Worth getting an additional survey or not?

The_Walker

I've got a mortgage set up to buy a property, and it's my understanding mortgage lenders carry out a basic survey of the property before agreeing to lend on it? But that's not a homebuyers survey, which come in different levels of thoroughness. So should I pay for my own survey to be carried out, even of the lender sees no issues with the property? I have no reason to suspect anything is wrong with the house (terraced).

thanks

user1977

Yes, if you want the benefit of a more in-depth survey. No, if you want to cross your fingers and hope for the best. How good are you at identifying potential problems with a property?

The_Walker

I can only spot basic issues like cracks in walls, mould, damp etc. If there was a structural issue I wouldn't know, but then again not all surveys include structure and can get very expensive?

MikeJXE

If you want it done properly it is expensive, it can also be expensive if you don't have it done.

If you are determined not to have  a survey Do you know a builder at least with a bit of knowledge to go with you ? 

Jonboy_1984

We had a level 3 on our late 1960’s terrace and it gave us a very good action plan for the  maintenance required and roughly what the priority order was.

The_Walker

I could probably get a friend of a friend to take a look for me yes. I'll have to think about it, because it's a big purchase of course. I don't like taking risks, but on the other hand I don't want to throw money away when it's not really necessary.

MikeJXE

Look for where walls or chimney breasts might have been removed 

Bay windows can be a problem 

Does it have large DG plastic windows ? Have lintels been installed 

What's the chimney and flashing look like, 

Is the ridge straight with no sag 

Lots more to consider 

saganaki20

Please take it from someone who didn’t do it, and lived to regret it - get a survey! It’s such a lot of money you are committing to, please make sure you know exactly what you are buying, and if you are not feeling confident gauging this yourself - pay someone. Best money you will ever spend if it’s the house for you. 

The_Walker

saganaki20 said:

Please take it from someone who didn’t do it, and lived to regret it - get a survey! It’s such a lot of money you are committing to, please make sure you know exactly what you are buying, and if you are not feeling confident gauging this yourself - pay someone. Best money you will ever spend if it’s the house for you. 

What happened? Did your property have a major fault?

dimbo61

Age, location, condition, alterations, Listed ?
So many factors to take into account.
Our Victorian terraced  house has had a new roof, new bathroom, new kitchen, new boiler, complete rewire, complete replaster of every room, new flooring , OH and all new doors and windows in the last 7 years.

So depending on the age and condition having a full survey might be a very good idea 

saganaki20

Subsidence sadly. Still investigating ground works such as drains etc, costly, invasive, and disruptive! A survey for less than £1k would have saved me the lost sleep at night alone.