seems to be useful information)


Recommendations:
>Increase loft insulation to 270 mm £21
>Low energy lighting for all fixed outlets £8
>Upgrade heating controls £122

Any help appreciated.

Mallotum_X

You obviously want to know you are getting a safe house, so get the propper survey. The EPC Report is a waste of time.