Buying a property without searches

pineapple

Was talking to someone about legal fees and she said she has previously bought property without searches so long as she was reasonably sure of nothing untoward happening in the area. Has anyone ever done this? :eek:

jbainbridge

Are you a cash buyer? - if you are you can do whatever you want.

Assuming you are getting a mortgage, your bank will require searches.

pineapple

jbainbridge wrote: »

Are you a cash buyer? - if you are you can do whatever you want.

Assuming you are getting a mortgage, your bank will require searches.

Cash buyer

Socksey

For the sake of a few hundred pounds it could save you a lot more in the long run...

Paully232000

to me that sounds like an accident waiting to happen. As the above said, what is a few £100 in the grand scheme of how much a problem could cost you.

I think of it like house insurance; don't buy it and you will probably be OK, but if you don't get it, it could cost you a small fortune.

G_M

Which searches?

Consider each search, what it might tell you, what you already know about the property /area, and what level of risk you are prepared to take.

It's like insurance. You don't have to have it & can save some money, and if nothing goes wrong you'll be better off. If there's a fire, you'll lose the lot.

bris

If you need a mortgage you have no choice. If you don't need a mortgage then your taking a silly risk, but it's yours to take.

davidmcn

Depends on which searches you're talking about and the type of property. If you're comfortable with what you already know about the property and the area, do you really need to pay someone else to tell you that there are no plans to build HS2 through your back garden or that your Wimpey house isn't listed?

The issues which might actually matter and tend to come up: is the road adopted by the council, in mining areas are there mineshafts too close for comfort; in a rickety block of flats have there been compulsory repairs notices served; if there have been unauthorised alterations or changes of use have any enforcement notices been served. Some of those can be checked free of charge on the council's website anyway.

G_M

bris wrote: »

If you need a mortgage you have no choice. If you don't need a mortgage then you're taking a [STRIKE]silly[/STRIKE]calculated risk, but it's yours to take.

:T :beer:

AlexMac

We, as cash buyers, instructed our solicitor to conduct only the local authority search, but not the Water/Drainage search (it was an ex local authority leasehold, so we were confident it had both!) nor environmental, nor enhanced 'plan-plus' nor similar (we were local so knew there was no flood risk, etc), nor the then common scammy 'chancel liability' search.

All the local authority search revealed was that
- the road was a public highway
- in a Smoke Control Order area
- no recent or current planning approvals or Enforcement Notices (except a 10 year old permission for new UPVC windows)
- not scheduled for compulsory purchase
- no planned railways within 200metres

Which I could probably have worked out myself from the web!

terryw

For what it is worth, when I was a landlord some years ago, I bought a great many houses usually without bothering with searches. They were all in much the same area which I knew well. The information to be gleaned from searches is quite limited and more information and possible rumours can be gleaned from an hour in the local pub.
As mentioned this can't be done if a mortgage is involved.

I also did the paperwork to transfer ownership. The savings on no searches and no conveyancer's fees were well worth it. Because I was fully in control and able to act quickly I was able to negotiate substantial reductions in the original asking prices.

Would I recommend anyone else not bothering with searches? It all depends on how much the individual worries and their attitude to risk.