Vendor to commission own Full Structural Survey? (England)

[Deleted User]

Hi.  I realise that this is probably a slightly unusual question but I wondered if anyone has ever commissioned their own Full Structural Survey prior to selling, rather than waiting for any prospective buyers to do so?  We have a 107-year-old house (that we tried to sell earlier this year, but that's another story!  We've now taken it off the market).  I only ask because I'm thinking that whilst it's obviously a fair old cost to a Vendor, at least they're in the 'driving seat' and are fully aware of any work that may need to be carried out and can get the work done themselves if they wish, rather than some buyers getting cold feet over the slightest issue further down the line, only for them to try and negotiate more money than necessary off the asking price (or pull out altogether when that may not be necessary!).  I'd be interested to hear your thoughts.  Thank you.    

AdrianC

Of course you can.

The buyer won't have any protection from surveyor's errors, though, as they would if they'd commissioned their own - and, as a buyer, I'd be wondering if it was done by a tame surveyor and was "kind"...

davidmcn

It could only be relied upon by a buyer if readdressed to them (and possibly their lender) - so you'd need to check that the surveyor would be willing to do that, and at what cost. And as above there may be the suspicion that it's been slanted in your favour. 

OldMusicGuy

IMO the only reason for doing this would be for you to be forewarned about what is likely to come up in any transaction if a purchaser has a survey done. You would have the option to either fix things that needed doing prior to putting it on the market or you could factor elements in to your price. For example, you could say to potential vendors that you are aware of specific issues that may need fixing and your asking price has taken this in to account. This would preempt the usual "look at this terrible survey, we want money off" reaction of many purchasers. 

A survey done by the vendor would be of little use to me as a purchaser for the reasons the other posters stated.  

[Deleted User]

@AdrianC @davidmcn @OldMusicGuy Many thanks for your replies.  It was just a thought for when we sell in the future but if potential purchasers wouldn't trust our survey (despite the fact we'd use a RICS surveyor whose credentials checked out - beyond doubt - to any potential purchasers or their lenders) then it's obviously a pretty bad idea to get one done ourselves!  As it goes, our buyers who pulled out in February of this year apparently said the survey they had on our house had "a couple of things wrong but nothing that would have put them off purchasing the property" (so our EA told us)....but they actually pulled out because of the gaps between the lounge stairs (fitted in the 1980s).  So apart from the aforementioned stairs, they didn't mention anything horrifying on the survey?  We weren't allowed to see the report ourselves, obviously.  Anyway, thanks again for your thoughts. 

AdrianC

MrsP1974 said:

...but they actually pulled out because of the gaps between the lounge stairs (fitted in the 1980s).

Which, presumably, they could see while viewing, before offering...?

That suggests the "ooh, but open-riser stairs" is a red herring. Who knows what the real reason was - cold feet, change of mind, financially embarrassed...? But, either way, if it'd been survey, you can assume they'd have said.

iwb100

I don’t really see the point of it. A survey you do yourselves will be of no use to your buyers. And then if your survey is clear but buyers isn’t it won’t help you either. You’ve been surveyed and know there were no major issues. All you can do is undertake suitable maintainence and if you think there is anything that might put a buyer off have it seen to. Classic examples of this are leaks in roofs, signs of mould and damp indoors etc...

[Deleted User]

Hi again @AdrianC....yes, that's what we (exasperatingly) thought.  However, they only had one viewing, offered the same day (which we initially rejected but accepted their next offer), so I expect in the excitement (they 'couldn't contain themselves', they liked our house *that* much, according to the EA who did the viewing) they didn't notice the stairs?  Which I find difficult to believe, but there you go.  (You can understand why, in future, we'd appreciate people having at least a second viewing!  I had never sold a property before trying to do so since last/this year and I can tell you, we're *much* wiser to all these things now).  We've since found out that the same people tried to buy a bungalow from a friend of ours up the same road after they pulled out of our sale; they messed him about a bit too; wanted money off *agreed price* because of coronavirus and, despite selling their house in April this year for £460K (I've seen the sale myself on Zoopla), they couldn't prove how they were going to afford to buy our friend's bungalow at @£240K; our friend's solicitors were apparently very frustrated, as you can imagine!  So I'm not sure what's going on with this couple; something's not quite adding up with them; how is it that they can't prove they can afford a bungalow at around *half* the price they sold their property for?!  Anyway, yes, you're right; if there'd been something major with our Survey, as you say, you'd have thought they'd have flagged that up rather than the stairs, so hopefully our house is in pretty good condition, despite its age.  Thanks for your reply. 

[Deleted User]

Thanks @iwb100; I understand what you're saying.  I'm pretty new to selling a property (although we've taken our house off the market now for various reasons; after trying to sell a house for nearly a year with a) first EA being a waste of time and b) trying to sell a house with a downstairs bathroom when on top of that, there's now lots more competition because of Stamp Duty holiday.  Plus, just before lockdown, we had FTBs very interested in our property but because of coronavirus, they now can't get the 95% mortgage they needed to buy our house.  All this has taken its toll on us mentally, emotionally and financially, hence us now waving a white flag and leaving it for a while!).  I just thought that if we showed a survey - in full - that we'd had done and shown it to prospective purchasers and their lenders (and it's proven beyond doubt that it's been done with a suitably-approved Surveyor) then that might be ok and buyers wouldn't need to get a survey done?  It also may have stopped potential purchasers asking for £15K off (for example) for any works that might need doing, when actually it wouldn't cost anything near that in reality.  But it's perhaps a bad idea on my part; I was just putting the feelers out.  Thanks for your reply. 

SuperHan

If you were thinking of this, I'd try and buy the survey from the last buyers. You can't "rely" on it, but I'm sure they'd share with you for a small fee. 

Buyers would still need their own, but you would be forewarned on likely things to come up.

[Deleted User]

Hi @SuperHan; many thanks for your reply.  I hadn't thought of that, thank you.  I must admit that I didn't realise that buyers of our house in future would still need their own survey (even if they had full access to our survey report if we had one done ourselves - and it's been approved *beyond doubt* as trustworthy by any buyers' lenders and by the buyers themselves).  I can see why though, especially in these current torrid times.  I actually think our house is pretty sound, given its age, but it was just a thought.  Thank you for your comment.