Buyers not having a survey?

Dancerinthedark01 · 2021-10-28T12:09:14+00:00

Is this odd? Our house is somewhat falling apart. Damp walls. Rotten roofs etc It’s just been underpinned due to major building works going on next door. We do have planning permission ourselves to extend and rejig our house. But because of rising building costs decided to scrap that and move instead. With all this in mind, is it strange that our buyers are not going to have a survey done? Perhaps they are planning to knock it down and start again?

LawnFever · 28/10/2021 13:11

It’s odd but I guess they’re accepting it needs loads of work so don’t want to bother paying someone to tell them what they already know?

nordica · 28/10/2021 13:12

Is the buyer a developer or a cash buyer? Or perhaps in general planning major works in any case. I assume the price reflects the condition.

If the problems are obvious then maybe they've decided it's not worth paying for a survey to tell them what they already know. I always think the main purpose of a survey is to tell me about anything I can't see myself.

GiantKitten · 28/10/2021 13:15

fwiw, when our neighbour’s house was sold years ago, the buyers apparently asked a local builder what he thought & he said oh, the houses on that road are solid as a rock, don’t bother getting a survey done.
There are multiple short rows of Victorian stone-faced terraces on this road, all built at different times by different people! 🤷🏼‍♀️
So they didn’t bother & regretted it (sold a few years later for much less than they’d paid) - our former neighbour was thrilled & relieved, as there was some serious damp.
Yours may be similar. Don’t sweat it. Caveat emptor!

Finfintytint · 28/10/2021 13:16

We didn’t bother with a full structural survey once. We knew the whole house needed a lot of work. The mortgage company didn’t insist as we were putting mostly cash into it.

lastqueenofscotland · 28/10/2021 13:18

If they are cash buyers planning to do loads of work I’d be more surprised if they did bother! It’s just another several hundred pounds to tell them what they probably already know.

Original poster

Dancerinthedark01 · 28/10/2021 13:19

@nordica

Is the buyer a developer or a cash buyer? Or perhaps in general planning major works in any case. I assume the price reflects the condition.

If the problems are obvious then maybe they've decided it's not worth paying for a survey to tell them what they already know. I always think the main purpose of a survey is to tell me about anything I can't see myself.

No not at all. It’s a mum and daughter. The price is high I think. Normal asking price for a decent house this size.

I’ve probably made it sound worse than it is. Our house is not dilapidated. But 20 ish other people saw this house and didn’t make an offer on the grounds that too much work needed to be done.

We haven’t covered anything up. The damp and holes in walls and cracks and holes in floor etc It’s all really obvious.

OP posts:

Original poster

Dancerinthedark01 · 28/10/2021 13:20

And they’re getting a massive mortgage.

OP posts:

minniemoll · 28/10/2021 13:22

I didn't have a survey on my current house, and my buyers didn't on the house I was selling (no mortgages involved). My builder looked at this one, and said he couldn't see any problems - I was planning on having a lot of work done anyway, so a survey would just have been more money to spend. My buyers were an older couple who'd had several houses in the past, and seemed happy to chance it.

Bobsyer · 28/10/2021 13:34

There isn’t a hope in hell their lender will lend them money without a survey. They just won’t.

Do they mean a structural survey? Or something in addition to what the lender does? That’s fine. On their head be it.

snowspider · 28/10/2021 13:44

We didn't have a survey done as didn't expect it to tell us much we didn't already know about lots of work needing doing, and surveys rarely tell you a great deal beyond what can be seen and surmised by an experienced or searching eye. However, it could be that further down the track they get the fear and take a builder round/do a survey and find out they were naive about costs.

lastqueenofscotland · 28/10/2021 13:52

The mortgage company will do their own survey the buyers don’t get to decide that!

Mildura · 28/10/2021 15:13

There isn’t a hope in hell their lender will lend them money without a survey. They just won’t

The mortgage company will do their own survey the buyers don’t get to decide that!

The mortgage company will almost certainly arrange for a valuation to take place, and it is possible that during the valuation (which normally only takes about 20-30mins at the property) observations are made that mean the lender will request further inspections of certain areas.

But, it is unusual for a lender to insist on a survey prior to a mortgage being approved.

TizerorFizz · 28/10/2021 16:14

“Further inspections” are, in effect surveys! They might want a structural report for example. Details of the extent of the damp. The buyers risk not getting the mortgage they want. This could be a long process and lots of haggling.

SecondClassmyass · 28/10/2021 16:45

I have only had this where the buyer was a ‘professional house flipper’ or someone who has bought and renovated a house many times before. They come, asses things, they know and see there is a lot of work, they know the survey won’t show any more problems than they already can see, and they usually pay cash. They don’t have the survey to save time, not money. So it’s a strange one with your buyers. I think they probably don’t know how much work is involved but perhaps fell in love with your house?

