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Property/DIY

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Original poster

Would you bother with a house buyers survey...or...

13 replies

shockedballoon · 26/05/2017 09:54

...just get a known and trusted electrician (niceic approved etc) and plumber (gas safe registered) to check it out?

We have had offer accepted on a 1939 semi detached property. In getting our house sale ready we had work done by the above people who came on recommendations and we were very happy with.

The house we are buying hasn't had anything structural done to it other than adding on a conservatory, which we will be getting rid of anyway to extend to a dining kitchen. It seems to be a well loved well presented home, owners are downsizing.

What would a house buyers survey add? They are not cheap at a time when you just seem to haemorrhage cash.

Thoughts?

OP posts:

madcatwoman61 · 26/05/2017 10:01

It covers more than the plumbing and electrics. It may highlight issues which you had not considered and might be a deal breaker - this happened with my DD and they pulled out thankfully. It's a lot cheaper than buying a house with expensive structural issues

TheFaerieQueene · 26/05/2017 10:11

If you require a mortgage, you might not have a choice.

JT05 · 26/05/2017 10:17

Yes, although they are full of caveats they can highlight costly issues, particularly in an older house.
Thinking about roof, rotten floors etc.

Original poster

shockedballoon · 26/05/2017 10:30

We are moving with no mortgage but will be mortgaging at some point in the future to fund the extension.
That appears to be a resounding yes then doesn't it
it's all so bloody expensive isn't it.

OP posts:

Maggy74653 · 26/05/2017 15:03

I didn't for the house I own now. I found they only told us stuff that was fairly obvious anyway.

flownthecoopkiwi · 26/05/2017 16:02

we didn't, although did get the electrics and boiler checked and some cracks checked by a specialist.

We also worked on the fact that the house had only been bought 18 months before and they had done work to the roof and windows etc so had addressed the big issues

thenewaveragebear1983 · 26/05/2017 17:01

We did. Not for mortgage purposes or to knock down the price, but just for an independent overview of the house. We learned a lot that the EA had told us incorrectly (eg it's not s combi boiler, the extension is not earthed, the loft hatch had been moved which has 'trapped' the water tanks in the loft behind a wall (which we didn't even think of because we were told it was a combi boiler etc etc)

It helped us to budget for our first 6 months immediate work, it encouraged the vendor to pay for elec and gas safety checks, and it gave us peace of mind that certain things were able to wait a few months/years.

Lilmisskittykat · 26/05/2017 17:17

As a seller my buyer has just paid for a home buyers survey that I was present for.

I was surprised how little he looked at, measured up, looked in loft, quick peep in electrical cabinet, made me think twice about paying for it. if anything go for a full survey if you want peace of mind.

On an interesting note my buyers now want to re look at the house as a result of said survey... Very curious about what the concerns are seeing as he looked at very little. I'll find out next week no doubt

RandomlyGenerated · 26/05/2017 22:28

The homebuyers survey done on my house was incredibly basic, got things wrong that had to be corrected and missed a number of other things. It was basically a tick box exercise.

If you're keen on an alternative I would suggest taking along a good builder to look over the property along with the electrical and gas checks.

CakeThat · 26/05/2017 22:30

The survey will look for structural problems, test in all rooms for damp, check in loft for woodworm, rot, leaks etc etc, all of which would be much more costly to rectify than just plumbing and electrics. A house from 1939 is nearly 80 years old, it could have all kinds of problems!

viques · 26/05/2017 22:36

When you buy a dress do you just grab the first one you like the look of off the rack or do you check that it is your size, that it fits, that you can afford it and that it doesn't have badly stitched seams or a wonky zip?
If you can be bothered to do that for a £40 dress it makes sense to do it for the most expensive thing you are ever going to buy .

Of course the difference is that if a dress does have a fault that you only spot later you can take it back to the shop for a refund.

tiba · 27/05/2017 09:03

We bought a renovation project which needed full gutting anyway so didn't bother with full survey,

Had homebuyers survey at requirement of mortgage.

60 or so pages of nothing of use.

fabulousathome · 27/05/2017 10:03

I would always have a full structural survey. We pulled out of buying a property, a flat in a medium sized block, as the surveyor pointed out large cracks at the other side of the block which would be expensive to fix. We hadn't seen them.

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