2-y-o property, valuation enough or survey needed?

maggie1976

I think that probably says it all! We've had an offer accepted on a 2 year old property and the valuation by the mortgage company should be done next week. If you were buying a relatively new property would you get a Homebuyer's Report as well or stick with the valuation? Our IFA has 'off the record' said that the valuation should be sufficient.

The valuation fees are £280 but I'm not sure how much a Homebuyer's Report is. Does anyone know?

This is the first house we've bought that I've been directly involved with (DH bought the last one himself when he was DP and I hadn't moved in yet!) so I'm a bit wet behind the ears.

Any advice much appreciated.

Thanks,

Maggie.

TheDink

The valuation for mortgage purposes is just that - the surveyor has a quick look round the place and tells the mortgage company whether or not it is a safe bet for their money. This should highlight any major issues (subsidence, damp etc) but it will not highlight anything else which could affect your decision to purchase.

You don't have to use the mortgage company's surveyor to do the Homebuyer's Report for you. Get some quotes from other accredited surveyors - our building society appointed surveyor quoted £410 for a hombuyer's report. We paid £350 to someone we found through RICS (http://www.ricsfirms.co.uk/).

It's up to you whether or not you want the survey done - it could give you peace of mind as a house is a huge purchase, but then if it is only 2 years old, it should be to current building regulations, so long as the current owners haven't undertaken any bodge-job DIY.

sneekymum

Has it the benefit of an NHBC guarantee? To be mortgagable it would have to have been built by an NHBC approved builder or have an "Architect's Certificate" or if neither case applies is it covered by a Zurich Insurance Construction Policy - without one of these three you wouldn't be offered a mortgage. This is to protect the lender - not you - of course. So on such a new house - no, I wouldn't bother with any more investigations - but that's just my opinion...

Incidently if it were a garment in a shop and they saw you examining it closely you wouldn't have as much recourse to return the item if you later found it faulty - I wonder to what extent this would apply to a house purchase...

maggie1976

Thanks both of you. Yes, the property has 8 years to run on the NHBC guarantee. We do feel that as it's a lot of money, we'd prefer to play it safe and have the homebuyers report done, which is what we have arranged.I'm not exactly sure what you mean Sneekymum re inspecting a garment closely and therefore not being able to complain/return it if it were later to be found faulty. I can't see how this would apply to a property purchase. Anyway, thanks for the advice.