mortgage valuation survey? not sure if I've had a proper survey

tucbiscuit

Hi, any advice would be appreciated.

I'm not sure if I've had a proper survey done on the house I'm buying, and feel like I'm being led round the houses (excuse the pun).

I'm getting a mortgage through Chelenham and Gloucester and it is a fixed rate and when advised by my mortgage broker I was told as part of the fee a basic survey was done. Now I got a call from the mortgage broker yesterday saying that the survey had been done and it was all ok and the mortgage company would lend on the house, then I ask when I will be getting my copy and am told I don't get a copy as it was a 'free' survey and they aren't obliged to give me a copy.

So I ring up C&G and they say it's a 'mortgage valuation' survey they have done and they are not obliged to give me a copy as it was 'free'.

Now I am not sure what to do; have I had a proper survey done? or have they just gone in and had a quick look and said 'yeah this looks worth about £140,000' and that is all they've done?

I feel like I was quite misled to be honest as that was a selling point of that particular mortgage, the fact that a survey was thrown in, in the price.

What should I do? is that a proper survey I've had done?


thanks

kingkano

They have just walked in and decided its good enough security for the loan. You will need to commission your own proper survey for an informational report.

JoeK_3

The survey that you have had was for the benefit of the lender to assess if the property was fit to lend on.

Everything is in order and the situation that you have outlined is correct.

It's rather sad that the mortgage adviser did not fully explain this to you.

JoeK

tucbiscuit

so I need to get another proper survey done? I was just wanting the basic one done anyway, the roughly £250 one

JoeK_3

You are waiting money in just having a standard valuation as it will only identify small problems with the property.

There are basically three types of surveys:

1) Standard survey (£250 + subject to property value)

2) Homebuyers (£475 + subject to property value)

3) Structural (£750 + subject to property value)

Dependent upon the age of the property, you may decide that you want to be able to spot areas of concern.

Do you have some concerns?

It is pointless just repeating the standard valuation if you are just checking to see if the property is worth what you are paying for it.

JoeK

MortgageMamma

You wont get a copy of the basic survey as the contract with the surveyors was between the lender and the surveyor and the surveyor has no obligation to you. A basic survey is exactly that, the surveyor looks at the property, puts a price on it and alerts the lender to anything which could decrease the value now or in the future (strucural damage for example)

The next option is a homebuyers report which is midway between a basic survey and a full structural survey. This means the surveyor has an obligation to you as a buyer AND the lender. Its a bit more detailed and will go into things that you may need to know about the property, such as the condition of it decoratively, the general state of the fittings electrics etc. From this he could recommend further reports such as damn and timber etc. The surveyor generally does not go on the roof or into the loft or move heavy items or pull back carpets on these surveys, its just a thorough examination of what can be seen easily.

A full structural is the homebuyers plus a VERY throrough inspection and analysis of the premises and usually any outbuildings. This is rarely needed except for in the case of buying very old houses or if there are big trees close by or any obvious cracks/movement on the outside of the property. They normally cost £1,000 upwards.

Hope this gives you a bit of insight into the options that you should have been presented with - if you have any concerns about the condition of the property then it may be in your best interests to have it looked at again

MM

silvercar

Its a shame that you weren't made aware of all this at the start. It is generally cheaper to have a homebuyer's report including valuation than to pay out for a valuation and then a homebuyer's report.

tucbiscuit

thanks for the advice, to be honest and putting it bluntly I feel well !!!!!! off lol, I feel like I have been badly advised and the advisers attitude so far has been that she wasn't aware of the situation as they are a new lender to them, I intend to go in and ask her to ring C&G and ask for a copy of the valuation report thing as I feel she will have more clout than me in that area.....do I have a right to express my dissatisfaction with her, or is this just par for the course?

JoeK_3

tucbiscuit wrote: »

thanks for the advice, to be honest and putting it bluntly I feel well !!!!!! off lol, I feel like I have been badly advised and the advisers attitude so far has been that she wasn't aware of the situation as they are a new lender to them, I intend to go in and ask her to ring C&G and ask for a copy of the valuation report thing as I feel she will have more clout than me in that area.....do I have a right to express my dissatisfaction with her, or is this just par for the course?

You can do what you think is appropriate regarding the adviser but you will not get anywhere with a copy of the valuation, although you might try.

Chill!!!

JoeK

MortgageMamma

rubbish 99% of lenders offer a homebuyers report and for purchasers the options should be explained at outset, if she omitted to do that then i feel she has done you a disservice and you should express your disappoinment at the very least

homer_j_3

I agree with MM - you should have been explained all your survey options and had them broken down like Joe K has in his earlier post with explanations attached to help you understand the differences.

Now C&G are one of the lenders that do not provide copies of their basic surveys - no matter how much you scream and shout, you are going to get nowhere. Some lenders will provide copies though so if all the brokers other lenders do, I can see how their inexperience has tripped them up here.

To be fair also, the C&G are very expensive for their homebuyers reports (an admittance of their own to me) and can often be found cheaper elsewhere if you were to order one now.

I would clearly make my dissatisfaction made that you were told/or not told as the case may be that you would not see this information. You have to concede though that if you had seen the valuation report there would be nothing on it worthwhile for you due to the basic level.

Take peace of mind that there have been no retentions of money requested or down valuations because these are the only useful bits of information to you on this kind of survey.

I think you are upset of the lack of information given to you by your adviser and hopefully will now see that seeing the basic val isnt that important after all. If you have any concerns with the property, ring a few local surveyors and get a price for a homebuyers report.