Bessiebigpants · 28/10/2021 16:51

We didn’t get a survey on the house we are currently renovating and living in we knew it was a money pit and as such we paid a good price and didn’t bother paying for a survey The people that pulled out of the sale before us had a survey and actually shared it with us for half the price afterwards That survey was useless despite the cost and highlighted the obvious but,failed to pick up on some pretty spectacular faults.so surveys are not the be all and end all! Saying that it allowed the previous buyers to understand what they were letting themselves in for and costs so in that respect served it’s purpose

TizerorFizz · 28/10/2021 17:28

Depends who does the survey! Lots of surveyors run scared of roofs sagging, structural issues and other faults they have insufficient expertise to know about in detail. So a standard survey of a very dilapidated house isn’t worth paying for. But if you are keeping the house you might like to know if there is heave, subsidence, roof timbers undersized, evidence of walls being taken out or chimney breasts removed without appropriate support. So appoint a person who is qualified to tell you that. It’s the money pit items!

Mildura · 29/10/2021 10:47

@TizerorFizz

“Further inspections” are, in effect surveys! They might want a structural report for example. Details of the extent of the damp. The buyers risk not getting the mortgage they want. This could be a long process and lots of haggling.

My point was that mortgage lenders don't routinely insist on a survey being carried out, only a valuation.

felledoak · 29/10/2021 11:26

We didn't get a survey but previous experience told us they weren't worth it. The basic surveys don't pick up issues you can't already see 9 times out of 10.
Sort of regretted it as there's a chance it might have picked up a specific issue we did miss (although we'll never know!).
If they are desperate to buy they might not want to know the issues / accept they'll deal with them anyway.

TakeYourFinalPosition · 29/10/2021 11:52

There isn’t a hope in hell their lender will lend them money without a survey. They just won’t.

I’ve never needed a survey for a mortgage. They do a valuation - mostly desktop, in my experience, but I’ve had one physical one; it took about five minutes.

But they’ve never asked if we’ve done a survey, or to see one.

TizerorFizz · 29/10/2021 13:16

This house has been underpinned which will show up on building regs. A desk top survey should find this. In addition the purchase price is said by the vendor to be high. This also might trigger a survey of the actual property.

I would say to the OP to make certain their solicitor is aware no survey has been done and this is communicated to the buyers solicitor. Just to cover any arguments later!

Bobsyer · 30/10/2021 09:19

@TakeYourFinalPosition

There isn’t a hope in hell their lender will lend them money without a survey. They just won’t.

I’ve never needed a survey for a mortgage. They do a valuation - mostly desktop, in my experience, but I’ve had one physical one; it took about five minutes.

But they’ve never asked if we’ve done a survey, or to see one.

Valuation and survey used interchangeably which is why i also added Do they mean a structural survey? Or something in addition to what the lender does? That’s fine. On their head be it

Starseeking · 30/10/2021 10:53

My buyers didn't bother with a survey when I sold my house earlier this year. Slightly different situation though as they were cash buyers, so there was nobody to insist on one. In addition, my house was Edwardian, so over 100 years old, structurally sound and modernised so they could in effect move straight in.

Your buyers may be planning to do a lot of building work, and given that will cost them a lot of money, they probably think it's wasted cash to commission a report to tell them what they already know.

The bank or building society will carry out a basic valuation, and not a full survey, during which they will assess whether the house is worth the money being paid got it, in the event that the mortgagee defaults on payments and they need to sell.

The only risk for you here is whether the house is overpriced given the amount of work needed. Consider how much a fully modernised house of a similar size in your area would go for.

If it's less than the price of your house plus modernisation works, the bank may not be willing to give them the full mortgage they are seeking. If that happens, your buyers will either have to:

find the extra themselves
ask you for a reduction in price
pull out of the purchase

HazelandChacha · 30/10/2021 10:58

We didn’t get a survey.

The house we bought is a wreck. We knew it was a wreck and couldn’t have afforded it if it wasn’t. Lots of other people viewed but didn’t buy because of the amount of work that needed doing.
We just needed a detached we could afford to get away from noisy semi neighbours. We chose not to get a survey because it probably would have put us off & we figured we would just deal with the consequences & would be happier than staying living next door to them.

NewHouseNewMe · 30/10/2021 12:28

I would worry that they're not serious. You've mentioned underpinning and I should think this would raise red flags, presuming they are aware. If they're not aware I'd worry it would fall apart when the solicitor tells them.
They must be doing a valuation report for the mortgage and may think it'll flag up serious issues but of course it won't.
I'd be concerned this could fall through.

vickyc90 · 30/10/2021 15:18

We aren't bothering we know the house is structurally okay ish, the roof needs work, 90% of the internal walls are coming down, husband is already planning his rewire, I'll be happy if the boiler turns on!

When you know your buying a project that £700 doesn't really mean much as if they couldn't see the issue it doesn't cover you, so we just did a few viewing looked for cracks etc then commuted