survey being instructed - where do they need to look ?

mumofthetwins

Hi
Just after a little advice please.
We have accepted an offer on our house, instructed solicitors and am waiting to hear when the surveyor will come.
Is there any periticular area they need to look. We have a bedroom in the attic with loft eves would acess to these be ok, or will they need to look in the large loft space over the back of the house.
Im only asking as the larger loft is full of stuff and is not properly boarded out. I am suposed to be going away this weekend and i was wondering wether i will need to empty this space out :eek: or if i acess to the loft eves in the bedroom will be ok - these are alot tidier
And do i need to have anything else handy for them ??

Last question - Will i need to be in the house or will it be ok to have someone else let them in, both hubbie and i will be at work but my mum could pop over for an hour or so.

Sorry i have never sold before and i dont really know what they will need from me

Thanks
Lisa

BitterAndTwisted

Yes, they may need access to all parts of the property otherwise how can they decide whether the roof is sound or not? If the loft isn't properly boarded out they will need to be warned about that otherwise they might come though it. But I suspect an experienced surveyor will be able to see that for themselves with a cursory glance at it.

There's no need for the home-owner to be represent, they just need to be let in and given access to whatever areas they need to examine. I think if the buyers have instructed them to carry out a full structural survey they might want some areas of the carpets up if possible to see floorboards and whatever.

mumofthetwins

Oh no i better get my work clothes out and start straightening up the loft :eek:
We have tiled/laminate all down stairs so i dont think they will be able to look under it, and we only have carpet on the stairs/landings and in 2 bedrooms, the other 3 are all laminate (i like laminate better for cleaning )
I do have veluxs on either side of the house so at least the guy can see through these to the roofs.

Lisa

DRP

if there's anything you want to hide then put a big plant or piece of furniture across / in front of it!

from my experience , a homebuyers surveyor won't move anything to gain access! :rotfl:

mumofthetwins

Does anyone have any idea how long it will be untill i hear from the surveyer to find the date that they will be calling, and if its a full report or the shorter one - just so i know how long they will be here ?
We accepted the offer wednesday and have told the EA to go ahead with the solicitor today ?
Lisa

mumofthetwins

Thanks DRP
We havent really got anything to hide but just loads of stuff to try to move so they can get into the loft.
They can see through the hatch (its at chest hight) but getting in and out is worse than the crystal maze !

phoebe1989seb

DRP wrote: »

if there's anything you want to hide then put a big plant or piece of furniture across / in front of it!

from my experience , a homebuyers surveyor won't move anything to gain access! :rotfl:

Agreed......the surveyor that carried out the Homebuyer's Report on the house we sold last year didn't even bother going further than poking his head into our attic. Admittedly a large part of our attic actually formed the vaulted ceiling of the room below, but he made very little effort (despite having his own and our ladders to hand) to access the remainder - he was from e-surv, say no more He certainly didn't appear to move any carpets or furniture - although we had solid wood floors/tiling throughout the downstairs.

It was actually almost a month between us accepting their offer and the date of their survey (although I don't think this is typical) and the surveyor spent between 3 and 3 1/2 hours at our 5 bed house......goodness knows how long he'd have been if it was a full structural one!

go_cat

They don't move anything or lift carpets or laminate flooring. They will look in the loft area and exterior and interior walls, some look at electrics/gas some recommend an independent qualified person inspects them. They will also look at roofs and guttering for an overview

It's nothing to worry about buti would want to be there rather than a stranger in my house alone!

mumofthetwins

WOW 3-31/2 hours
Ours is 5 bed too and i was hoping it was going to be an hour max - told you i have never sold before
Did you have to do anything or have any paperwork to show him, or did he just wonder around for the 3 hours by himself ?

mumofthetwins

I think i might have to just take the day off work
I it like a viewing, where you want to try to keep everything clutter free and pristine or would it be ok to be cooking or doing some work from home ?
Also if they are here for 3 hours is it ok to leave them if i have to collect the kids from school or drop them off at school ?

here i am i dont even have a date and im worring about picking the kids up from school - i can just tell i am going to be hell to live with untill we complete ..... at least hubbie works away alot

phoebe1989seb

mumofthetwins wrote: »

WOW 3-31/2 hours
Ours is 5 bed too and i was hoping it was going to be an hour max - told you i have never sold before
Did you have to do anything or have any paperwork to show him, or did he just wonder around for the 3 hours by himself ?

I do think he deliberately dragged it out tbh DH and I were both present and from what we saw (even though we didn't like to follow him around obviously!) he spent a large proportion of that time on a step ladder with binoculars and camera studying our roof!

I don't think we showed him anything paperwork-wise, and we had very little conversation with him apart from discussing the age of the house.......although DH dealt with him if I remember correctly.

I'm sure it will all be fine and I doubt he'll be there for anything like three hours, but as others have said I wouldn't want to leave him in the house on his own