To survey or not to survey?

MightyMods

Morning all, having a bit of a tough time deciding whether to have a survey done on a property me and my partner are looking to purchase.
Timeline:

1. Found a house... liked it
2. Put in an offer
3. Had our offer accepted... woop!
4. Mortgage survey has been completed (yesterday) and accepted
5. We are now in talks with our solicitor to start the arrangements and undecided if we should have a survey done separately

Basically I would like to have one done, but my partners parents have told us they are a waste of money and we wont be able to negotiate the price any further with the sellers due to the mortgage already being agreed... any tips or advice is much appreciated!

silvercar

What are you buying? A new build flat, I may not bother; a 100 yr old cottage, I definitely would.

MaryNB

If you negotiate a change in price you just need to contact your lender to adjust the offer. It's only areally a concern if the vendor wants more and you need to borrow more. Give your lender a call to see what this would entail. It's not an unusual occurrence. People often renegotiate if a survey throws up some unexpected issues.  

MightyMods

silvercar said:

What are you buying? A new build flat, I may not bother; a 100 yr old cottage, I definitely would.

Just realised I didn't mention that, it was built around the 1950's semi detached,

We know from local knowledge that mines were once around the area so I instantly worry about subsidence - however we have not spotted any tell-tale signs of this at the property

We were also told by my partners father, that he thinks the damp proof course could be compromised as the rear garden has been repaved and he thinks it goes above that limit - This isn't something I know much about so alarm bells started to ring

RelievedSheff

As someone has already said it depends very much on the type of property you are buying.

We have not bothered with a survey on either of our property purchases yet (the latest being a new build the other being a 1930's semi) but that is not to say that you shouldn't.

Jeepers_Creepers

MightyMods said:

We were also told by my partners father, that he thinks the damp proof course could be compromised as the rear garden has been repaved and he thinks it goes above that limit - This isn't something I know much about so alarm bells started to ring

I was going to ask what your own level of knowledge was when looking at a building's condition - but I see you've answered

Like 'Relieved', we haven't had any survey carried out on any place we've bought - an Edwardian flat, a '70s terrace and a '30s detached. Why? Because all three were still standing after all these years, clearly were as solid as a rock, and there were no concerning local conditions which demanded further investigation - flooding or mining/subsidence, etc. If the building was solid and the roof in good order, we were happy - they all needed updating anyway - and I could see what needed doing inside each; new CH systems, kitchens, glazing - stuff like that.

If you have been spooked by a patio that's possibly be laid too high, then you will jump out of your skin when you read a survey report... (If the patio is too high, it just needs a strip cut away adjacent to the wall and this fitted with a drain or coarse chippings).  

What is the external condition of the house like - roof, walls, windows in good order? What's the neighbouring house like - ditto? That would probably be enough for me to relax and not have a survey, but I think I'd also knock on the neighbouring house for a 'hello' and a brief chat about any issues. 

I'd have thought it would be easy to find out if that particular street's been affected by local mines?

MightyMods

Jeepers_Creepers said:

MightyMods said:

We were also told by my partners father, that he thinks the damp proof course could be compromised as the rear garden has been repaved and he thinks it goes above that limit - This isn't something I know much about so alarm bells started to ring

I was going to ask what your own level of knowledge was when looking at a building's condition - but I see you've answered

Like 'Relieved', we haven't had any survey carried out on any place we've bought - an Edwardian flat, a '70s terrace and a '30s detached. Why? Because all three were still standing after all these years, clearly were as solid as a rock, and there were no concerning local conditions which demanded further investigation - flooding or mining/subsidence, etc. If the building was solid and the roof in good order, we were happy - they all needed updating anyway - and I could see what needed doing inside each; new CH systems, kitchens, glazing - stuff like that.

If you have been spooked by a patio that's possibly be laid too high, then you will jump out of your skin when you read a survey report... (If the patio is too high, it just needs a strip cut away adjacent to the wall and this fitted with a drain or coarse chippings).  

What is the external condition of the house like - roof, walls, windows in good order? What's the neighbouring house like - ditto? That would probably be enough for me to relax and not have a survey, but I think I'd also knock on the neighbouring house for a 'hello' and a brief chat about any issues. 

I'd have thought it would be easy to find out if that particular street's been affected by local mines?

Cheers Jeepers that makes a lot of sense to be honest
Im more than happy to give DIY a go, I work on my cars and motorbike quite regularly so understand how to research and work on a problem that I know about or have diagnosed, I'm just a little concerned that there could be big issues under the surface that I have not noticed on our visits and with the mortgage valuation mostly being "desktop visits" I don't really trust that enough..

As for the local mines, I have used the coal authority interactive map and found that the house is within a 'coal mining reporting area' but also understand what you say about it still being there after 40+ years 

Like everyone, I just want to make sure we don't buy a complete lemon

[Deleted User]

I personally didn't get a survey done, but then again I bought a flat in a purpose-built flat block.
The flat I nearly bought I did get a survey on and it put me off big time. 
I think it depends what kind of worrier you are too haha. I am better hiding my head in the sand and hoping for the best!

AdrianC

MightyMods said:

Morning all, having a bit of a tough time deciding whether to have a survey done on a property me and my partner are looking to purchase.
Timeline:

1. Found a house... liked it
2. Put in an offer
3. Had our offer accepted... woop!
4. Mortgage survey has been completed (yesterday) and accepted
5. We are now in talks with our solicitor to start the arrangements and undecided if we should have a survey done separately

Basically I would like to have one done, but my partners parents have told us they are a waste of money and we wont be able to negotiate the price any further with the sellers due to the mortgage already being agreed... any tips or advice is much appreciated!

The only reason not to have a survey is if you think you understand houses well enough that you can spot any issues yourself.

Never mind your partner's parents, and their well-meaning but ill-considered advice. It's not them purchasing the house. Maybe you will be able to renegotiate, maybe you won't. Maybe you'll find enough that makes you walk away.

cymruchris

If you don't have a survey - and you find out after you've moved in of a serious problem - there'll unlikely be any comeback on the seller. You have to make a practical judgment when looking at the property versus the cost of a survey. If it was a purpose built flat of a few years old - I likely wouldn't bother - and the same if it was 100 years old but didn't show any obvious issues. But the risk is always there. You can get 100 people on an internet forum all telling you not to bother - you then don't bother - and later you find a fault that will cause £20k to repair, how do you feel then? Alternatively, 100 people say 'go get a survey - its better to be safe than sorry' - you spend £750 - and then nothing appears, and you live happily ever after without a care in the world. It's all down to your perceived risk. It's like a game of Russian Roulette - the odds are likely in your favour - but there's always a chance you get stung. 

MightyMods

cymruchris said:

If you don't have a survey - and you find out after you've moved in of a serious problem - there'll unlikely be any comeback on the seller. You have to make a practical judgment when looking at the property versus the cost of a survey. If it was a purpose built flat of a few years old - I likely wouldn't bother - and the same if it was 100 years old but didn't show any obvious issues. But the risk is always there. You can get 100 people on an internet forum all telling you not to bother - you then don't bother - and later you find a fault that will cause £20k to repair, how do you feel then? Alternatively, 100 people say 'go get a survey - its better to be safe than sorry' - you spend £750 - and then nothing appears, and you live happily ever after without a care in the world. It's all down to your perceived risk. It's like a game of Russian Roulette - the odds are likely in your favour - but there's always a chance you get stung. 

Cheers Chris, great way to describe it and I completely agree, I'm definitely edging towards getting one done since whats £750 for peace of mind compared to the almost life long loan? I just know on the other hand, if nothing comes up, I will never hear the end of it from the in-laws haha