Homebuyers Survey

We had the one through the mortgage company, and we were told we had to have a buildings survey too as our house is really old and had been converted from 3 flats into one house.

Our house is pretty bog standard end of terrace built in the late eighties, so we didn't bother with a full on survey, Had we been buying something old, or that had had significant work on it, we definitely would have done.

I *think* some insurance companys will up their prices if you DONT have a building survey...either this is a lie that Mr F told us when we bought our house or its true..

We had a survey done on a semi detached that we were looking to buy, not ancient, same age as our flat (80yrs). It turned out the house had major subsidence, and we would never have been able to sell it again without spending about £25k to underpin it and relay foundations. Even without selling, they suspected that the house would become a danger over the next decade or two. There were no obvious signs and it was our dream home - it looked stunning in it's present condition but this movement was all going on underneath.

I know it seems like a daft added expense, but IMO it's just not worth the risk.

We had the homebuyer's report rather than a full structural survey. I wouldn't buy with just the basic mortgage valuation... in many cases they just drive by and don't actually go inside to look!!

Our report has thrown up a few issues, none too major (once we'd got over the size and number of things listed!) which we could use to negotiate on the price or get the vendors to leave some money behind.

It cost a lot of money ☹️, but IMO the cost of not getting some kind of report done could far, far outweigh that...

My friend got a full structural survey done and they managed to miss the fact that the massive tree on the road was slowly pulling the front of their house off. Passed off the cracks in the bay window as settlement.

£12k of spends later they've managed to claim £8k back off the insurance.

Decision made... I'm getting one!

I'm selling my house, and have just had to knock 5 grand off as the survey the buyers had done found damp in the downstairs :-( It's an old terrace so I'm not hugely surprised. So worth getting done for them.

We had a buildings survey done on our new house, as it's old.

I dont post on here very often but I like to help where I can!

I'm a Chartered Building Surveyor and ^^^ this doesnt happen anymore. People now borrowing a higher percentage so a mortgage valuation survey is a lot more thorough than it used to be. A long time ago we did call them 'drive bys' in jest, but they are now full surveys. They will pick up any damp or major structural problems, they wont go into the ins and outs of cause and repair options like a full survey, but this is when you would get a full survey.

If you are buying a house in relatively good condition then I would see what the mortgage valuation survey brings up, and then decide if anything needs further investigation e.g. you could just get a surveyor/specialist to look at something specific. A full survey will still be limited, in that we cant look under the floor, under the ground, cant get up to the roof other than the loft etc. Youi can alway PM with anything that comes up.

Hope that helps. xx

^^^ THis is ridiculous! You always get damp in an old house, I;d think it was odd as a suveyor if I didnt find it. Unless it is really bad I wouldnt knock money off! They have probably been told by a company with vested interest that they need lots of damp treatments which is why they want money off - its tosh! and really makes me mad!

I would go back and ask what they are going to do to miraculously cure the damp with 5K?

Ah that's interesting, thanks for the correction. Ours had enough errors in it that there's no way I'd rely on it for damp or structural problems (it said the flat was above a Chinese takeaway when in fact it's above a dry cleaners... for starters!). Also we agreed our mortgage on a Saturday and the bank valuation was done on a Monday... if you knew our seller and how often he was away you would be suspicious as to how they'd managed to agree access so quickly. It didn't bother us as they agreed the flat was worth what we paid etc, but it said nothing at all about any of the problems our homebuyer's report brought up, just "yes the flat is worth x and there appear to be no problems". I'm not saying they didn't go in, I just have my suspicions is all and wouldn't rely on it or recommend relying on it to others, for the reasons listed. They didn't even pick up on the very obvious cracks around the windows which we could see on a first viewing.

Useful to know.

The house is approx. 50's/60's and the current owners have been there since it has been built, no extensions, just a new kitchen (well it's not new but not the original either!)

I guess I will wait and see what the valutation survey says, that should be requested this week apparently. I might also go back for another visit and start tapping walls!

Our valuation survey picked up on a bit of blown plaster in the flat and the previous seller gave us £100 towards repairs at the request of my solicitor!

I love these questions, because it's something I know about as I work for a surveyors company!

The way we put it to people is, if the property is old, or not of standard construction, it's worthwhile having a building survey.

If the property isn't majorly old, seems fairly ordinary but could have damp/woodworm/abnormal drainage etc, consider a homebuyers report.

If the property is fairly new, and there aren't any visible things to make you worry, you only need a valuation.

Also, you can't have a homebuyers report on a property which is not of standard construction (e.g. prefab, thatched roof etc) or listed.

Ooooh, and having a homebuyer or building survey may add time to the sale. We carry out homebuyer reports generally within 3-4 days of receiving the instruction, the report is sent out 5-7 working days after the survey has been carried out. Building survey's are generally booked for 1-2 weeks after we've been instructed as not all surveyors are qualified to carry them out. Also, they take a long time to write up afterwards, so the report is sent out 7-10 working days after they've been carried out. Valuations are generally booked in within 1-2 days of receiving the instruction, and sent back to the mortgage company within 24 hours.

Hope that helps!