Survey? Yes or No?

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Hi All - I hope you're well. I've been looking through the threads for an answer to my question but can't seem to find it so thought I'd gauge your opinions.

I've had an offer an accepted on a house on Monday, managed to get it £10K less than asking (£295k). The property does need a significant cosmetic upgrade inc new kitchen, bathroom and a complete new heating system as there's no gas in the property - also looking to take the wall down between the kitchen & dining room and add patio doors.

My purchase is cash.... no mortgage required, no chain and quick completion. Vendor can work with this because they're selling on behalf of a family member who has passed away so it can all be done in approx 6 weeks. I initially decided not to get a survey done and this was noted on the sale of memo which was sent across to my solictor yesterday. My solicitor has seen this this & highly recommends I get a level 2 survey done with valuation in case there are other issues such as damp, asbestos, roof etc

What do you guys think and as a vendor if you accepted an offer & the buyer said no survey but then a couple of days later said they'd want to get one based on legal advice, what would your views be? I wanted to keep costs down but £0.5k survey against a purchase of £295k is next to nothing in the grand scheme of things and now it's playing on my mind.

Appreciate any feedback/views.

I would have thought you were mad not to get one and that you might well change your mind. When you did change your mind, I would consider that you were not trustworthy and a bit of an idiot. I might wonder if a buyer who was a builder might be a better bet and I might see if other people were still interested if they were cash buyers.. “What next?”
I might be thinking! You will presumably want a bigger discount when you find there’s more wrong, etc.

Get the survey. You were mad not to!

As the vendor I'd roll my eyes, at you getting it now, not before, but given I think you'd be stupid not to, I'd just shrug & see what happens. Depending on what I already know about the property & what's comes out in the survey, I might take less or I might re list it. . But only to get the amount I want, not because you had the survey done.

it's a probate sale, you're not holding up a forward move, I don't see it as a big deal, just a tad annoying.

you'd be mad not to get a survey done!!

Get the survey done. It could save you a lot of money.

Get the survey!!!! You'd be a fool not to.

As for the vendor, I don't think they will be bothered, you are in a strong position, no chain, cash, don't think they will find another buyer like that in a hurry plus pretty much everyone gets. A survey done so it's not out of the ordinary, it shouldn't delay things too much wither 🤷🏼‍♀️

I’m just a clueless FTB, is there ever a reason why you wouldn’t get a survey?? Surely you need to know what you’re sinking your money into?

Unless you personally are a surveyor, get a survey. It would be daft not to - worst case scenario you're sinking almost £300k of your cash into something that is basically worthless for whatever reason.

Yep! Ours threw up quite a lot, and the home is only 15 years old. Initially thought the surveyor was just covering their bases, but no, there were some genuine issues in there when I got the specialists in.

We bought a similar property 18mths ago. Probate property, cashbuyers, no chain, but it had been derelict 8yrs and was uninhabitable. We did not get a survey. We knew that everything would need doing. Most houses prior to 1990 WILL have asbestos- either asbestos roof garage or artex inside. We did have an experienced builder friend go around. Yes- I'm aware he isn't a surveyor.

I've read too often about surveys being useless in some scenarios- clauses that the X wasn't visible or accessible, therefore that part wasn't inspected. Garden was overgrown, so they couldn't access there to check for X. etc

If we had been buying a property that just needed say a new bathroom or less work then yes, we would have had one done.

I would never consider buying a property without a survey regardless of your mortgage status. It may cost you now, but could save you £££££ in the long run. Tbh only a fool wouldn’t.

I bought without a mortgage on a house I knew I'd be doing a lot of work on - I didn't have a survey but I did take my builder round, he didn't see any red flags. In fact he said that if I didn't buy it he would! So I went ahead, and we didn't find anything too horrendous, just a bit of dodgy wiring and a interesting arrangement of pipes for the central heating. Nothing that would have put me off buying.

