FTB - Home buyer survey

EssexHebridean

Zoyya said:

Hi All,

I have been house haunting (Stoke on Trent) from more than 3 years. The last property I put the offer on and did L3 structural survey scared me for life and had to pull out. This time I did a L2 home buyer survey (the property seemed well maintained to me on my viewing) with a local RICS surveyor and I am back to square one. The verbal summary from the surveyor is concerning and only advise is AVOID! TOO MANY ISSUES! You don't even need a written report as that is to bin straight away.

He is offering a discount on the next survey in place of providing this written report which will be of no use. I am a FTB (cash purchase), no won't need it for a mortage purpose.

I don't understand how the current owners are living in the property with two small childerns and a pet dog if the raised issues are so big!

I wonder how people find houses and draining the money on surveys everytime without any success .

I am so dis heartened now that I don't think buying is a house is a that easy for dim/naive woman like me! . so giving up and looking around to rent.


Problems : 
1. Rising Damp (living room) & severe damp in the kitchen
2. Suspened timber floor (so damp)
3. Windows are pretty old (atleast 30 years) so lot of condensation issues along the stairway/chimney etc
4. Cracks in the back elevation, cavity wall failure and mortar coming out of the wall tiles
5. Front bay cracked bricks work
6. Japanese knotweed in the neighbouring garden sp rrots could be under the fence of this property too.
7. Need Internal doors replacing
8. Sub floor problem
9. Artex ceiling etc etc

Do you think it still worth it to ask for the written report too? I have already paid the full amount for it.

It's a bit of a minefield isn't it - but you will find somewhere eventually, I promise! 

Some hints which *may* help particularly relating to damp.

Keep an eagle eye out for a lot of very fresh paintwork on walls - particularly external walls -  it may be that they have just done the place up nicely, but then again...
Dark colours on outside walls where there are lighter colours on internal ones would ring alarm bells for me. (Darker colours hide spots of damp coming through better)
Pop a hand onto the very bottom of an external wall - push lightly with a finger - does the surface feel "soft" - a bit like pressing a piece of felt? It might be that there has been insulated wallpaper used to deal with damp. 
while you are bent down, think about how it feels - you'd expect a cool surface, but does it feel actively cold? Is there any moisture at all?

On the windows - look for any milkiness to the glass - that could be blown units which will need replacing - also have a look at the gap between the two panes of double glazed - modern ones have a quite sizeable gap, so a smaller gap may indicate older windows. (That said, they might still be perfectly good and effective, but if you bought a place with older windows you'd want to start budgeting for replacing.)

Albermarle

Zoyya said:

Albermarle said:

He is offering a discount on the next survey in place of providing this written report which will be of no use. I am a FTB (cash purchase), no won't need it for a mortage purpose.

I think you might as well take up his offer of a discount on the next survey.
However I would suggest you tell him what you think a suitable discount might be ( 35%?) and that whatever is agreed, he confirms it by e mail. 

Thanks for the advise. My solicitor actually suggested that I get the detailed written e - report as £100 discount for the next one is not worth it. She said we sometime as FTB do panic on minor things and also tend to forget the important findings in the process. but if there is a written report , we can atleast check the issues with experts if needed and then can decide?

She also mentioned that if I really like the property, rising damp/old windows replacement etc can be solved but Japanese knotweed is an major one. On property Information form, the seller has mentioned 'no' to knotweed. She is surprised that there is nothing on the roof, loft etc.

She said to wait , get the written report and then I can go for a second viewing and if needed third and have a look around again on the findings from report and if confident, then can re negotiate and else just pull out. 

I am so disheartened , I have no energy left. The surveyor said it will take a week for him to write the report and send over!

Your solicitor is correct that FTB's can overreact when they see issues in a survey, and surveyors tend to be a bit over cautious in what they write, so they can not be blamed later for missing something.
However it is not normal that a surveyor actually calls you, and says not to go ahead as there are too many problems.
So whether you get the written report or not, that would be a red flag to me.
The stress of getting it all sorted out when you have no DIY skills or knowledge, will be in a different league from the stress of restarting your house hunt.
The only caveat being is if the house was very cheap.

