Do I choose homebuyers or full survey?

MAYTOJULY

I need a survey for a house with a large tree in the garden. Its roughly 30 years old (house). Would I be better having the less expensive homebuyers survey, expecting to have a pay for a 'tree person' (sorry, don't know the term) to check out the tree. Or a more expensive structural survey (don't know if they check for root problems or not). Don't fancy having to pay for the more expensive full one plus a tree guy. Any thoughts please

gazter

MAYTOJULY wrote: »

I need a survey for a house with a large tree in the garden. Its roughly 30 years old (house). Would I be better having the less expensive homebuyers survey, expecting to have a pay for a 'tree person' (sorry, don't know the term) to check out the tree. Or a more expensive structural survey (don't know if they check for root problems or not). Don't fancy having to pay for the more expensive full one plus a tree guy. Any thoughts please

i went to reallymoving dot com and put in my postcode and a request for a full survey on a listed four bedroom country house built in the 18th century. You get emailed with a range of offers. Got an offer for £380 by a chartered surveyor, he was out and completed the valuation within a few days, got the report via email next morning, he rang me up to go through it and explain what it all meant.

Getting this survey done worked out not far off the rip off charge the mortgage company gave me for their basic valuation report.

Dan-Dan

Correct me if i`m wrong but there is a diffence between a chartered surveyor who carrys out the full survey and homebuyers and an actual structural engineer?

In the op`s case might be better to get the homebuyers as the house isnt old and then pay for some expert advide ref the tree itself ?

ermine

I guess it depends on how big the tree is and how close the tree is to the house. As a rough guide the root stucture of a tree extends about as much underground as the canopy above.

If you are looking for a structural survey (which will flag up what has happened already, rather than what might happen) then you need to be specific with your surveyor as to your concerns and what questions you'd like answers to.

fishpond

I would be surprised if a surveyor was an expert on trees.
With trees, it is not a question of if they fall down but when!
As for roots, I imagine a lot depends on the type of ground.
Hope this helps.