Survey type

JimmySavile

Hi,

We are in the process of buying a house, Abbey have agreed the mortgage on the condition the valuation comes back ok. We have contacted a surveyor and they have recommended the home buyers survey at £350.

We were looking at getting a full structural survey as the house is quite old (1930's we think) but they said they don't bother selling the full structural surveys as the homebuyer one pretty much checks everything bar ripping up floor boards etc.

Has anyone heard of this before? wondering if it sounds normal

Thanks for your time

Gonzo33

Who are you looking at using? The mortgage broker I used to work for used either e-surv or countrywide. I know e-surv will still do a builders report and they have prices on their website.


**I do not work for e-surv**

JimmySavile

It's Robert Brownridge & Associate in Bournemouth, think they are independant and don't have a website. They seem really helpful and the document they sent through that shows what they will look at is thorough, just not sure if this sort of thing is standard.

Also, it says they won't check the efficiency of gas appliances and that needs to be done by a proper gas safety expert, is it normal to have to get another person to check over appliances/boiler before buying?

go_cat

For that age house i would pay someone qualified to check the electrics and the gas - a surveyor isn't qualified to do that - you don't wnat any nasty surprises!

JimmySavile

Thanks for the tip, bit of a stupid question but how do I go about doing that? If I find a company to do it, can I just ask the estate agent for a suitable time that they can visit and do the inspection? or does it need to go via the solicitors?

Thanks

justjohn

you could spend a fortune on checking every single thing in a property out.

gas - home report should say if it needs checked
electric - same as above. most surveyors can tell difference between old wiring

The home report will give you an idea of what needs further investigation.(it may say it need further investigation, however it may not actually need it lol )

i have never seen a survey that checks everything, most just specify you should get a specialist in for the key problem.

And ask the owners about the gas and electric, it may have been renewed recently. They may even have paperwork.

go_cat

justjohn wrote: »

you could spend a fortune on checking every single thing in a property out.

gas - home report should say if it needs checked
electric - same as above. most surveyors can tell difference between old wiring

.

Actually we have just had a survey done on a house that is only 12 years old - the survey came back with electrics and gas scored as 3 which is immediate attention this is because the surveyor wasn't a qualified electrician or gas engineer so wouldn't commit either way.

We didn't get them checked as the house is only 12 years old and have now found the electrics were all wired up wrong and the boiler needs replacing- so definitely was buyer beware.

Up to you OP but having been there recently I would be paying someone - in hindsight i wish i had

Oh and when we asked the vendor about the gas it had only been serviced last year but they couldn't find the paperwork!

justjohn

go_cat wrote: »

Actually we have just had a survey done on a house that is only 12 years old - the survey came back with electrics and gas scored as 3 which is immediate attention this is because the surveyor wasn't a qualified electrician or gas engineer so wouldn't commit either way.

We didn't get them checked as the house is only 12 years old and have now found the electrics were all wired up wrong and the boiler needs replacing- so definitely was buyer beware.

Up to you OP but having been there recently I would be paying someone - in hindsight i wish i had

Oh and when we asked the vendor about the gas it had only been serviced last year but they couldn't find the paperwork!

lol so you should have got it checked, the home report pointed you in the correct direction. The home report usually tells you if there is something possibly iffy. Your choice if you do anything about it.