To survey or not to survey? Anyone not done it?

[Finbar]

House is only 6 years old. One set of owners; no extensions etc done. Mains electricity, gas , water etc.
Do we really need to have one done?
we are in the brill position that we don't need a mortgage - so no need to have one done for that.

Love to hear your opinions/experiences
Thank you

[holeinmyheart]

The last house we bought, we didn't have a survey on it. We sold it in Oct and the buyer had a survey that was fine, so we were exonerated. It was a Victorian terrace.
Look at the roof through binoculars, look at the ceilings, do local searches for flooding in the area and mining. Open the cupboard under the sink and look at the wall. Damp travels to one metre. Check the boiler. Has it been serviced regularity and ask to see the records. It will be a big expense if it fails. The boiler in my house is serviced every year.

Speak to the neighbours and assess them. Horrible neighbours can ruin a move. Search for crime stats for the location.

But the house you propose buying is only 6 years old. It must still be under guarantee.

[lalalonglegs]

I never have them done because I tend to buy total dumps that will need everything done to them - so far, I haven't been bitten on the bum by any really bad problems. Often surveys can be so covered in caveats that they are almost useless. I did used to use an independent surveyor though who was (a) much cheaper than one provided by the bank (b) would write the usual report but would also go through it with me so he could untangle the important stuff from the by-the-by stuff. I think he was worth the outlay but I'm not convinced by the ones who just say: "May be evidence of xxx, get a specialist for further investigation."

[Etak15]

I would get one done it cost us about £450 but the outcome helped to get us £7500 extra off the price. Our house is 90 yrs old though not 6!

[specialsubject]

hmmm. Surveyors can be useless and are very hard to sue if they cock up; but if (perish the thought) the house gets the big one, subsidence, you may have insurance claim problems if you didn't have a survey.

I agree that you need to ensure that you get what you pay for - surveyors don't check electrics and are not gas-safe, but apart from that they should check everything.

[RaphaellaTheSpanishWaterDog]

We haven't had surveys done on the last three houses we've purchased - all without getting a mortgage and each one a wreck (one unmortgageable) of 150+ years old.

That said, we are seasoned renovators and as the houses require everything doing, we can pretty much see what's what. The first two of these houses we resold three/four years later and on both occasions our buyers had surveys carried out with no issues found.

I'm another one that doesn't have much faith in surveys/surveyors as we've previously been at the receiving end of a surveyor's cock ups

Buying a house that's only six years old I definitely wouldn't bother, but that's just mho.......