Advice about 'do it yourself house surveys'

adidas

Hello all


In the process of looking around for a house (new-ish builds, 1970s onwards most likely) but wanted a bit of advice about information gathering for surveys.
From what I've read and my friend's experience, who is facing a hefty bill for roofing.....I'm not sure how much a homebuyers survey will add and was thinking of gathering the opinions of a couple of professionals myself for piece of mind. I think that might be more helpful to me.


Sorry if someone's asked this before.


What I've got so far is:
Builder survey (structural engineer) - roofing, damp etc
Gas safety certificate/boiler check
Electrician opinion with regards to wiring
Drains survey
Tree surgeon? if trees close to property

Would be grateful if someone has any experience in this area to let me know how you went about getting these opinions, what's worthwhile and how much they ended up costing......


Thanks

G_M

This is not really DIY housesurveys as you are... not doing it yourself. Ypu are getting professionals!

adidas wrote: »

Hello all

What I've got so far is:
Builder survey ([STRIKE]structural engineer - [/STRIKE]Chartered surveyor) - roofing, damp etc (might identify damp, woodworm, but then you'll need a independant damp survey done) (£250 for Homebuyer survy. £800 for full survey?)
Structural Engineer (if concerns about structure - weight of roof, subsidence etc) £200?
Gas safety certificate/boiler check GasSafe engineer (60?)
Electrician opinion with regards to wiring NICEIC £50?
Drains survey Use google
Tree surgeon? if trees close to property Arboricultural Association


Would be grateful if someone has any experience in this area to let me know how you went about getting these opinions, what's worthwhile and how much they ended up costing......


Thanks

gingeralan

I think the OP is of the samr opinion as me in that getting a homebuyers report or full survey from a chartered surveyor is a waste of time. They provide a report but don't stand by it when they miss something during their thorough 1 hour examination.

Next time i would just look myself for damp, cracks,arrange to go myself for atleast half a day n move furniture to look for holes in floor or anything hidden by a strategically placed wardrobe, get electrician roofer, n plumber in to check those, and if that comes back fine a valuation report will let u know if the property is gonna imminently fall down, as this valuation amount is the only piece of info they stand by!

weeg

gingeralan wrote: »

I think the OP is of the samr opinion as me in that getting a homebuyers report or full survey from a chartered surveyor is a waste of time. They provide a report but don't stand by it when they miss something during their thorough 1 hour examination.

Next time i would just look myself for damp, cracks,arrange to go myself for atleast half a day n move furniture to look for holes in floor or anything hidden by a strategically placed wardrobe, get electrician roofer, n plumber in to check those, and if that comes back fine a valuation report will let u know if the property is gonna imminently fall down, as this valuation amount is the only piece of info they stand by!

If someone who had offered on my house wanted access for 1/2 day AND all those tradesmen in I would charge them £10/ hour for housesitting. And if they didn't want to pay I would tell them to sling their hook and keep my house on the market. It's a massive imposition!

adidas

Thanks all - yeah it's not 'do it yourself' as such but a bunch of professionals who can diagnose the various problems. I have a keen eye for detail but not as good as someone who is trained. I am doubtful about these homebuyer surveys offering much additional information.


Having not bought a house myself before I wasn't sure if anyone had actually gone down the route of getting various tradespeople in. I understand what you're saying weeg - I guess it depends if these various bits were done during the daytime when you'd be at work. I guess if you had your property still listed online and other viewings this would be awkward.


Has anyone actually got individual tradespeople in to look at a house they have made an offer on? I think at a minimum I'd want the structure looked at. The other bits like boiler and electrics would be quicker.


Sorry if I sound stupid but is a chartered surveyor the same as getting someone to do a homebuyers survey? I have come across random posts on the internet saying 'they got their builder in' to inspect the property. Is this something different?

lessonlearned

A lender's valuation should highlight any red flags, especially things like proximity of trees. Japanese Knotweed, damp, signs of subsidence.

A home buyers report should be in more depth and should highlight any structural problems, condition of roof, guttering, drains etc

If the water is turned off they will not be able to check water pressure, whether or not the loo is flushing etc.

Please note my caveat of should - often even a HBR is quite rudimentary.

Neither the LV or the HBR surveyor will lift carpets to test floor joists, although they might jump up and down to test any "sponginess". They will not move furniture. They may or may not go into the loft to check roof timbers and look for obvious damage to the roof and chimney stacks.

They will not climb up on to the roof, they will check the roof, chimney stack etc at ground level using binoculars.

