Estate agent telling us not to bother with a Homebuyers survey?

stator

Don't get a home buyer's survey, get a proper building survey done.


Before you instruct your surveyor go around the house yourself and make a note of all the things you want him to look at. Make sure you include the condition of the roof, both outside and inside.


It astonishes me how quickly a surveyor will decide not to check something. eg "There were cracks but there was a sofa in the way so I couldn't see how far they went" or "I couldn't see the roof" absolutely useless.

sgun

Another vote for building survey. We just bought a 1970's house - I did a very thorough inspection before we put in an offer and adjusted my offer accordingly. We did have a Homebuyers done and although the surveyor picked up 90% of the issues that I did he did miss a couple and reported something to be in good condition when it was obvious to the eye that it wasn't. The report was very non-committal and not particularly in depth but it did agree with what I had offered.

If you have a friend or relative who knows about houses maybe take them round?

s_glover

I appreciate Homebuyers reports have a standard format and cover a fixed list however I can't help but feel the quality of the report will vary enormously according to the surveyor. We called around a few surveyors and choose one who was very helpful during our initial conversations. Clearly he had spent a considerable amount of time at the property and this was reflected in the very thorough report. We followed up a number of points in the report with him afterwards and he was very helpful in answering our questions. A buildings survey was overkill for the property we were purchasing but choosing a good surveyor was well worth the money, so my advice would be to speak to a few a get a feel for them before you decide who to instruct.

Davesnave

May I just add that there is no such thing as a "full structural survey," despite people referring to the Buildings Survey in that way.


While you'd expect the surveyor to look behind furniture and go into the attic at that level, they still wouldn't be pulling up carpets and floorboards, drilling holes and measuring movement or any really invasive exploration. That would be for a specialist and a particular problem, like dry rot, unexplained movement, or blocked drains.