Buying a house with no survey.

Sean2001 · 2021-10-28T22:16:30+00:00

We're buying a house all cash (including the sale of the house we're selling). The house we're buying is solid and perfect. The owners have lived there 18 years. It looks strong and fine. Are we mad to not have a survey? And if you think we are - which kind of survey should we have done?

FlyingSoHigh · 28/10/2021 23:17

Yep, you're mad.

GreenLunchBox · 28/10/2021 23:26

All the survey's I've had are arse-covering exercises not worth the paper they're written on. The only useful thing was the rebuilding cost for insurance purposes

maofteens · 28/10/2021 23:30

I'm mixed on surveys - but I'd never buy a property without a builder friend coming to view it. It's irrelevant how long the people have lived there or what it looks like. It could be hiding all sorts of issues. If you don't know enough yourself get a full structural survey. It will at the very least reassure you, but most likely point out maintenance issues you need to be aware of, at the worst hidden problems like damp etc.

YerAWizardHarry · 28/10/2021 23:33

Absolutely mental. We bought a house with a survey (although it’s not a “full” survey but rather a basic one all sellers have to carry out in Scotland) and our “solid” house has been an absolutely ball ache. Think complete new heating system and electrical rewire ball ache..

GreenLunchBox · 28/10/2021 23:40

@YerAWizardHarry

Absolutely mental. We bought a house with a survey (although it’s not a “full” survey but rather a basic one all sellers have to carry out in Scotland) and our “solid” house has been an absolutely ball ache. Think complete new heating system and electrical rewire ball ache..

So not mental then. Your survey didn't help you

MrsBobDylan · 28/10/2021 23:44

In most instances, a survey is worth doing. We had one done on a house which needed the roof doing and the hot water tank was about to fall through the beams. We pull out of that sale as it was economically unviable.

The house we are in now we didn't bother. But, my electrician came to have a look and my BiL who is a builder, so we knew what we were dealing with and what the work would cost us.

We are buying a flat next which is in a similar state to this house and again, electrician has been round and BiL, so no hidden surprises.

In your case, I would be highly suspicious that the house looks perfect and the owners have been there a long time. People tend to do work straight after they move in and a lot can go wrong in 18 years...

FortunesFavour · 28/10/2021 23:46

Honestly don’t do it. Of course the sellers and estate agents will tell you it’s perfect, that’s their job. You will expose yourself to so many risks. At least get a basic home buyers survey.

Can I ask why you’re considering not getting one?

Original poster

Sean2001 · 29/10/2021 00:34

Ok - we won't do it. Thank you for your advice.

Are there different levels of survey? Or is it just a full structural survey we should go for? How much would that cost roughly?

Also when is good/bad for the house being last rewired? Do they need to be rewired regularly?

Thank you

OP posts:

MissM2912 · 29/10/2021 00:39

Do you have any builder friends that can even look At it for you?
We bought a large Victorian detached based on just the mortgage survey and my dad who was in the building industry checking it over

mayblossominapril · 29/10/2021 03:53

I never have a survey because I know what I’m looking for and I’ve yet to have any nasty surprises.
You’d be better off as people have suggested taking a builder round and getting the electrics checked

mayblossominapril · 29/10/2021 03:55

If you get a structural survey you need a structural engineer and it’s not that expensive. Avoid anyone with surveyor in the title

mummabubs · 29/10/2021 04:06

I think how useful the survey is depends on how good the surveyor is. We got a 53 page comprehensive report with photos when we bought our "solid" 1980s house. It gave us an indication of the many things that needed addressing and we were able to use it to negotiate the price down. (Glad we did as we've easily had to spend the difference on heating and boiler replacement as soon as we moved in). My friend bought a 1930s house with no survey a year ago and subsequently found there was subsidence that hadn't been visible during viewings and cost them a bomb to repair. If I were you I'd get a mid level survey done by a recommended surveyor 😊

LivingLaVidaBabyShower · 29/10/2021 04:20

@GreenLunchBox

All the survey's I've had are arse-covering exercises not worth the paper they're written on. The only useful thing was the rebuilding cost for insurance purposes

This. I have spent 6k on surveys in my life. None told me anything a good builder couldn't and in one case actually told me what a structural engineering report couldnt. When selling my flat i watched the surveyor perform the midrange check (forget the name) and thought bugger this i can do that myself on a second measuring up viewing. (You can find forms online)

We bought a 1m+ house with nothing other than the cheapest survery available and a proper walk around and have had no issues.

SaveWaterDrinkGin · 29/10/2021 04:34

I never have a survey because I know what I’m looking for and I’ve yet to have any nasty surprises.
You’d be better off as people have suggested taking a builder round and getting the electrics checked

This. My DH is a builder and we’ve never had one above what was required for a mortgage.

