Home buyers report on a 5yr old house?

CambJP

We're in the process of buying a 5 year old house - should we get a homebuyers report or just stick with the basic lenders valuation? Any advice would be greatly appreciated - from 2 confused first time buyers. Thank you

dc197

The lender's valuation won't reveal anything about the state of the house that can't be seen with a cursory glance over it. The lender just wants to make sure it won't fall down and that it's worth what they're lending (not what you're paying).

If a homebuyer's report would ease your mind, go for it. But I've heard they're so vague and contain so many cover-your-!!!! clauses that they're not very helpful.

Do you have specific worries, doubts or information you want clarified?

MrJB

I would agre with DC197. A few of my building surveyor chums refuse to do Homebuyer reports because they're so vague and covered in caveats. I would have thought the price is likely to be similar. When carrying out a valuation a surveyor is obligated to mention anything that would have a serious detrimental impact on the value of the property (ie likely to cost you a fortune imminently).

nkbish0p

I am in the process of buying a <2 year old house

I went with a basic valuation - I have a NHBC warranty though which I expect would cover anything major

Dan-Dan

Homebuyers survey is such a waste of money its almost criminal , especially on a 5 year old house , your better off taking your most DIY capable mate round

Wassa123

We got one done on a 10 year house. It was only a ~£200 upgrade from the basic valuation so it wasn't a big deal.

It was pretty much a perfect report structurally. Anything that needed doing was purely cosmetic.

Dan-Dan

Wassa123 wrote: »

We got one done on a 10 year house. It was only a ~£200 upgrade from the basic valuation so it wasn't a big deal.

It was pretty much a perfect report structurally. Anything that needed doing was purely cosmetic.

A homebuyers report isnt suitable to be relied upon for anything `structural`
It is more or less based on cosmetic things only , as it is

AnotherJoe

Wassa123 wrote: »

We got one done on a 10 year house. It was only a ~£200 upgrade from the basic valuation so it wasn't a big deal.

It was pretty much a perfect report structurally. Anything that needed doing was purely cosmetic.

You might as well have piled the notes up and burnt it. Utter waste of money IMO.

Haylescom

Having sat in on a Home Buyer's report on the house I'm selling, he looked aund the house for 10 minutes and spent the rest of the time dictating his notes. His level 3 comments were pretty standard for a 50 year old house, and the comments were basically "A buyer would want to replace storage heaters, get a pro in to check this...the loft was fine but I couldn't see the whole roof so get a pro in..." pretty pointless.