Survey -valuation

bluedrop

Hi all,
We put in our full mortgage application today. Going fine so far (touch wood)...

We were asked to pay for the survey- I'm not sure which type of survey I should go for...

I am keen on getting everything checked as thoroughly as possible.... would a home buyers survey cover things to a reasonable extent? or would I need a full structural?

Appx, how much will it cost?

The property was built in the 1930s. I don't know anything about cracks etc since its heavily wall papered... The wall paper is very old though..

Fishingtime

If you can afford it then get the best report you can.
As for cracks look at the outside of the house,thats where you will most likely see subsidence cracks

GDVS

bluedrop wrote: »

Appx, how much will it cost?

Depends, I know at least one mortgage lender charges a truly hilarious price for a full survey whereas when I was looking for independent quotes a couple of weeks ago I couldn't find one over £400. I guess surveyors in Yorkshire aren't as busy as they used to be.

advice_please_2

If it has major work done, extensions on a property of that age a home buyers will probably be fine

bluedrop

Halifax quoted £800 for level2 survey.
3 bed semi in zone5 London

bluedrop

advice_please wrote: »

If it has major work done, extensions on a property of that age a home buyers will probably be fine

No work done at all. Not even a conservatory!

GDVS

bluedrop wrote: »

Halifax quoted £800 for level2 survey.
3 bed semi in zone5 London

Like I said, hilarious

trulys

I work for a RICS chartered surveyors, and we'd recommend the HomeBuyer as fine for a 1930's property of standard construction. The inspection our guys carry out is exactly the same as we'd do for a Building Survey, the only difference is that on our Building Surveys, the report waffles on a little more, and has about 150-200 photographs, whereas the HomeBuyers fits within the RICS standard format, and you get no photos.

The HBR covers everything from damp, subsidence, woodrot, chimneys, roofs, drainage,... the list goes on.

Some HBR reports we've seen end up with a lot of standard paragraphs, whereas others (like the ones we produce ), are dictated from scratch for each individual property.

Its always worth trying to instruct a surveyor who has been recommended to you by someone you know, but this isn't necessarily possible if you go with the lender's recommended surveyor/valuer.

You are, of course, entitled to instruct your own independent surveyor to do the HBR instead of using the one through your lender. If you ring some local surveyors, ask them for quotes, and see if they'll send you a sample of one of their reports - that way you can see how much information you're going to end up with!

Fee wise, for a 3 bed 1930's semi-detached house, say, we'd probably charge somewhere around £450 + VAT. Some places its cheaper, some its more.

bluedrop

trulys wrote: »

I work for a RICS chartered surveyors, and we'd recommend the HomeBuyer as fine for a 1930's property of standard construction. The inspection our guys carry out is exactly the same as we'd do for a Building Survey, the only difference is that on our Building Surveys, the report waffles on a little more, and has about 150-200 photographs, whereas the HomeBuyers fits within the RICS standard format, and you get no photos.

The HBR covers everything from damp, subsidence, woodrot, chimneys, roofs, drainage,... the list goes on.

Some HBR reports we've seen end up with a lot of standard paragraphs, whereas others (like the ones we produce ), are dictated from scratch for each individual property.

Its always worth trying to instruct a surveyor who has been recommended to you by someone you know, but this isn't necessarily possible if you go with the lender's recommended surveyor/valuer.

You are, of course, entitled to instruct your own independent surveyor to do the HBR instead of using the one through your lender. If you ring some local surveyors, ask them for quotes, and see if they'll send you a sample of one of their reports - that way you can see how much information you're going to end up with!

Fee wise, for a 3 bed 1930's semi-detached house, say, we'd probably charge somewhere around £450 + VAT. Some places its cheaper, some its more.

Thank you very much for your inputs.

Would it be acceptable to Halifax if I choose a different surveyor for valuation and HBR? Or do I have to pay halifax £500 for their valuation and then get a HBR done separately (from a recommended surveyor)?

Yorkie1

You will have to pay for the Halifax valuation, but you do not need to get your own survey through them.

trulys

Years ago, they used to be quite happy to let you use your own choice of surveyor to do both, so long as they're on their panel of surveyors. These days, lenders tend to try and keep everything in-house. The only thing you can do is ring your lender, and ask them if they'd agree to it. If people can get their lenders to agree to using us, we'd usually offer to do the valuation for them at no extra cost - at least that way we get the work!! A HomeBuyer Report includes a valuation and a reinstatement figure anyway, so the surveyor is doing that work anyway - its just an extra two page form to fill out for the lender at the end of the day.

All lenders are different - you have to see if you can wing it !!