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Original poster

Is a home buyers survey worth it? (£800)

37 replies

SoftlyCatchyMonkey1 · 15/04/2018 18:26

It's a 30 year old house. All the other searches have come back fine. My dad and brother in law have had a look at the house and determined there's no evidence of damp / rot / subsidence etc (I trust them)

£800 is a lot of money to us. I'm thinking if there's no evidence of any deal breaking problems then to just leave the survey.

What do you lovely mumsnetters think?

OP posts:
Mosaic123 · 15/04/2018 18:31

We paid just less than £1k for a full structural survey on a 4 bed house in East London in Summer 2017. £800 seems pricey.

We didn't end up buying the house, partly due to issues highlighted in the survey.

Everywhichway2018 · 15/04/2018 18:33

That seems alot. We paid 300 for our homebuyers added on to our mortgage valuation. Could you do this?

For us it was worth every penny, we walked away from our sale based on it's findings.

pigshavecurlytails · 15/04/2018 18:33

Full structural survey. Anyone who buys a house without one is an idiot. Are your dad and BIL surveyors?

APermanentlyExhaustedPigeon · 15/04/2018 18:37

Honestly, get a proper (full) survey. It shows up so many issues you may not have known about otherwise. Gives you the option to pull out before you lose any more money, or potentially some recourse to the surveyor if later issues arise that should have been picked up.

Original poster
SoftlyCatchyMonkey1 · 15/04/2018 18:38

@pigs no they're not surveyors, just practical men who've bought a few houses and know what to look for.

I'm thinking we should pay the money

OP posts:
MillStone · 15/04/2018 18:38

mine was a bit of a waste of time. It just listed everything that needed doing which was glaringly obvious.

Shortly after I was also sent a copy of the mortgage valuation which stated there was no structural problems.

In retrospect I would not have got a HB survey ... however if I bought a new house tomorrow ... I probably would.

Is £800 a lot!? 6 months ago mine was £420.

letsdolunch321 · 15/04/2018 18:39

I paid £650.00 for a full survey to find the property has £20,000. of damp. Usually I am very aware of smells on this occassion on viewing this property I didn’t smell anything like damp.

Of course I was angry by this report but the sellers would not back down so I pulled out of that property. I paid the same surveyors to survey my current house - all was fine.

It may be a big outlay but it could save you lots of money.

SilverHairedCat · 15/04/2018 18:40

Full structural survey. Always. I didn't do that in my first flat and what an expensive mistake that turned out to be.

Chickencellar · 15/04/2018 18:45

I'd get a full survey done by a small local firm . Well worth highlighting bits that maybe out of the scope of diyers.

Easilyflattered · 15/04/2018 19:24

Just paid 660 for a full building survey on a four bedroom house.

My buyers had a homebuyers survey done, the surveyor was only here half an hour so I'm not convinced they got their money's worth.

pupchewsleg · 15/04/2018 19:33

No. They don't look that deeply anyway. We had problems that hadn't been picked up on the survey in our first house. After that we just look super carefully (going loft with torch etc) ourselves. I have bought several houses and not regretted not having a survey.

pupchewsleg · 15/04/2018 19:36

Pigs - the majority of investors (people who buy houses for a living) would not pay for a survey. Are they all idiots?

Summerlovinghappenedsofast · 15/04/2018 19:41

Ours was £800 a few months ago.
He was very good and thorough. He turned taps on and looked into drains to make sure they were draining properly, he went into the loft, he commented on the state of carpets and bathroom suites etc.
He went into the loft and sent us photo evidence of this.
He even told us about a dodgy sliding door which came off of its tracks when you opened it.
He stated things that I hadn’t thought of, like garden fences were being propped up in places behind the flower beds so would need replacing soon.
I think it was money well spent.

pigshavecurlytails · 15/04/2018 19:43

@pupchewsleg yes. In my opinion. It's a huge purchase, to do it effectively blind is daft. Different of course if you have the specialist knowledge yourself.

TookyClothespin · 15/04/2018 19:45

We didn't have a survey on our first house. Did have one on our current house and have had one done on the house we're moving to.
Never regretted not getting a survey on 1st home.
Survey on current house picked up some issues, but also valued house lower than agreed purchase price so allowed us to renegotiate.
Survey on house we're buying didn't pick up anything my dad hadn't already noticed.

Survey done by buyers of current house unfortunately caused our buyers to pull out. I've actually complained to the survey company as there are things on there which are factually incorrect.

Pros and cons to both, in your situation I possibly wouldn't bother.

Silvertap · 15/04/2018 19:48

I paid for a homebuyers survey on my first house. Complete waste of money. He walked around for half an hour and didn't touch a thing. I can see as well as him.

Since then I've either had a full structural survey (on older houses with potential issues) or none (last 30 years, built on an estate type house with lots of neighbours selling/buying).

Original poster
SoftlyCatchyMonkey1 · 15/04/2018 20:14

Thanks everyone for your comments. Very helpful

OP posts:
Squirreltamer · 15/04/2018 22:18

“It might be worth getting a full structural survey, but it might not. I would suggest getting a specialist to check if you really do need a structal survey”

Is what a lot of surveyor reports would read if you asked them this question.

Mine was absolutely useless. Lots of obviously issues which need addressing missed and 90% filler.

But yes do get one!

But get a local trusted firm with reviews/recommendations not a firm which have been subcontracted by the bank.

TerfsUp · 15/04/2018 22:22

Mine was useless but I'm glad I had it done.

missperegrinespeculiar · 18/04/2018 15:20

yes, we walked away from a property recently because of the findings, and got a discount on asking price on the property we just bought because of the survey (plus, we know of problems that need fixing which may have become serious if unaddressed)

ChiaraRimini · 17/09/2018 14:11

my lender (Halifax) wants a extra £800 for a homebuyers report on a mid terrace house built less than 20 years ago. this seems extortionate to me. Is it worth trying to get a separate one from a local surveyor?

Alexalee · 17/09/2018 14:43

Yes... hi.ebuyers shouldn't be more than 3-400... full surveys are 600+

Ariela · 17/09/2018 15:17

I'd get nothing less than a full structural survey. This should throw up anything that is cause for concern, it also gives you comeback if something that is a problem was not spotted at the survey, and also lends more weight if you need to lower your offer based on the survey's findings.
I wouldn't bother with a homebuyers survey, that's just for the mortgage company's satisfaction.

alc3254 · 17/09/2018 15:40

As mentioned there can be quite a difference in the quality of the survey so best to pick a company with good reviews. My preference is always to go with your own surveyor rather than one organised via a mortgage company. Speak to the surveyor before and after. For £800 I would expect a survey with bells and whistles...or at least annotated photos and a one to one after the fact.

Iamonlyhumanme · 17/09/2018 20:19

I paid £900 for a full structural survey which came back as saying ‘Don’t go near it, you’re looking at £25k to make it safe. I was even afraid to flush the toilet because the sewage is backing up due to the septic tank being blocked’.

That puts it into perspective.