Appreciate your views/feedback - yes, totally understand the annoying element of it - In terms of timelines, there shouldn't be much of a hold up if any as I can get a survey done this coming week & the report would be with me the following week if the vendor agrees - everything else in the background in the meantime can carry on as per usual. Only issue will be is if we need to renegotiate on the price.

Well from the vendors point of view, they will now be expecting a price reduction. They previously thought they had secured a price.

It’s not true to say surveyors don’t see things. They might well notice a sagging roof, cracks and other expensive to put right faults. Builders really don’t know everything about structures!

We've bought twice in fairly similar circs and always got the more detailed building survey. Even when you know cosmetic stuff is needed it's invaluable for the less obvious stuff like roof condition. We also found it helpful for prioritising work that needed to be done as the surveyor will highlight anything that needs to be done immediately (with an indication of cost), then medium term and long term things.

Examples from the house we've just bought - some chimney work noticed as needing doing asap which we wouldn't have noticed. Some things like repairs to flashing. And the surveyor noted the unsupported upstairs wall where a previous owner had moved a downstairs wall without ensuring support was provided!

We haven't on the house we're buying. It's a 70s build and is solid, well appointed and well maintained. We did 2 visits to look around carefully and felt confident enough to not request one. If we find eventually that something needs doing then we'll deal with it as and when. Agree that our approach wouldn't suit everyone, and every house, but we are comfortable with our decision.

Yes that may well be true re price reduction if things come out of it and there's a possibility they may want to relist however anyone else looking to buy will probably get a survey done & same issues will probably come up that may come up on mine. I would be disappointed if they vendor was to relist or decided against me getting a survey done considering what was agreed. Although I really like the property, this in the back of my mind will not give me peace so I would be looking to pull out if they say no to the survey. Nothing underhand on my side, I've not waited till the last minute or tried to pull a fast one, it's been pretty instant after discussion with my solicitor yesterday and its been a mis-judgement & a bit of stupidity on my part.

I doubt they would say no but it might depend if others buyers now looked more straightforward. Hopefully not. Just eat humble pie!

I've always got a survey but having seen what the surveyor did for my buyer I'm not sure it's always worth it. They were here about 15 mins, including asking me some questions. Took photos of each room and the outside. Had a very quick glance in the garage.

@Mooserp
That is not a full structural survey. It’s more like a valuation for the mortgage. No full survey lasts 15 minutes. In a house they really should look into the loft or go into it, check all walls inside and out, roof from outside not to mention looking for any signs of damp or old electrics etc. They often cannot look at everything but anything that’s rotten or leaking should be found. Definitely cracks and roof faults. Having a chat isn’t doing a survey unless it’s a tiny flat!!

Of course you get a survey done

It was a home buyer's survey. I was shocked at how little effort they put in.

I can promise you it'll not take 6 weeks . I'd say 18-23

We bought cash and paid for a survey. A relative who has bought many properties offered to do one for us, as in his words, he's virtually a surveyor lol.

He bought after us and didn't bother with one, house was riddled with problems, then fought a vicious campaign against frail elderly previous owners.

I paid cash and still had a full survey, I viewed the house a few times and it had a lot of work so I thought I wouldn’t bother, got one anyway and it threw up a load of issues I hadn’t noticed and wouldn’t have if he didn’t attend. was worth it, on another note I was told a quick 6-8 week turnaround as cash buyer and no chain, it took 5 months .

You say you expect a reduction in price after survey- why?

You were willing to go in blind at the price agreed and will surely expect to honour that price regardless of what a survey shows up? What the survey will do is give an insight into the works that need immediate attention once it's yours so you can crack on with your renovations. That's the angle I'd use if I was in your position- reassure the vendors that you'd stick to your original offer but want a survey so you can organise a team of builders/plumbers, electricians, etc. at your end to bring the house up to speed, etc. if you tried making a reduction in offer after this, as a vendor I'd relist.