Need a survey or not ?

Mick70

Would you buy a house without paying for a full survey on it first ?

Redwino222

Depends On the house.  Anything over twenty years old I would Get a full survey.  

AdrianC

Mick70 said:

Would you buy a house without paying for a full survey on it first ?

I have done. Several times.

But I'm happy that I know what I'm looking at and for. And, over years of ownership, I've not been surprised by much.

Where I've found thing that raise my eyebrows, I'd get a second opinion. When I've done that, my raised eyebrows have been confirmed.

I'm just an interested layman with some knowledge and experience, not a pro. Pro surveyors do not spend long inside the property for a HBR.

The question is, surely, do YOU trust YOUR opinion?

Jeepers_Creepers

Never had a survey done.

All have been 'oldish' - a flat in an Edwardian house, a 1970's hoosie and my current one is 1930's. Why no survey? 'Cos they all needed serious updating anyway, and the only things that actually concerned me was if the roof was falling off or the building was falling down - and you could tell in 5 minutes that neither was the case.

I wasn't bothered about anything else.

MovingForwards

I purchased a 110 year old flat just relying on the sellers home report.  I could see there was a lot of things of various ages and knew at some point parts would be changed by me. 

A lot depends on knowledge, experience and looking carefully at things.

LAD917

I've purchased flats without surveys. I had a survey on my first purchase. It contained only surface-level visual observations that any semi-knowledgeable person could discern themselves, and half of the report was verbiage around exclusions/limitations.  
On subsequent purchases, I've done my own investigations. Most of what the surveyor checks, I can check myself - do the lights turn on?  Does the boiler work?  Do the electrical outlets work? Does the toilet flush?  Is there good water pressure? (Some surveyors don't even check that.)  Do the appliances turn on?  Is there damp around the windows?  (You can buy a damp-meter from Amazon for 15 pounds).  If I have doubts about something -- e.g., the electricity -- I will call in a specialist to investigate and assess the problem and provide an estimate for repair.  Given the high cost of surveys relative to the level of detail provided, it's just not worth it for me. 

mad_spaniel

My father bought a property without a survey. When he came to sell it he had problems. The back wall was bulging and needed to be demolished and rebuilt. Potential buyers ran a mile. In the end he had to sell it to a builder at a knock down price. 

Markneath

I tend to know what I’m looking out for so don’t bother. 

When I have paid for a survey it tends to be a load of waffle highlighting potential problems that don’t exist. 

RelievedSheff

We have not had a survey on either of our two purchases. 

AdrianC

mad_spaniel said:

My father bought a property without a survey. When he came to sell it he had problems. The back wall was bulging and needed to be demolished and rebuilt.

How long between purchase and sale?

Was the bulge not visible?

OldMusicGuy

Yes. I also have bought several houses without a survey but I am pretty knowledgeable about houses. It would depend on the house and its condition, if it was old and a type of construction with which I was unfamiliar, I might consider it. But sadly (as you will see from many threads on here), many aren't worth the paper they are written on IMO. Part of the problem with surveys is that if you don't have much knowledge, the survey (which will be full of CYA language like markneath said) will just confuse you anyway.