Buyers having a survey

Twiglets1 · 07/04/2024 08:32

PetuniaLop · 07/04/2024 08:20

Mine's a nearly 100 year old house so understand that buyers will want survey but it's making me panic. Haven't sold a house for years and have forgotten how the process works. What will the surveyor be looking for? What can I do to present house at it's best for surveying purposes? Any other tips or words of wisdom?

There is really nothing you can do but be philosophical and accept that with an old house, the survey is going to throw up issues. It is likely the survey will suggest the property may need a new roof, the buyer should get the electrics checked etc.

The survey reports can sound scary, especially to FTBs who haven’t seen one before. They may or may not ask for a reduction in price based on the results of the survey. If there are a lot of “red flags” on the report, it is normal to negotiate a small reduction in price at that stage.

SpringOfContentment · 07/04/2024 08:33

There isn't really any "presenting" you can do for a survey. They are looking at the structural suff.
If you can make it fairly clutter free, it helps with access ie don't pile masses of stuff infront of a window that might get opened.

Ours turned on taps, opened windows, looked at the walls, roof, drains, turned keys etc.

ClematisBlue49 · 07/04/2024 10:23

They will want to get into, or at least look into the loft, so if there isn't a loft ladder, make sure there is a suitable ladder nearby.

I've had two surveys on my house of a similar age to yours and they came up with completely different issues! The surveyor will want to cover themselves so will list all kinds of things that aren't really a serious problem, and recommend loads of further checks. Buyers may be scared off, or otherwise see an opportunity to get a reduction in the price, or there may be something that genuinely warrants a reduction. Your EA will help you navigate through it and may recommend getting your own quotes if they think the reduction asked for is unreasonable. I was fortunate in that my EA is very experienced and has a lot of knowledge of the construction of period houses in the area.

Tupster · 07/04/2024 10:28

I had similar - buyers got Level 3 on my house and although I've maintained and looked after the house I was really worried the surveyor would find terrible things I didn't know about.
My house is a largish 3 bed and it took about 2.5 hours. Honestly I find it hard to figure out what he found to look at for that long, but they do seem to look at amazing detail. After he came in from inside we had a brief chat and just from looking at the outside of the house he had worked out that the extension was built in 2009 - apparently there are tiny dates on the windows. He could tell that the back door was replaced at a different time to the rest of the windows. Inside I didn't see what he was doing, but I could hear loos flushing and taps being tested. He went up in the loft (he asked if he needed to bring his own ladder in from car so they are prepared and you don't need to worry).

They are definitely interested in how well you have maintained the house, so are looking to see if you have been keeping on top of chores to prevent deterioration. I think getting it looking clean and tidy helps give the impression that the owner wouldn't ignore broken things and let them get worse.

Tangelo · 07/04/2024 10:40

We had a level 3 survey on a family house relatively recently as we wanted to understand if there were any issues prior to sale. Really interesting to have it done on a house we knew: we found out lots of things we didn’t know (not all bad!) and some things we were worried about the surveyor was able to explain and talk us through. The end result was that there was less to be concerned about than we had presumed and we got a great list of jobs to tackle from him with priority and rough prices.

Our current house is Edwardian and if we sell I would be very tempted to get a level 3 survey done before we put it on the market. It gives a really helpful level of certainty and also makes it easy to counter those mad statements on a level 2 survey - which tend to be completely sweeping and massively alarmist. In many ways I think a level 3 is better for both buyer and seller: everything is more focused and less catch-all. (So long as it is a decent survey!)

Rosesanddaisies1 · 07/04/2024 10:45

Just make sure they can move easily around the house and outdoor space, and get into loft if you have one. But there’s nothing you can do about the survey, the buyers are sensible to get one

Original poster

PetuniaLop · 08/04/2024 09:12

Great - has helped in my understanding of the process

OP posts:

housethatbuiltme · 08/04/2024 14:52

SpringOfContentment · 07/04/2024 08:33

There isn't really any "presenting" you can do for a survey. They are looking at the structural suff.
If you can make it fairly clutter free, it helps with access ie don't pile masses of stuff infront of a window that might get opened.

Ours turned on taps, opened windows, looked at the walls, roof, drains, turned keys etc.

Surveys don't look at structural stuff, they LOOK at visual cosmetic stuff.

In a level 3 survey (known as a structural survey) this includes an awareness of structural stuff that they will photo and document but they are NOT structural engineers. They can only advise you seek out an expert if anything visually looks suspect (like if there is a crack or walls aren't plumb or a damp meter triggers) or is unchecked (like gas/electric/floor joists/drains/foundations etc...).