DIY conveyancing (well sort of)

Vicky7260

I’m in the middle of buying a new house and selling my existing home. I will
be mortgage free so it’s not compulsory for a survey or searches.

My Solicitor is advising that the searches be done (to cover his back obviously)  but I don’t think they are all required. I’m debating doing the ones I think I may need myself (Drainage/ Water, Mining land registry).

We know the area  and are happy that we don’t need a LA search or Environmental search.

Has anyone done their own or not bothered at all and had any horror stories or like wise no issues at all? 

TIA 

user1977

"New" house meaning just new to you or newbuild? Land Registry is a minimum unless you're crazy. Don't think I'd be bothered about water if it's in a fairly normal urban location. Is it in a coal-mining area?

loubel

Your solicitor isn't covering their own back by recommending searches, they are giving you advice on how to protect your interests.

Of all the searches the Local Authority Search would be the most important as it's the one most likely to reveal something of actual concern to you - such as financial liabilities that will pass to you on purchase or ongoing enforcement action. Personally I would not buy a house without getting one.

You may be happy to satisfy yourself with online checks on environmental matters (although usually the environmental searches give info on other areas too and they are very quick and inexpensive). Getting a copy of the seller's water bill will confirm the water/drainage connections although it won't tell you the other questions about water quality etc. If you already know the area you may be comfortable on these.

Vicky7260

New house meaning new to me, it was built in 1965. I agree with the Land Registry (to make sure no charges, bankruptcy etc levied to the property). We’re in the Northwest and where we’re buying isn’t in a Coal Mining area, so on second thoughts probably don’t need a mining search either. 

CSI_Yorkshire

It's a risk thing. 

Your solicitor is (as is their job) advising you on how to minimise the risk of something bad happening.

You appear quite happy to save the short term cash by not doing searches (or a survey?) and take the risk of there being something expensive (or annoying) coming up later.

In the end, that's your choice.  How big a risk do you think it really is, and is that worth saving the few hundred pounds searches and surveys cost?

Just some examples from this board:

"Hi, We bought our dream property last summer, deep in the country, splendid views, quiet and tranquil. We have now found out that a wind farm is about to be built less than a kilometre away. The turbines will be 150 metres high and will stand on the ridge opposite our home."

"I've come home today to find all of the long standing foliage out the front of my house having been chopped down and a sales centre having been erected"

"When renegotiating our mortgage with a different lender last month, we discovered that there is an equitable charge on the property, created by an interim charging order of a county court"

"I bought a flat 18 months ago that was converted from a large victorian in 7 dwelling in 2002.  Turns out building control were never notified and never inspected.  A conversation with them and the planning department showed they didn't receive planning permission for the conversion"

Obviously, we don't hear very much here about all the times when everything goes right though!

subjecttocontract

I've done my own conveyancing many times but only on freehold property. My advice would be don't try to cut corners. The savings you will make by not doing the searches amounts to just a few hundred quid.

Jonboy_1984

We thought we knew the area we bought in incredibly well and the Father in Law helped build the estate as his first job out of school…turned out from the survey the area is infilled land on an old sewage works and needed some extra research to satisfy ourselves.

Was less impressed with the flood survey which was less precise than the EA’s own freely available data in our location.

babyblade41

To save a few pounds short term isn't worth the hassle 

My solicitor will recommend which ones are irrelevant but usually just coal mining as we aren't in an historic mining area.  Other than that one I take them all and read them thoroughly 

Tiglet2

Vicky7260 said:

I’m in the middle of buying a new house and selling my existing home. I will
be mortgage free so it’s not compulsory for a survey or searches.

My Solicitor is advising that the searches be done (to cover his back obviously)  but I don’t think they are all required. I’m debating doing the ones I think I may need myself (Drainage/ Water, Mining land registry).

We know the area  and are happy that we don’t need a LA search or Environmental search.

Has anyone done their own or not bothered at all and had any horror stories or like wise no issues at all? 

TIA 

In doing the due diligence, your solicitor will raise enquiries about the property to find out as much as possible about it, so you know what you're buying.

If, for example, the local search shows that the road is unadopted or that there was a building control certificate issued for works in 2016, then the solicitor will raise enquiries to query what rights you have to access your property and ask for the certificate/warranty shown in the search.  If the searches reveal that there are disused mine shafts in the area, it will recommend you obtain a coal mining search.  If you don't have searches done, these enquiries won't be raised as the solicitor won't know to ask them.

The option not to buy searches is your choice as you are not purchasing with a mortgage, but in the future when you are selling the property, your buyer may purchases searches and will expect you to answer enquiries that you know nothing about and won't have the paperwork for.  

Obviously if the property is not in a coal mining area, then you won't need this search.  The normal bundle is Environmental, Water & Drainage and the Local Authority Search.

However, even if you are not needing a mortgage, I would still recommend getting a survey done, particularly on a property built in 1965.  The survey is for your benefit.  What if the surveyor spots a crack in the wall that you hadn't seen.  Could there be historic or ongoing subsidence problems?  While there is a lot of **se covering from the surveyor, it will at least set your mind at rest that the property isn't about to fall down.  It will also point out areas that could do with some maintenance, so gives you a to do list.

Yorkie1

I've looked back at my water search results more than once to double check where the drainage / sewer pipes go on the property