Surveys - are they ever better than they seem

[jeepjeep4]

So I'm probably clutching at straws but my dream home that we had an offer accepted on appears to be in what the survey reads as terrible condition and I'm wondering if it's always as bad as first appears?
Surveyor said suspected dry rot in a small area of the kitchen, asbestos in garage roof and leak in utility room flat roof.

All sound expensive to fix but I love the house.

What do we think Mumsnet

[DoingItUp]

My experience is anecdotal (from reading diy and property forums) but I’d say things are usually worse than in the survey as there will be things they can’t see but which you’ll uncover when you start taking up floors etc. There’s usually disclaimers to cover this.

When I bought, I just got a structural survey as I reasoned as long as it will stay standing, then everything else can be fixed.

In your situation, could you take a builder to give an estimate of repair costs?

[GasPanic]

Most surveys come up with some stuff.

I think what you are looking for is major structural problems like signs of subsidence, or a new roof being required.

What you describe there doesn't seem unusual or particularly difficult to rectify (in normal times anyway).

Cost I don't know.

[Allthegoodnamesarechosen]

I know it’s too late , but we usually meet the surveyor at the property once they have finished and have a quick debrief, or we have had a follow up phone call. They will usually expand helpfully on the findings

Asbestos in the garage roof🤷🏼 It will be old and not flaky, you won’t die of asbestosis ( different sort anyway). Leaky flat roof, get some new roofing felt or get some one to do it, no big deal tbh.
Dry rot , maybe a problem, give him a call as above and ask for more details.

[CalloohCallayFrabjousDay]

Asbestos was only banned in 1999, so any house built before then probably has asbestos somewhere. As long as it's not damaged it's not dangerous.

[Chad23]

Prospective buyers had a level 3 survey completed on our house and to read it you’d think it should be demolished. The sale fell through and we are continuing to live in the property without any problems. A lot of it seemed to be in relation to it not meeting current building regs, e.g no working smoke alarms was listed as a major concern when we do have smoke alarms but they’re not connected to the mains. Also, for reference I was looking into retraining as a surveyor and came across lots of people working in the field who were terrified of being sued - hence putting lots of caveats in their reports to cover every eventuality. I would use the survey as the basis of further research but don’t immediately walk away without careful consideration.

[WaitingfortheTardis]

They are nearly always extremely negative in my experience. Those don't sound like particularly big or worrying problems to me.

[Edwardandtubbs]

The asbestos is only a problem if you are thinking of demolishing the garage - if you leave it untouched then as pps have said it's not a problem. And it's not really a problem if you do want to demolish it, it will just be expensive as it is difficult to dispose of.

Dry rot - don't know, and a leaky roof, sounds like an easy fix?

We have several reds show up on both our house surveys but went ahead with both purchases - one was a structural problem but we took the view that they house hadn't fallen down in 135 years so it probably wasn't an issue!

The next buyer of that house didn't even get a survey done so they don't even know the problem is there... 🤷🏻‍♀️

[BlueMongoose]

@Chad23

Prospective buyers had a level 3 survey completed on our house and to read it you’d think it should be demolished. The sale fell through and we are continuing to live in the property without any problems. A lot of it seemed to be in relation to it not meeting current building regs, e.g no working smoke alarms was listed as a major concern when we do have smoke alarms but they’re not connected to the mains. Also, for reference I was looking into retraining as a surveyor and came across lots of people working in the field who were terrified of being sued - hence putting lots of caveats in their reports to cover every eventuality. I would use the survey as the basis of further research but don’t immediately walk away without careful consideration.

"Prospective buyers had a level 3 survey completed on our house and to read it you’d think it should be demolished."
Chad23, thanks, that raised a smile here.😊Been there, bought it, living in it, it's fine.
To answer the OP's question...
Yes and no.
Yes, in that there can be a lot of arse covering with 'maybes' and 'coulds' and 'mights'. No, in that sometimes a small problem they can see is being caused by a larger one they can't.
Asbestos, if painted or covered and not disturbed, isn't unsafe, but if you do decide to remove it you will need specialists. That's not the end of the world, though, but do get a properly registered company to do it.
Dry rot in small area of kitchen, likely to be a leaky drain or similar, if it's small, it can be dealt with (by finding the cause, though, not by tanking or putting in new DPCs). You may need to replace a joist or two if the wood is badly damaged, but that isn't a massive job- we replaced a few of ours ourselves.
Flat roof leaky- they are always a pain in the neck, though I'm told modern ones are a lot better, so just renewing it may be okay, you could get an estimate or two so you know what you might be in for, shouldn't be too expensive if it's just a utility room, unless it's massive. Could you put a pitch on it? That's what we've done with ours. That is expensive, but once done, that's it. You might need planning permission depending on where it is and how high. Bulding regs, you would need, but all they do round here is check your roofer does it properly, with modern insulation.

[BungalowBuyer]

The report on the bungalow we're buying has a long list of potential issues, but when you get down to it they're all just ongoing maintenance issues. We can tackle over time.

You can see how a FTB could get scared off, the way they're written.

The report on my house highlighted work I've already had done as needing attention, I think particularly with roofs they're over cautious.

[xabia]

I would be worried about dry rot - it can cause huge structural damage.
A leak should be easy to fix.

[twigy100]

You could alway request quotes so you get an idea of costs before hand

[jeepjeep4]

Thank you everybody feel a bit less panicked

[BlueMongoose]

@jeepjeep4

Thank you everybody feel a bit less panicked

If you can find a builder and a roofer and get them to look at thngs for you, it might clarify what's a problem and what's not. We got a very experienced local roofer to look at a possibly problematic (as in questions raised from a survey) roof and he said it was fine, just needed a small amount of work.

[CocktailCountryGirl]

Well our surveyor said our house was in excellent condition, a few minor niggles but nothing to worry about and congratulated us our new home.
The survey (level 3) was a bit 'doom and gloom' but we rang him up for a chat and he explained it all to us.

have you tried talking to the surveyor?