Anyone bought without structural survey?

[Notmyyearthisyear]

Hi
In the process of buying my first home alone (bought with partner previously). I initially lost out on the property and then it came back on the market after the first buyer tried to bring the price down. I got it significantly above original asking, which is usual in my area.
My question is, if I know that the vendor will not negotiate on price, should I even bother with a structural or homeowners survey? (Still not exactly clear on the difference between the two!). On the one hand I feel I should, on the other that it’s even more money spent with possibly negligible value. For context, it’s a 3 bed semi built 1940-50, never been extended. Thanks so much in advance to anyone who can offer advice.

When I say the minimum price I don’t mean asking, I mean the price the open market showed them they were capable of achieving.

Use this link to help work out what sort of building survey would be best for the property you are buying:

https://www.ricsfirms.com/residential/moving-home/buying/helping-you-choose-the-right-survey/?utmsource=finddoutmore

If you decide to go ahead with a survey, use a comparison site like Really Moving or Local Surveyors Direct to get a range of quotes from surveyors that cover your area. Just make sure you go with someone that is RICS certified.

With regards to costs and how long it takes to organise one - that depends on the size of the property and it's selling price.

I didn't get a survey on this house. It's less than 40 years old and hasn't been extended or changed at all in that time. The garage roof was a bit leaky but I'm planning on fully renovating that anyway and incorporating it into the house. I do have a friend who is a surveyor who gave it a once over with me but he didn't do any proper investigations. I would have got a survey in an older property though.

@Notmyyearthisyear
You would be mad not to have a survey. Should anything awful be found, your house will not be sellable. It’s of an age where lots of things might be wrong. You need to know if there are. How you pay for any repairs is up to you. However if there is subsidence, your house won’t be insurable by you. The vendor would need to claim on his insurance. If he has if of course.

The lower price you have agreed, and the other buyer walking away, are connected. I suspect the survey was not good. You might not be bothered about putting anything right but most people are and have to budget for it. Your mortgage company might be reluctant to lend too unless you have a high value/loan ratio if there are issues with the property.

So to sum up: get a survey and know what issues are lurking. Be prepared. Don’t buy a property you cannot insure.

Never had a survey on any house ( only mortgage valuations years ago ). But I always plan on renovating them anyway so not much point.

I do spend a good amount of time when viewing looking at any potential issues, but never had any serious problems.

I've never commissioned a survey but I've always been fairly confident the properties were in good condition so seemed an OK risk. The age of the property you mentioned might concern me. Was there anything that caught your attention on viewing? If unsure and not knowledgeable in this area, I'd get the survey.

I’m not sure why people are getting the impression the original buyers walked away… I never said that. The EA said that they tried to lower the price they initially offered and the vendors would not agree, so put the property back on. Or am I getting it wrong and this is actually ‘walking away’…? The impression I got is they were chancing it with the initial offer and the vendors called their bluff by pulling out. But I could be misreading it 🤨

I would presume they lowered the price they wanted to pay post survey because of issues in the survey. It’s very common to outbid others and then try and renegotiate, but they would need some basis. No survey on a house that age is going to be perfect.

Have you asked the estate agent if they are aware of any issues with the previous survey? They’re meant to tell you. They’ll likely say that the previous buyer hadn’t budgeted for work and make it sound like the buyers issue but it is very likely their survey found something significantly wrong.

I’ve just walked away from a purchase where I was the third buyer to have an offer accepted (substantially over asking - our area is bonkers too) on a property. Property looks like it needs cosmetic work but not much else.

Estate agents apparently knew nothing about either survey prior to mine (which I’m sure is bollocks as it’s standard to renegotiate, often via the estate agent if the survey brings up substantial work). Both previous buyers had financial issues apparently.

Lo and behold, our survey showed damp, active woodworm and subsidence.

I think the sellers (landlord) will just keep letting people attempt to buy, wasting their ££££ in the process. Until someone is stupid enough to buy without a survey.

Please have a survey!

OP you've said the house came back on the market, which suggests that the buyers' original offer had been accepted and house taken off the market. The only reason they would have subsequently wanted to renegotiate would either have been a down valuation by the bank or something in the survey.

@Floofyfuffy what type did you get please? Was it level 3 structural survey?

@Notmyyearthisyear we only had a homebuyers. I was surprised how thorough it was. I’m not sure if that’s always the case.

It did recommend lots of further specialists be brought in but I rang the surveyor and had a long chat and he gave me all of his reasoning.

We always had full structural. But I’m surprised at the question. We never perceived it as get it to negotiate price, we get it done to understand what we are buying.

@Thestagshead

We always had full structural. But I’m surprised at the question. We never perceived it as get it to negotiate price, we get it done to understand what we are buying.

@Thestagshead I see how my question came across like that but it wasn’t quite what I meant. Of course the key value would be learning about the issues. I just meant that considering I really need this house and the vendors wouldn’t budge on price anyway I’d almost rather not know at this stage, if that makes sense. I know it kind of doesn’t now that I actually wrote it down 🤦🏼‍♀️ @Floofyfoofy thank you for the info. So far I’ve been given the impression that homebuyers reports are fairly useless but I will reconsider!

Personally I’d not consider not buying a property not know what I was buying and don’t really understand the “I’d rather not know” mindset. I’m sorry.

The key with surveys is to understand that an adverse survey sometimes requires further investigations by other professionals. In general, surveyors cannot be sure why a property is damp, has cracks or has a dipping roof! Further investigation is required but if it all sounds too much, at least you can make an informed decision about whether to go ahead or not.

My ex-neighbours bought a basement flat in a Grade II listed building without a survey…. Utter fools. The flat is riddled with damp and has umpteen other issues that made previous would-be buyers drop out post-survey. So stupid.

My husband is a surveyor and has done quite a few jobs where someone has bought a house without a survey then discovered massive issues with it.

My DH is a structural engineer and works for surveyors who need a second opinion on structural failure.