Would you buy without a homebuyer survey?

[Crunchiedelight]

I’m a ft buyer with my DH and have recently had an offer accepted on our dream house. We are booking the mortgage survey next week, is it necessary to book a homebuyer survey too? DH thinks it’s not necessary at all (he was an ea 13yrs ago for a few yrs) but I’m a bit nervous. The house is about 30yrs old, has been extended and renovated by the current vendors beautifully, they have lived there for 20yrs. It all looks great on the surface to me, is it a waste of time and money?

We've never bothered but we haven't ever brought a proper old house. We had a homebuyers survey done on our property recently, not heard back yet but anything that he saw will be things that our buyers could have/should have seen for themselves. The only thing he did that they didn't was damp test a few rooms but I think it's fairly obvious where properties have a real damp issue just by touching the walls. Also turned the taps on plus flushed the toilet but again you can do that yourself.

I think a homebuyers survey is a waste of money, it tells you VERY basic information that you could deduce yourself.

A full structural survey is definitely worthwhile though. I'd never risk hundreds of thousands for the sake of a few hundred! Yes, you might get away with not having one but the risk is huge if there should turn out to be a hidden serious issue.

If it has been extended, I'd have a full structural survey. How will you react if you subsequently discover the last owner used lower spec RSJs etc.

Not having a survey is fine until something is wrong, then the lack of one could bankrupt you.

@adamandtheaunts boiler would not be tested in a survey nor would water pressure.

I wouldn't get a homebuyers. If you're buying an older property things will need replaced electrics wont be up to date it's part of buying a used item.

My DH works in the building industry we looked at a house which had had quite a lot of alterations on it, he knew immediately some of the work would not meet current building regs. When he asked about the sign off cert by the district surveyor the vendor looked a bit cagey and then admitted he hadn't got one but said it "wouldn't be a problem". My DH knew it would be. If you're not familiar with this kind of stuff and lets face it most of us aren't you need to find out before you purchase not afterwards as it could be costly especially f you ever want sell again in the future.
We're now buying on Scotland the vendor gets one done before putting the house on the market, you read it before viewing, so I've read loads recently, you'd be amazed at the things they pick up in house which on the surface look pretty sound infestation e.g. woodworm seems very common in houses of all ages as do loose slates. I don't now how much one costs but it's money well spent IMO.

Some good advice on here , I too would say if you don’t know anything about building / construction etc then you need to get a professional opinion, more so with old houses. But when surveyors come back and say it’s going to cost x amount of thousands of pounds because you need a new roof it puts people off buying the house, when maybe all it needs is a good roofer a couple of days to repair a few minor problems and the roof is good for another 20 years ☹️

All houses need constant maintenance , it’s part of owning a house.
I think the the only things that would put me off is if the house had previous extensions and not been signed off by building control as completed and if it had cracks on the outside or was leaning ( which I think I would be able to spot )
But I think old houses ( having renovated a couple ) are always going to have extra hidden costs whatever survey is done on them .

Definitely get a survey, there's an epidemic of people neglecting maintenance while keeping houses superficially pristine. We nearly bought a house that looked like a show home but the roof needed replacing (and clearly had for some time).

We bought our 1880s terrace without one. We were first time buyers and really up against it financially. It's worked out fine but I wouldn't do it again. As pp's have said it's a couple of 100 vs several thousand. I do think finding a good person are company is hard though from family experiences.

My friend had one done and the guy missed out loads of things because he hadn't got a ladder. Just a thought but maybe bring one

But when surveyors come back and say it’s going to cost x amount of thousands of pounds because you need a new roof it puts people off buying the house, when maybe all it needs is a good roofer a couple of days to repair a few minor problems and the roof is good for another 20 years

Or maybe the roof does in fact need doing, costing thousands, in which case you've just discovered that the house is overpriced? It's an unnecessary risk to take for the sake of a few hundred pounds.

Life's full of maybe's 😀

I belive most surveys are just a tool for the buyer to use as a bargaining chip to get the price lower. If it's a serious fault, that's fine but most flag up just basic maintence work that owning a house is part and parcel of .
I've had buyers surveys flag up problems , when they simply dont exist.

I belive most surveys are just a tool for the buyer to use as a bargaining chip to get the price lower. If it's a serious fault, that's fine but most flag up just basic maintence work that owning a house is part and parcel of.

That's possibly true, but surely a really good argument to get one as a buyer! Houses don't all need the same amount of maintenance at point of purchase so it isn't just a standard cost to accept, it's massively dependent on how well the previous owner has maintained the house (and some luck) - why should you pay the same for a house if the owner hasn't bothered doing maintenance and now the cost of it will fall on you?

