Homebuyers survey. Did you have one?

[erikbloodaxe]

I've just arranged a survey on a house I'm buying and apparently only 20% of homebuyers bother. I don't mean a mortgage related valuation report but an independent survey you organise yourself.

20% seems ridiculously low.

Did you have one or not bother?

Becuse we asked them to. For very good reason.

First property we wanted to buy, surveyor didn't even complete the survey as it was a straightforward case of "do not touch with a bargepole"... There's no way I'd spend hundreds of thousands without a survey. Yes, there are lots of limitations and caveats, but there are potentially serious issues that could be missed. Why take the risk?

Almost didn’t for the property we’re trying to buy at the moment as it looked so pristine. I was nervous despite my husband thinking it was a waste of £500 so we ended up getting one for my peace of mind.

Turns out the property needs significant roof repairs, the garage is structurally unsafe, the electrics are stone-age and there is damp in the chimneys. Will cost a lot to repair - although some things I’ll take with a pinch of salt. We’re trying to renegotiate now and very glad of the survey.

Oh yes. I love my surveyor. He’s old school and quirky and knows his stuff. He saved us £80k off a property where we’d offered £500k once and renegotiated down to £420k. I used him twice more and walked away from both properties because of his reports. Each time he cost us £1800 or £2000 but money well spent. I’ll look him up if we ever move again and I will be very sorry if he has retired.

Would you stay in Cheltenham or Pershore if you were working in Worcester royal hospital?

I currently live in Pershore and am thinking of buying my final home. I love it in Pershore but I understand schools are much better in Cheltenham. Hence the dilemma.

I did for the first house I put an offer on and was rather glad as the lintel over the front window was not supporting anything… like the front of the house! Withdrew PDQ! And it saved me a lot of worry, too.

we had an amazing surveyor for the house we're currently in. He's spent about 5 hours in house and garden. He even condemned the garden bench which amused us. House we sold - surveyor literally walked around house and was gone in 10 minutes. Good for us but useless for buyer

yes I had one, the medium option, whatever that is. Solicitor was quite insistent I should get one. Turned out the roof had a major problem, needed urgent repair, and I got £4k off for that.

The boiler also packed in 3 weeks after I moved in which I did not get money off for... and surveyor had pointed out that risk, too.

20% sounded low but it probably shouldn't surprise people. If you look at the threads on here about why my house isn't selling, the majority of comments are about something cosmetic and few are about facts like price, flood risk, road noise, etc.

It's a big risk to skip the survey. I understand all the comments about their weaknesses, but if nothing else it'll give you a good list of improvements and repairs to price in after purchase or agree to share with the vendor.

You would be best starting your own thread and then people will help in answering your question directly.

This thread is about getting a survey so you are unlikely to get lots of useful answers to your question.

Of the houses I've bough, 1 of 5, so 20%

The 1, was as a FTB and relocation expenses were paying. Of the last 2, one was a derelict stone barn, so nothing to look at, and we were happy to rebuild everything if needed. The other was a 15 year old built in unloved condition, priced to assume nothing had been done since it was built.

So 20% so would seen right for me...

My dc has just bought a house-they got a level 2. It identified possible wall tie problems so they got a survey and got 8k off the price. If they had just relied on the valuation (fine), they wouldn’t have known, still had the cost of repair but no money off.