Has anyone bought a property without a survey?

[Lovegaultier]

I am buying a property which is 12 years old and in immaculate condition. I have been quoted £400 for a basic survey. I know the surveyor will only comment on what they see so will Recommend I check out heating, gas and electric separately. I was thinking of not bothering with a survey if it's not going to throw up something serious eg damp.

Any thoughts?

My concern would be the big one - subsidence. Guessing no survey, no insurance .

I still think it is worth it - how much is the house?

I have a relative who bought a house without a survey. Turns out it needed underpinning, cost around 25K (and this was many years ago). It looked perfectly okay. It was not many years old either. Always have a survey.

It is the biggest purchase of your life.

For the sake of it I would always get a survey done

Yep and roof leaked for eight years and freeholder wouldn't repair it properly.

It may look immaculate. (Decoration mainly!) You can't tell there are no structural or legal issues around the property.
Also if you aren't a cash buyer won't the mortgage company insist?

I bought my house without a survey. Well, except the lender's survey - would you still be having one of those or will you have no mortgage? I just never got round to organising it, and I could clearly see the damp course, new windows, new bay window roof felts etc. so felt reasonably confident.

I did regret it though as over the years every single plaster crack would scare the bejesus out of me and I'd convince myself the house was falling down... It wasn't of course, it was just that feeling that I'd made a foolish decision haunting me.

A couple years ago I paid for a full survey prior to starting some remodeling and actually it only confirmed everything I already knew about the house, but i felt so much better that those assessments were on the head of a professional and not me!

Yes, twice.

You are better off getting a builder to look at it and having an electrical survey in my opinion.

I am.selling at the moment. We have got up to exchange twice, so have seen 2 surveys.

There was not one single issue that was on both surveys. There were no major issues on either, but the minor issues were totally different.

One of them suggested ripping out the kitchen to check for damp. And said the conservatory should be removed as 'it will be too hot in the summer and too cold in the winter'. It faces north and has a radiator in it. It's the same temperature as The other rooms in the house. The buyer pulled out because of this, because she trusted the surveyor implicitly.

No mortgage.

I'm glad I started this thread as I think I will go for it now.

My DH is a Structural Engineer and he did it for a newly renovated building where we were buying a flat.

Subsidence is very obvious - cracks on the outside! Big ones. I would not get a builder to look at it. I think you can check over a newish house like a surveyor would. Be highly observant and open cupboards, run taps, look for cracks, do windows and doors open properly, check roof tiles all there, ask for plans for any extension etc.

This house will not be covered by the NHBC guarantee but you can insure the house without a survey.

Yes - although I'm an engineer so know what I'm looking for with subsidence, and the house is only a few years old and still under NHBC warranty. No issues with insurance.

Having seen houses with obvious signs of movement which the surveyor didn't pick up on home buyers surveys, I am a little sceptical of the value of a basic survey. For an older property I would be tempted to go for a full structural survey.

Yes, but my H is a surveyor!

Had two done on previous purchases and told me nothing useful. Didn't get one this time and haven't had any issues.

Nope every survey possible done - think of it as saving money in the long run x

I had HomeBuyer survey done. Chose a recommended surveyor and had good lot of issues raised but without making mountains out of molehills. Had it been by a more generic surveyor from one of these Internet advertising companies it would have been cheaper but more general and I would have expected all sorts of caveats. For instance instead of recommending an electrical survey our surveyor explained what current electric set up was and why a rewire is necessary as a result.

Yes and the the chimney in the loft was balancing on a couple of bricks which would have killed someone if it had fallen down! Also the roof was not stable and equally very dangerous but this house is a lot older than 12 years.

We didn't get a survey apart from the standard one from the mortgage company. The only concern was subsidence which didn't seem evident and the mortgage company later confirmed the same. We were in the opposite situation though - we could see the damp, the rot, the fact that the whole place was a disaster and needed complete renovation! I didn't want to pay extra money for someone to tell me the bleeding obvious.