FTB: Do I need a survey?

Jaymzrsa

Hi All

I am a FTB and have made an offer and it has been accepted and I am about to get the entire process rolling. One thing that I have read about but neither the agent, the mortgage advisor or anyone for that matter has said that we need a survey yet it seems that this is something that many of you guys on the forums seem to have done. Is this something I need or should have and how much does one pay on ave (London).

TIA

James

BitterAndTwisted

Only a suicidal lunatic would buy a property without engaging a surveyor! I suggest that you have a full structural survey done. Get a recommendation from a friend or work-colleague. Or speak to several local firms and get an estimate. Depending on the size and age of the property you should anticipate as a worst-case scenario the cost to be in the region of £1000

evoke

LOL.

Jeez.

The answer is 'yes'.

Jaymzrsa

damn, more costs.... Maybe I am a suicidal lunatic, extreme house buying, living on the edge.

Do they only give the results of the survey or do/can they provide a valuation too?

GAH

Better to be safe than sorry, could be the best bit of money you ever spend.

The surveyor will give their opinion on value.

TrickyDicky

Jaymzrsa wrote: »

damn, more costs.... Maybe I am a suicidal lunatic, extreme house buying, living on the edge.

Do they only give the results of the survey or do/can they provide a valuation too?

They will provide a valuation along with any defects. And they should be happy to discuss items over the phone (at least my surveyor was).

There were several items on my report, but on phoning him he said most of these were minor faults and overall it was a "nice house"

BitterAndTwisted

The only valuation which should interest you is the one the lender will have carried out to protect their loan to you. The price you pay for the property is what you think it's worth to you in its present condition.

Please, do not contemplate buying anything without a suitable survey. You do not want to make the most expensive purchase of your life without knowing whether the roof will tear off in the next gale or present extremely expensive defects five minutes after you've moved in which could cost you tens of thousands of pounds to remedy.

Jaymzrsa

They have agreed to our offer which is £25k lower than what they paid for it in 2007 and £30k lower than asking price so if there are defects they are unlikely to go any lower. So in that case would you just walk away or try and get them to fix the issues? Are there any legal obligations for them to fix it at all or drop the price?

BitterAndTwisted

If any serious issues show up in the survey the last people on earth I would trust to rectify them would be the vendors.

Just get the survey done and see what it says.

GAH

You have made your offer based on what you think the property is worth as you see it.

The survey will make your aware of work to be done for future and immediate work. IF there is anything serious that is going to cost lots of money to fix that you didn't think you were going to spend.

Then you may want to negotiate. But the vendor might not.

The survey gives you a guide as to where you want to go if there are any problems.

Have the survey and then cross the bridge when it comes to it.

casper_g

Jaymzrsa wrote: »

They have agreed to our offer which is £25k lower than what they paid for it in 2007 and £30k lower than asking price so if there are defects they are unlikely to go any lower. So in that case would you just walk away or try and get them to fix the issues? Are there any legal obligations for them to fix it at all or drop the price?

If the survey shows up problems, you'll decide what to do based on the info in the survey. If it says something minor needs doing like the gutters need cleaning out, you'd probably be happy to sort this yourself. If it says the whole roof needs replacing in the next few years, you'll probably try to negotiate a reduction in the price, and if you can't get one you'll have to consider whether the property is still worth buying. If it's a real bargain, you might go ahead anyway, but you'll be making an informed decision.

Information is very valuable to you in this transaction, as when you buy a house you're not treated as a "consumer" like when you buy a TV. If you buy a dud TV you can take it back, if you buy a dud house it's your problem, and a very expensive problem at that.