Should they bother with a survey?

brock-cruse

Well my parents have now had an offer accepted on a property. They are now thinking along the lines of type of survey. It is a bungalow in immaculate condition, they are buying it cash so no mortgage involved, Dad is very DIY experienced and really cannot see the point of being told for eg that the big trees in the garden may cause a problem when he can see that for himself!!!! This is also to be their last move. So what should they do? Should they bother at all? They will be commissioning this themselves? Any advice appreciated as usual

sarah_elton

I would NEVER buy a house without a Homebuyers Survey (Full Buildings if it was ancient or had something obviously wrong). Sometimes places have been done up to cover problems!

I knew a couple of who moved over to Wales, and bought a house without a survey. After moving in they discovered it had previously had subsidence and been under-pinned. A survey would have picked this up. Some friends of mine refused to get a survey despite my moaning, and when they moved in the roof was leaking and needed replacing. My mum pulled out of a cash house purchase when she found from the survey that there was some evidence of previous movement.

A Homebuyers should only cost around £500, and is checking out the quality of something they're spending £xxx thousand on. When they come back clear people think they're a waste of money. The one time they pick up a serious fault they're worth their weight in gold. Or rather worth the amount you get knocked off the sale price.

Jorgan_2

How old is the bungalow? If its less than 15 years old, I'd would consider not having one. Over that age then I would have one. I'd also want an electrical check done if it was over 15 years old as well.

Kez100

Down here a house may have mundic block and you wouldn't necessarily know. Makes it worth a lot less as mortgages cannot be generally raised on them. Are they moving into an area they know well? If not, who is to say it's not in a mining area or has a possibility of high radon readings?

Surveys are not just about house condition that the eye can see and a practical man can fix.

Bf109

Mundic block. What is?

PasturesNew

Bf109 wrote: »

Mundic block. What is?

It's a cornish form of concrete cancer.

PasturesNew

You can get a surveyor to give a verbal report cheaper than a full blown written one, I believe.

It is imperative they get the best survey they can afford. If this is to be their house for the rest of their days they are looking at their financial, emotional and psychological well-being for the rest of their lives, through their most vulnerable years. Years that should be enjoyable and care-free.

If house prices fall over the next few years it won't matter to them if they're in a home they love. If they find out they are in a home they hate and they want out of, they'd also take a financial double-whammy to sell it on ... along with the stress and worry leading up to that decision based on what the problem was.

This last purchase they make is more important than any they've made before. When you're young you've got a chance of recovering from an error. You've got a chance of taking many more avenues of choice .... perchance to (over your lifetime) make up any short-term financial loss. When you're buying your last property you're chucking all your eggs in your final one basket.

Lorne

Definitely get a survey! It is money well spent.

U've_been_framed

Find out what a structural engineer will charge. I got a verbal report from an engineer for £75. It had more factual information than a surveyor's report costing £450.

lotto-dreamer

If a survey throws up any potential problems - this can be a bargaining chip for lowering the purchase price if necessary.

When purchasing without a mortgage, a lot of searches as well as a survey would be optional (although not advisable). Your parents do have that flexibility.

But, the difficulty arises when you come to sell because most buyers are purchasing with a mortgage and they are then required to have all the searches etc done. If at that stage anything is revealed then the property could be unsaleable or the price could be drastically reduced because of a problem of which your parents were not aware.

Having said that, surveys are not always foolproof. However, on balance, a survey is a good idea provided it is done competently and particularly as already mentioned for the sake of approx £500 when you are spending a lot of money in the first place.

TBeckett100

we spent 275 extra on a survey and the results got us 7k off the property. deffo worthwhile.

if they are the sort to try on their trousers at M&S before buying them, they should be getting a survey