home buyers report

jewel226

I had a homebuyers report done on my house today ..been afraid about it as I am a nervy seller and afraid of things going wrong, I looked up about it and what to expect etc., about 2 hrs long and quite thorough . I was going to use the same surveyor to conduct the survey of the property we are buying quoted £600.

The surveyor was here for 35mins! seems a lot of money for that , when he went he told me all was good with the house. I think our buyers are a bit nervy too,

I have decided not to have a homebuyers survey done now as I think I can do that myself and see any major things my self, will take my chances on other things.

am I being silly or should I have a survey done the property we are buying is 50yrs old?

dc197

If you know what to look for, then why not - so long as the vendor agrees.

Personally I'd want the professional to do it, as I would not be able to spot the kind of things they spot nor have all their tools. You also get a report which you can read after purchase to remind yourself what jobs need doing.

horseykitty

I would always have a RICS homebuyers report done - what's £600 against the price of a house?

NicNicP

I agree with horseykitty. When you're spending hundreds of thousands of pounds on a house then what's £600? Unless you're a professional then I'm sure there's numerous things you'd miss if you surveyed the property yourself.

DaftyDuck

Depending on the property concerned, I'd either have a full structural survey (they can be had for little more than a Homebuyers, and I paid £550 for a full structural on a £700,000 Georgian farmhouse six months ago), or rely on a valuation survey or none at all.

teneighty

jewel226 wrote: »

I had a homebuyers report done on my house today ..been afraid about it as I am a nervy seller and afraid of things going wrong, I looked up about it and what to expect etc., about 2 hrs long and quite thorough . I was going to use the same surveyor to conduct the survey of the property we are buying quoted £600.

The surveyor was here for 35mins! seems a lot of money for that , when he went he told me all was good with the house. I think our buyers are a bit nervy too,

35 minutes! That is ridiculous. Was it one of the big national firms owned by the lenders or a local independent surveyor?

Smodlet

Hi,

I agree that 35 minutes is ridiculous. A three bed semi should take a couple of hours if the surveyor is any good.

I always think the best solution is to take a builder, who has been recommended by someone you know and trust, with you to view a house. He should be able to spot most, if not all the things a surveyor could and give you an idea of what they would cost to fix. If there are several areas of concern and you still want to go ahead, maybe then get a Homebuyer's report done.

If you do decide to go it alone, it might be a good idea to take the Homebuyer's report you have with you to use as a check list, along with a large notepad. You could, perhaps, ask yourself if you know where the air vents should be located in a chimney breast. Did you know there should be more than one and why? Do you understand the significance of a missing chimney breast? Do you know how to spot if a damp proof course has been compromised? What a modern RCD looks like? Are you OK going up into a loft and checking the state of the roof, soffits et al? I am no surveyor; these are issues I have found out about the hard way.

We looked at over 100 crummy, old houses before we found the least crummy; you learn quite a lot but I still would not trust myself to proceed without a surveyor on my own. OH is infinitely better at this stuff than I.

If the answer to all of these questions is "Yes" and you trust yourself to spot any and all potential issues, maybe you really do not need to pay a surveyor... but I would always, always recommend that you do. HTH.

Jimmy_Neutron

When I got a Homebuyers survey done on the house I'm in now several years ago nothing really came up apart from possible damp on the back wall. I thought to myself at the time £500 for that, he hasn't been thorough enough to spot any faults. But then several years later I'm glad nothing major was reported because nothing has happened.

It seems people want the surveyor to report problems when you should be glad he doesn't need to. Obviously the surveyor thinks your house is in good condition.

jewel226

It was an independent Surveyor and the house is a 4 bed detached but I still feel £600 for 35mins work is a lot, he did say all was good when he left, the house is 19yrs old. it was deffinately a homebuyers report,

The chap that came round that did the valuation a few weeks back was here 20 mins.

I have decided to have one done now, its a 50yr old house, I think I will ask to go round with him.

G_M

I might well not have a survey done, depending on the property (type, general condition, age etc), as I have a decent understanding of what to look for. Not trained, but experience of buying properties, DIY, etc

If I had concerns about any specifics (eg roof, electrics etc) I'd ask a builder, roofer, sparkie to take a look.

Any structural worries (or if I planned structural changes) I'd get a structural engineer to look (not a surveyor).

An older property/doer-upper, I'd get a survey done.

teneighty

jewel226 wrote: »

It was an independent Surveyor and the house is a 4 bed detached but I still feel £600 for 35mins work is a lot, he did say all was good when he left, the house is 19yrs old. it was deffinately a homebuyers report,

The chap that came round that did the valuation a few weeks back was here 20 mins.

I have decided to have one done now, its a 50yr old house, I think I will ask to go round with him.

Oh dear, that wasn't the answer I was expecting. A Homebuyers Survey on a 4 bed detached should take a lot longer than that, even a relatively new house. No wonder the surveying profession has lost the public's confidence. I am not a fan of the Homebuyers Survey format but this just goes to show that they really aren't worth the paper they are printed on.