Homebuyers Report - to get or not to get

[RosiePosies]

Hi,

We have just had an offer accept on a house and everything is moving quite quickly - no chain either end and we are looking to complete within 8 weeks (we are also due a baby in 8 weeks so may be slightly mad)

The house is 25 years old and in a very large cul de sac of similar houses.

We could really do without the £400 of a homebuyers report. The house isn't that old, is beautifully looked after and we have seen it twice and see no signs of any problems.

Would it be really stupid not to get the report done? One minute I think we could easily just go round with a checklist and make sure it's all ok, and then the next I think just get a professional in as maybe we don't know exactly what we're looking for.

Am feeling very torn - saving £400 would really help us with a new baby!

I would get a homebuyers report.

Are you in rented accommodation? If so, don’t hand in your notice until you have exchanged.

Imo the survey will just be a list of things you know will need doing at some point but won't get round to til it's obvious they need doing anyway. We skipped it in the theory a mortgage company wouldn't lend if the building wasn't structurally sound anyway.

It would be interesting to know how much of the repair work ppl have undertaken that was listed in the report in the first place.

I would also ask yourself what would it have to say for you not to buy the house in the first place. When we bought our we knew it would need a lot of work doing from outset anyway

Just an update - we got the homebuyers report done. After doing some research we decided to go with an independent local guy and he's been great. The report is really good and we're actually quite glad we got it done as we know what will need sorting in the future etc. He actually gave us a lot of really good advice as well.

I think the answer is to go with someone local rather than a massive company 👍🏻

Please that ended well. Sometimes even a homebuyer's report can give you a negotiating position and pay for itself. It's true they can be lightweight and heavily caveated, but you're still buying a slice of someone else's insurance and most surveyors that do the work are experienced, even if they're under pressure to spend a minimum of time in the property. If they're helpful individuals (as your one seems to be) they can still give good advice - it's the big firms that press people to turn the paperwork around in half an hour where you get the least help..

I really wouldn't take the risk as there are all sorts of things that could go wrong that you may not be able to spot.

I'm sure the last thing you want to do is spend extra money on top of the survey costs, but there's a type of insurance called "Home Buyer's Insurance" which costs £69 (one-off payment) and covers the costs of the survey and other fees you've paid so far if anything goes wrong and the sale falls through. Might be worth thinking about.

Here's the link: bit.ly/2Uk9zuI