FTB No Survey for 15 Year old house

TCPPC

Hi

After reading many comments on the pros and cons of home buyer report, we are seriously considerly not spending the 400+ on the survey and instead hire an electrican to get a periodic check/condition report, plumber, gas engineer and roof or damp report.

Do you think this is money better spend, probably will cost in the region of 500 to get this all check.

The thing putting me off is i saw one of the home buyer report my friend done on his current home (12 months ago), they dont perform any check i.e lift board, go to the loft etc

considering the age of the property do you think its better to go down this route or just get a single survey?

Thrugelmir

You'll pay a basic valuation in any event. So won't be saving £400. Just the difference between the 2.

TCPPC

It's a bit of both, want to get value for money.
We have set aside 500 for this kind of work.
Don't want to move in with it hanging in my mind.

From visual can't see any structural issue I. E no cracks, uneven flooring etc

dingy_2

Hi, first time poster

we just bought a 13 year old house (FTB), at the viewing there were no obvious signs eg cracks across walls and what not, so we didnt get a separate survey.

mortgage company charged us £400 for a valuation, but this is only really a check for the lender to see if the house is good security for the loan, and didnt give us any structural info - just mentioned that it was clean, tidy, decor looks good, close to local amenities, and a couple of boring tick boxes.

Colleagues that have moved recently advised that due to age of house wont need to worry as building standards pretty good nowadays.

A friend paid £800 for a survey on a flat, and in each room they wrote "damp." - not very useful info for the buyer, it just worried them into paying another £500 for a damp-specialist survey which had a bit more detail.

They also wanted a survey because they were keen to get an independant verification of the value - the asking price was 475k and they offered £471750, and the survey came back and stated that the house was worth £471750... from reading other posts I think this is common practice.

What also happens with surveys is they tend to skip bits that might be key eg if they cant find pole for roof ladder within 15 seconds they will just write "could not inspect roof."

When you move in there will always be things you need to change (that might not even be mentioned on a survey eg blocked pipes!!) and you can put the cost of the survey towards/covering those things. That was my logic anyway.

amnblog

Get a written report done, whether that is a Homebuyers Report or a Building Survey for older or unusual properties.


That way, if a major issue is discovered after purchase you at least have some protection under the surveyors PII.

TCPPC

I some time do wonder whether how useful the report is due to the way they write it to cover their back

and how much protection does the buyer actually have?