Neither valuation will test gas and or electrics.

So you see even a HBR has limited value.

A gas safety check will only tell you that the boiler is safe, not how efficient it is, it's service history, whether or not it's on it's last legs. So again a gas safety certificate is of limited value.

When surveyors do spot problems the costs they quote for remedial works are often high.

The survey reports are often very vague using terms like "may need" or "we suggest" "some damp".

I've also spotted trends in what they pick up - one year it might be damp another it might be proximity of trees. Perhaps they have been checking insurance claims…….

The surveyors are very careful not to over-commit themselves in writing, hence the bland uniformity of survey reports.

If you are paying for a HBR you can request the surveyor telephones you to "talk you through" their findings. They will usually do this before they write up the report.

Having a chat with the surveyor can be very useful because you can ask questions and the surveyor may well be a little more forthcoming speaking "off the record" than they would be if it were in writing.

You are perfectly entitled to take trades round for estimates etc but this is usually done after you have had the survey results back.

weeg

lessonlearned has covered most of it.

Homebuyers and valuation reports are both carried out by chartered surveyors. They should pick up any significant structural or other issues, and even though they won't often commit to an depth answer they should flag up anything that needs a closer/specialist look (structure, electrics, whatever).

No report is ever going to pick up every potential issue with a house. You need to accept that. There will be unexpected things that come up (I discovered my drinking water was of totally unacceptable quality in my current flat, for example, as it came from a communal lead lined storage tank in the roof space. They stopped allowing that 50 odd years ago! I'd been living here 3 years at that point). You need to look at the overall state of repair - does the home look well maintained? and read the report and make a judgement call.

A seller will have to give access for a surveyor, and should make reasonable accommodation for follow up visits - a builder estimating, or a damp specialist or whatever. But, as I say, I don't think it's reasonable to expect a seller to have someone poking around, moving furniture and lifting carpets for 1/2 a day. Not least because a lot of things you find might look worrying, but a surveyor or engineer could tell you they are purely cosmetic.

propertyman

Simple Tips

1: Mortgage valuation aside, identify any items of interest concern or relevance to you and ask your surveyor to look at them- this may cost extra

2: In older or unmodernised premises ( even 15/20 year old) think about asking the surveyor to arrange, or arranging yourself, special tests for gas electricity plumbing and drains, timber damp etc

That way the seller is put to minimum inconvenience by arranging it in one go.

Think about access, if there are flat roofs or locked gates or parking over drains, ensure access is arranged and the surveyor forewarned as in some cases the might need a builder to provide double ladders etc.

adidas

Thanks for your advice. It would seem that most people go down the road of homebuyers survey then even if they don't really believe in it. Thanks for the tips about highlighting the specific areas to the surveyor and talking it through on the phone as this may give a bit more information.......

gingeralan

weeg wrote: »

If someone who had offered on my house wanted access for 1/2 day AND all those tradesmen in I would charge them £10/ hour for housesitting. And if they didn't want to pay I would tell them to sling their hook and keep my house on the market. It's a massive imposition!

Its is a major imposition to purchase a house without knowing it inside n out, I spend a long time inspecting a car when I buy one of those wud u try n charge me 10 pounds an hour to inspect that?

sonastin

A decent surveyor will want you to get the right message, even if his insurance prohibits him from giving definitive statements in his report. There is a sort of code in the language that is used to convey his advice: "could consider arranging... (whatever survey he isn't qualified to comment on)" suggests in his unqualified but experienced opinion its OK, whereas "is strongly advised to arrange..." tells you that he took one look and would run a mile but he's not covered to tell you that in so many terms.

Talk to him on the phone and he might well say "I'm no electrician but I've never see a fusebox like that in a house, only in a museum. And I didn't know wires were made so small. I'd put money on this needing a re-wire but you need to get a sparky to confirm and quote", but that's not going to be in his written report in the same way.

One of the other issues you'll have with any sort of professional going in to do checks for you, is that they have no rights to do anything that damages the current owners property. The surveyor or engineer might want to lift the carpets to check the floor joists but unless he has the right tools to properly stretch it back into place, the owner can rightfully refuse - if you pull out, they don't want to be left with an ill-fitting carpet for the rest of their time there. Same goes with any other sort of checks that need stuff moving to uncover things - unless you're prepared to fully indemnify your professional for any damage they might cause, and you get agreement from the vendor that they can move/uncover stuff, your survey results will be full of "couldn't check XXX" caveats.