Importance of a survey

AdrianC

It all depends on whether you and your partner believe you understand Victorian buildings well enough to spot any issues yourselves.

Your partner clearly has faith that they do. Don't you believe them...?

giantkatie

Get a full structural survey. I cannot emphasise this enough. What's a few hundred quid now when issues later on down the line could cost thousands. Not to be the harbinger of doom but Victorian properties often have issues. Better to know now. Best of luck.

Murphybear

Before you go into battle you’ll need some weapons.

Have a look at Smodlets post 11 about the collective experience of the people on here. Spend some time in browsing through these posts. You will find some sorry tales of folk who have not got a survey. Collect some examples and then work out how best to present them to your partner.

£500k is a lot of money to spend with taking some basic precautions.

Smodlet

Murphybear wrote: »

Before you go into battle you’ll need some weapons.

Have a look at Smodlets post 11 about the collective experience of the people on here. Spend some time in browsing through these posts. You will find some sorry tales of folk who have not got a survey. Collect some examples and then work out how best to present them to your partner.

£500k is a lot of money to spend with taking some basic precautions.

Can't say it any better than that. OP, the ball's in your court.

Owain_Moneysaver

There's a big difference between "done up well" and "in good underlying condition".

The doing up process may have concealed all sorts of nastiness lurking underneath.

And if a builder points out "they've done that wrong", "they've done that wrong", and "they've done that wrong too" on the bits you can see, you can bet what you can't see isn't going to be any better.

Skiddaw1

giantkatie wrote: »

Get a full structural survey. I cannot emphasise this enough. What's a few hundred quid now when issues later on down the line could cost thousands. Not to be the harbinger of doom but Victorian properties often have issues. Better to know now. Best of luck.

What Katie said (as opposed to What Katy Did ).


Seriously, full survey. Don't cut corners. There's always ongoing maintenance needed with a period house and the more you know up front the easier it'll be to plan for it.

wksd

Thanks guys,

I meant 0.1% how embarrassing.

Partner's argument is the amount of caveats within the survey, I want it for peace of mind. Ultimately, he will do whatever I ask though. So looks like we will get a survey.

Do you recommend to AFTER searches? Or to just get on with it now?

AdrianC

You need to understand what a surveyor can and can't do. Within that, it's clearly better to have one (with caveats) than not have one.

Unless, as I said, you're happy that you understand the property yourself and can satisfy yourself as to any issues.

Five hundred quid doesn't go far down the builders' merchant, and if you're pointing-and-paying for somebody else to do the work...

maisie_cat

It depends on how much you know about buildings. We had a full structural when we bought our 1930's. The surveyor found damp that wasn't there, he appeared to use a "damp meter" on lime plastered walls that gave a false reading.
He didn't spot roof problems and because he couldn't lift anything or see under floor coverings didn't spot other problems. the survey was so covered in caveats that there was no chance of ever claiming. None of the problems were show stoppers, but we did feel the survey cost of £2k was a waste of money.

Thrugelmir

wksd wrote: »

Partner's argument is the amount of caveats within the survey, I want it for peace of mind. Ultimately, he will do whatever I ask though. So looks like we will get a survey.

Around 12 years ago. Was potentially considering purchasing a stunningly restored 1890's property. Was shown pictures of the work undertaken by the owners through the entire refurbishment stage. Perhaps it was gut instinct that told us to have a full structural survey though the cost would be in the region of £800. When the report came back. The property had been devalued by £45k. There were 8 pages of "faults". Given the time surveyors can do a very thorough job. Explained why the downstairs walls were freshly painted (damp) and there was bread in the oven when we viewed. Ultimately we recovered the full cost of the survery from the EA's .