buying a house - survey advice???

geordie_flat_seller

We are in the process of buying a house. It's currently in the hands of mortgage company and solicitors but think we're looking at 6weeks til moving.
On drving past the house yesterday we noticed several loose tiles on the roof. Where do we stand with this? Can we demand it be fixed before we move? Do we need a survey to pick it up? We have only instructed a basic mortgage valuation report... I'm wondering if the more expensive survey might've been worthwhile. Any thoughts..???

m0bov

yes get a homebuy and ask the vendor to fix the tiles.

G_M

Can we demand it be fixed before we move?

You can demand whatever you like. Whether the vendor will meet your 'demands' is up to them!

A few loose tiles? I had 6 replaced last week, plus a new chimney cowl fitted, plus a bird guard added to an existing cowl. £130.

Not worth bothering about - just fix when you move in.

Or are you really asking whether you need a survey because you fear there may be other problems? Well - only you know how confident you are in your own ability to spot property problems. And only you know what level of risk you are prepared to tak and how much you are willing to spend to minimise that risk.

sirmosh

You can state that replacing the tiles is a stipulation of you buying the property but once you have the survey done you'll probably find many, many things along the same lines that need doing and it's unlikely the vendor will get them all done.

The surveyor will only look at the roof with binoculars so he won't be able to give a massive indication of any major problems. You should always get a survey done, not just because you saw some dodgy roof tiles.

motherofstudents

Always have a survey. The cost of it could save you more money in the long run. You may be able to negotiate a price drop with the vendor, may decide to pull out all together, or at the very least, you will know what repairs will need doing in the future.