I do think there's an argument for something like the Scottish system where the survey is done and available before a purchase price is agreed, rather than as part of a negotiation midway through - it seems less emotionally fraught for everyone.

I've never had a survey on a house I've bought. If you are concerned about the structure of the building pay a structural engineer to do a structural survey. Last time I had one of these it cost £300. The report flagged the issues and said how to fix them.

[quote AldiAisleofCrap]@Mumofwho I had to read your post three times to work our that you were being serious. Drive by valuations are an extremely common way for financial institutions to value properties. Did you really think they viewed each and everyone inside?[/quote]
They really aren't.

Either a physical valuation will take place, where a surveyor appointed by the bank will visit the property for a quick inspection, probably only be at the property for 15-20mins.

Or in cases where the bank deem the risk to be low, where LTV amount is a low %, a desktop valuation might take place. This will be when available data (Rightmove/Google earth and street view/Land Registy price history) is analysed to confirm the agreed price is sensible, or at least reassures the bank they have enough security if someone decides to stop paying their mortgage!

I think a drive-by is considered a variety of desktop valuation? They're definitely a thing - try googling. Either way, the point is that you can't rely on a lender valuation to tell if there are major problems with the house. From my experience I'm not sure you'd necessarily even know if the lender had done a physical or a desktop valuation? I don't remember being told either time we bought a house.

Thanks for your tip on Googling, I'll bear it in mind. However, as I run my own firm of estate agents I do have a little more insight than some.

Have bought twice without a survey. So, answer is yes, I would.

But it would depend on the property, area etc.

@Mildura

Thanks for your tip on Googling, I'll bear it in mind. However, as I run my own firm of estate agents I do have a little more insight than some.

So you're saying that, for instance, Which is just lying when they say this is a common practice? Do you think you should tell them?

Surely you wouldn't get a mortgage?

So you're saying that, for instance, Which is just lying when they say this is a common practice? Do you think you should tell them?

It is my experience that drive-by valuations are rare, and not something that I would describe as common practice. It simply doesn't take very long for a physical mortgage valuation to take place, if the surveyor has gone to the effort of being actually outside the house it makes sense to go in.

Where the bank considers the loan low risk, and this almost always means a low LTV, a desktop vlauaion becomes a more likely possibility.

@serialreturner

Surely you wouldn't get a mortgage?

It would be unusual for a mortgage lender to insist on a homebuyers or buildings survey to be carried out before approving a mortgage offer.

In such instances it would be because something concerning was spotted when a mortgage valuation took place.

@Chumleymouse

Life's full of maybe's 😀

I belive most surveys are just a tool for the buyer to use as a bargaining chip to get the price lower. If it's a serious fault, that's fine but most flag up just basic maintence work that owning a house is part and parcel of .
I've had buyers surveys flag up problems , when they simply dont exist.

Yeah, last house I sold their surveyor said there were some roof tiles missing (I think it was one missing and one broken) and that the roof would need replacing in five to ten years. Buyers wanted something like ten thousand pounds off.

I said no. I got my roofer friend to come and replace the two broken tiles and he confirmed the roof was good. Any roof might need replacing in five to ten years!

They also spotted a blown pane in a double glazed window and wanted to use that to negotiate on move dates, it cost me £20 to have replaced. It was tiny.

Conversely my survey when I moved into that house said the chimney needed repointing. I lived there twelve years and never had it done but my buyer's survey didn't mention it.

Assuming rogue behaviour is common for a profession is interesting. If a small proportion of rogue doctors choose not to see patients or only give them a cursory glance would it be fair to say their behaviour is common practice?

People take calculated risks all the time and hope they’re not caught out by it. Many people do not take out pet insurance, contents insurance, or insure valuable property. The probability of some of these risks materialising is small. In some cases like structural issues with homes the probability of something unseen going wrong is high given the age of most of the housing stock.

Each to his/her own in terms of deciding what risk to bear.

@Mumofwho

Sorry to disappoint you, however what I stated was the absolute truth. Things are very different now after the 2008 crash which was at least partially a result of dubious mortgage lending by some institutions. However, I can assure tou that when dh worked for a big financial organisation, he absolutely was asked to carry out valuation surveys in exactly the manner described. I also have a copy of the bank valuation survey for the house we live in. It was carried out by another employee who happened to live in the same road. It was called a survey, when in reality it was a walk by to verify the property existed and was in keeping with the street. There are indeed strict regulations these days, and rightly so, but this was definitely the case at that time.
I am not a liar.