We don't want a survey, Are we stupid?

Old_Git

I had a survey done three years ago .Challet bungalow .Surveyor couldnt get access to storeage space under eaves .(no handle on doors ).
Turned out previous owner had knocked a whole in the supporting wall in the eves and the wall cracked right down to the doorway below .
Two weeks ago I had a survey done for santander .I had the walls in the hall stripped before viewing .The crack in the hall was filled in .Surveyor didnt see into void and never mentioned it on the survey .

Mossfarr

I never had structural surveys done for the last two properties I bought but valuation surveys were carried out by my lender.
Having said that, they are both terraced ex local authority properties which are good well built houses - and my husband is a builder!

phoebe1989seb

Waterlily24 wrote: »

We haven't had one since we've been mortgage free, last three properties.

Same here - three houses bought since becoming mortgage-free and no surveys.

These were Tudor, Georgian and most recently Victorian. All quirky and with obvious issues that we didn't need a surveyor to point out. We buy fixer uppers and expect there to be problems.

Otoh, the buyers of our last-but-one house had a survey that was full of stupid errors, despite the surveyor spending over three and a half hours at the property......wouldn't trust them with a barge pole personally

marksoton

I think it's generally accepted ( on here anyway ) that homebuyer reports just as well be written on the back of a fag packet.

Structural stuff, well that's very different.

Davesnave

It depends on what's being purchased. and the prospective buyer's level of knowledge.

None of the houses I've bought have been over 50 years old at the time of purchase, none has been altered, I've had access to all areas and I've always had someone with me with much building experience to draw on. This has = no surprises of any note.

OTOH, when my daughter wanted to buy a Victorian property with a previous history of repair and underpinning, I wasn't going to step into the breach; it was a full survey + possible engineer referral.

I must say her surveyor did an excellent job; totally unlike the usual reports I've read, so he was worth his fee. The peace of mind was worth it too.

Fosterdog

We're about to put in an offer on our first home and probably won't bother with a survey, mainly because we already have three relatives living in the street and are currently renting in the same street. We know what the issues are that these houses all face and we also know the builder who did a lot of work to the house anod would be the same one we use for any work.

It's not to say the house isn't without any issues but we are aware of them all before offering on it.

hazyjo

Might depend on the style of the house and the year built.

Yes, I've always had one. I've bought 7 times.

As Artful says above, things prob won't go wrong. In line with his analogy, I've never had a car crash when driving (been in loads when not!), but I'd always wear my seatbelt. It's just a bit of an added precaution.

Wouldn't trust myself to spot major things. I presume a surveyor would recognise a non-standard construction property, walls/supports/lintels, etc that might have been taken down or need investigating, or just things that don't sit right with them. I'd just want someone else's opinion really and if that means paying someone £400-is to take a look, fine. It's not a lot in the scale of things. I tend to be blinkered when viewing a house I love. Very critical with those I don't!

Jx

Jhoney_2

I always do. Compulsory no, prudent yes.

I wouldn't avoid paying a surveyor < a thousand to look around a property for me on my way IN, then happily pay a vendor hundreds of thousands on their way OUT:).

As Davesnave says, that may not be necessary for everyone if they have the ability - which I do not.

A valuation is simply an indication that property is in the value range of what you require from a lender and a homebuyer is cursory at best. I wouldn't spend large sums of money based on these alone.

Lots of horror stories on this forum about it, but you may be lucky or knowledgable enough.

Waterlily24

phoebe1989seb wrote: »

Same here - three houses bought since becoming mortgage-free and no surveys.

These were Tudor, Georgian and most recently Victorian. All quirky and with obvious issues that we didn't need a surveyor to point out. We buy fixer uppers and expect there to be problems.

Otoh, the buyers of our last-but-one house had a survey that was full of stupid errors, despite the surveyor spending over three and a half hours at the property......wouldn't trust them with a barge pole personally

Our houses weren't that old but have all been 1920/1930s and all doer uppers too. The first one we bought wasn't mortgageable.

karlos_the_jackal

I'm about to purchase a property that's 11 years old and just outside of the NHBC warranty. As there's not a hint of anything wrong with it my thinking is that a homebuyer's report would be a waste of money and a full survey would be overkill. Am I right or should I be at least getting a homebuyers for peace of mind?