Zoyya

EssexHebridean said:

Zoyya said:

Hi All,

I have been house haunting (Stoke on Trent) from more than 3 years. The last property I put the offer on and did L3 structural survey scared me for life and had to pull out. This time I did a L2 home buyer survey (the property seemed well maintained to me on my viewing) with a local RICS surveyor and I am back to square one. The verbal summary from the surveyor is concerning and only advise is AVOID! TOO MANY ISSUES! You don't even need a written report as that is to bin straight away.

He is offering a discount on the next survey in place of providing this written report which will be of no use. I am a FTB (cash purchase), no won't need it for a mortage purpose.

I don't understand how the current owners are living in the property with two small childerns and a pet dog if the raised issues are so big!

I wonder how people find houses and draining the money on surveys everytime without any success .

I am so dis heartened now that I don't think buying is a house is a that easy for dim/naive woman like me! . so giving up and looking around to rent.


Problems : 
1. Rising Damp (living room) & severe damp in the kitchen
2. Suspened timber floor (so damp)
3. Windows are pretty old (atleast 30 years) so lot of condensation issues along the stairway/chimney etc
4. Cracks in the back elevation, cavity wall failure and mortar coming out of the wall tiles
5. Front bay cracked bricks work
6. Japanese knotweed in the neighbouring garden sp rrots could be under the fence of this property too.
7. Need Internal doors replacing
8. Sub floor problem
9. Artex ceiling etc etc

Do you think it still worth it to ask for the written report too? I have already paid the full amount for it.

It's a bit of a minefield isn't it - but you will find somewhere eventually, I promise! 

Some hints which *may* help particularly relating to damp.

Keep an eagle eye out for a lot of very fresh paintwork on walls - particularly external walls -  it may be that they have just done the place up nicely, but then again...
Dark colours on outside walls where there are lighter colours on internal ones would ring alarm bells for me. (Darker colours hide spots of damp coming through better)
Pop a hand onto the very bottom of an external wall - push lightly with a finger - does the surface feel "soft" - a bit like pressing a piece of felt? It might be that there has been insulated wallpaper used to deal with damp. 
while you are bent down, think about how it feels - you'd expect a cool surface, but does it feel actively cold? Is there any moisture at all?

On the windows - look for any milkiness to the glass - that could be blown units which will need replacing - also have a look at the gap between the two panes of double glazed - modern ones have a quite sizeable gap, so a smaller gap may indicate older windows. (That said, they might still be perfectly good and effective, but if you bought a place with older windows you'd want to start budgeting for replacing.)

Appreciate your tips! Will keep it in mind. Its just that from last 3 years, I have spent more than £5000 on all these search/legal fees/surveys. The properties looked moderately modern and well maintained. Whenever I pull out , it feels like i am an idiot and totally not cut for this game at all.

Zoyya

Albermarle said:

Zoyya said:

Albermarle said:

He is offering a discount on the next survey in place of providing this written report which will be of no use. I am a FTB (cash purchase), no won't need it for a mortage purpose.

I think you might as well take up his offer of a discount on the next survey.
However I would suggest you tell him what you think a suitable discount might be ( 35%?) and that whatever is agreed, he confirms it by e mail. 

Thanks for the advise. My solicitor actually suggested that I get the detailed written e - report as £100 discount for the next one is not worth it. She said we sometime as FTB do panic on minor things and also tend to forget the important findings in the process. but if there is a written report , we can atleast check the issues with experts if needed and then can decide?

She also mentioned that if I really like the property, rising damp/old windows replacement etc can be solved but Japanese knotweed is an major one. On property Information form, the seller has mentioned 'no' to knotweed. She is surprised that there is nothing on the roof, loft etc.

She said to wait , get the written report and then I can go for a second viewing and if needed third and have a look around again on the findings from report and if confident, then can re negotiate and else just pull out. 

I am so disheartened , I have no energy left. The surveyor said it will take a week for him to write the report and send over!

Your solicitor is correct that FTB's can overreact when they see issues in a survey, and surveyors tend to be a bit over cautious in what they write, so they can not be blamed later for missing something.
However it is not normal that a surveyor actually calls you, and says not to go ahead as there are too many problems.
So whether you get the written report or not, that would be a red flag to me.
The stress of getting it all sorted out when you have no DIY skills or knowledge, will be in a different league from the stress of restarting your house hunt.
The only caveat being is if the house was very cheap.

That is totally true.  A local indepedent surveyor with 50+ experience won't just warn me multiple times to not change my mind even if the vendor reduce it to half of the price.