You just want to know what kind of general state the walls, roof, electrics, heating etc are in so you’re fully aware what you’re buying. E.g. will need a new boiler ASAP but roof is sound etc. Then you’re fully aware.

MrsBobDylan · 29/10/2021 08:58

Re: re-wiring, sometimes it's obvious, like in the flat we're buying, that it needs a re-wire but mostly you need an electrician to take a look.

Our previous house and the house we are in now both needed a re-wire. I am a cautious person and wouldn't want my kids sleeping in a house without a trip switch and safe electrics.

Orangecrisp · 29/10/2021 09:13

I think it depends, we didn’t get a survey on this house because it’s not very old and we already got it for a good price because we were chain free, so we knew the vendor wouldn’t negotiate. I would have got one for an older house. When we viewed we suspected the flashing on the dormer was leaking and the soffits need upgrading. Since we moved in we have confirmed the roof is leaking but a survey wouldn’t have helped us here as there was no real negotiation option. Would you feel comfortable if you moved in and had to spend £5k on roof repairs for example? If you needed a new boiler? Do you think realistically you could negotiate on the price?

Ekofisk · 29/10/2021 10:37

@YerAWizardHarry

Absolutely mental. We bought a house with a survey (although it’s not a “full” survey but rather a basic one all sellers have to carry out in Scotland) and our “solid” house has been an absolutely ball ache. Think complete new heating system and electrical rewire ball ache..

Those surveys are paper tick box exercises. I had to correct several things in ours when we sold and some major points were missed.

If I was buying a house in Scotland I’d pay for my own structural survey.

lastqueenofscotland · 29/10/2021 10:58

I personally don’t see the point in home buyers. They are arse covering and often make people panic about nothing as they’ll put literally everything and always flag anything gas or electric in red as surveyors are unlikely to be qualified to look at that…

A proper structural yes if you want to spend that money.

Getyourarseofffthequattro · 29/10/2021 11:04

We paid for a survey last time and most of it was "couldn't access x because of carpet" so it didn't actually tell us anything. We didn't bother this time, but we were much more thorough when looking ourselves and we have the money if anything comes up. We also aren't planning to sell it.

Gubanc · 29/10/2021 15:26

@SaveWaterDrinkGin

*I never have a survey because I know what I’m looking for and I’ve yet to have any nasty surprises. You’d be better off as people have suggested taking a builder round and getting the electrics checked*

This. My DH is a builder and we’ve never had one above what was required for a mortgage.

You just want to know what kind of general state the walls, roof, electrics, heating etc are in so you’re fully aware what you’re buying. E.g. will need a new boiler ASAP but roof is sound etc. Then you’re fully aware.

Considering surveyors won't be able to check if the boiler works, probably won't be able to do a lot of other checks 'due to Covid', we decided not to go with one either.

We knew the heating is old, haven't assumed anything working and kept a buffer.

I still remember the 'rising damp' flagged up at our previous house, which we never had an issue with (but funnily enough got confirmed by the damp surveyor... this could be a different topic). It was under a radiator which must have leaked at some point.

tanguero · 29/10/2021 15:44

No not mad, very sane in fact. In fifty years of house buying I've never bothered with a survey.....as a previous poster said 'arse-covering exercises, not worth the paper they're written on'.

PeoplePleaserBe · 29/10/2021 18:05

We paid £800 for a full survey to be told by the surveyor that for the first time in his 42 year history, he was advising his client (us) to not proceed at all.

What was more concerning is that Hamptons was described it categorically as a “new build”.

The surveyor said he was even afraid to flush a toilet due to the flooding he could envisage because of bad pipework.

Best money ever spent.

Stickyblue1987 · 29/10/2021 18:31

We got a full survey even though we were cash buyers. My dad had used the same surveyor previously and surveyor picked up asbestos in garage. My dad got 3.5k knocked of purchase price (it was held by solicitor and given after completion).

Luckily no major red flags in our survey but it was helpful that surveyor laid out potential repairs in colour codes so for example we know that the flat roof extension roof is likely to need maintainence/ redone in 10 years and that there was no insulation in attic. Lots of little things that my dh could do but we may not have noticed for a while.

Kfjsjdbd · 29/10/2021 19:56

Yes, mental. I bought a house, spent £1k on the survey and used it to knock £5k off the price. The next people who bought the house didn’t get a survey. House looks solid, but we were prepared to knock money off for the major damp problems that a survey would have found. But they didn’t get one. So we didn’t knock any money off the sale!

Chumleymouse · 29/10/2021 20:16

@Stickyblue1987

Every flat roof will need maintenance/ redone in ten years ….. you done need a survey tell you that.