Cost for backing out after survey

sarah_id1

Hi,

I am in the process of buying a 100 year old victorian house in (East) London. After having some discussion, I've decided to go for a Homebuyers report. Since I am FTB I want to know if I do come across something in the survey report which jeopardise the deal what amount I would have lost by then? I assume only the survey cost! which could be £700+

I want to minimise my cost before I decide to cancel the deal if I find a reason to in the survey report.

Thanks,
Sarah

mikthe20

I presume the house is going to cost you several hundred thousand pounds. Saving money on the survey seems a poor idea, especially as it's such an old house. Full survey would be my suggestion as homebuyer's doesn't go far enough IMO.

I'm always amazed people want to pinch the pennies and save money on surveys/solicitors but happy to spend half a million pounds on the property.

poppysarah

It's going to say

"get a damp expert in to check there's no damp in the subfloor space or basement"
"Get electrics checked by electricial surveyor"
"get gas checked by gas engineer"
etc etc

zara*elise

Go for a full survey.

Sellers can be very canny when it comes to hiding problems like damp etc. and in a house that old, it's worth it.

Think about it. You may lose out on £1000 or thereabouts, but how much would you be spending if you bought the house then discovered it needed a new roof? New plumbing? Rewiring? Every property we've bought has had a full survey, even on a house 20 years old. Never regretted it.

Also, if something comes back in the survey that needs attention, you may be able to reduce your offer based on the amount the rectification work could cost.

satchmeister

zara*elise wrote: »

Go for a full survey.

Sellers can be very canny when it comes to hiding problems like damp etc. and in a house that old, it's worth it.

Think about it. You may lose out on £1000 or thereabouts, but how much would you be spending if you bought the house then discovered it needed a new roof? New plumbing? Rewiring? Every property we've bought has had a full survey, even on a house 20 years old. Never regretted it.

Also, if something comes back in the survey that needs attention, you may be able to reduce your offer based on the amount the rectification work could cost.

If you spend £1000 on a survey on a 100 year-old house it will save you £10,000 at the very least.

PasturesNew

To get to the survey stage there might be mortgage application fees.
Then there's the cost of the survey.
There might be a solicitor bill, depending what deal you signed up for and how much work they've done and if they've sent for anything (e.g. searches) that needed paying for.

olias

poppysarah wrote: »

It's going to say

"get a damp expert in to check there's no damp in the subfloor space or basement"
"Get electrics checked by electricial surveyor"
"get gas checked by gas engineer"
etc etc

"roof by roofer"
"drains by drainage expert"
:rotfl:

We could write the report here for the OP and save them a fortune!

By the way, £700 for just a homebuyers report seems really expensive. As far as I am aware a homebuyers report will state a valuation and the bare minimum regarding the structure itself. I doubt the surveyor will be there more than 30 minutes. I always thought homebuyers reports were more in the rgion of £300-£400.

Olias

Roaming

satchmeister wrote: »

If you spend £1000 on a survey on a 100 year-old house it will save you £10,000 at the very least.

Hi,

We are looking to buy (or rather, in the process of) a property (Detached Victorian) for 250K but the valuation report said the reinstatement value is about 175K. There is a lot that needs to be repaired eg; joists, rot, damp, possible drainage issues, block air vents in the floors. cracks, historic movement etc.

Do you think we would be able to renegotiate the sale price significantly?

Kind Thanks,

Doozergirl

The reinstatement value is totally different to the market value. What is the market value?

Reinstatement is for insruance purposes and doesn't include the price of the land.

Roaming

Doozergirl wrote: »

The reinstatement value is totally different to the market value. What is the market value?

Reinstatement is for insruance purposes and doesn't include the price of the land.

The current market value for mortgage purposes is stated as 1 pound! Not sure that is correct.

The present value, including site is not given in the report (as in, the field is there, but no value) The survey was done by country wide - should I give them a call to ask about this?

mr_fishbulb

sarah_id1 wrote: »

Hi,

I am in the process of buying a 100 year old victorian house in (East) London. After having some discussion, I've decided to go for a Homebuyers report. Since I am FTB I want to know if I do come across something in the survey report which jeopardise the deal what amount I would have lost by then? I assume only the survey cost! which could be £700+

I want to minimise my cost before I decide to cancel the deal if I find a reason to in the survey report.

Thanks,
Sarah

If your solicitor has done any work up to that stage then you may be charged for that too.