Buying a doer upper without a survey?

[propertybuyer]

I'm considering buying a complete doer upper (currently an illegal HMO). Given that I know it needs a gut renovation (wiring, pipes, plastering, structural changes) what would a survey be telling me that I don't already know? So far I've thought of asbestos and subsidence but is there anything else? Japanese knotweed? Has anyone managed to get a "light" survey which just focuses on these areas?

Damp, woodworm, subsidence…

Just pay for the survey!! It’s such a tiny amount given your renovation plans.

They make sure no supporting walls have been removed. Look at the roof. Speak to neighbours if you can and see if they have had any issues with drainage or subsidence.

I bought a doer upper for myself a few years ago.
I was then working in property renovation, and considered not bothering with a survey, as in each property I'd had surveyed in the last 20 years, none of the surveys had thrown up anything that I hadn't already spotted. So why spend on a survey?

But I'm cautious, so I did.
The property was from a different period to any I'd worked on, and there were a couple of construction differences, and problems, that I'd overlooked. There was also a drainage issue that I couldn't possibly have seen.

Armed with the survey, i went back to the sellers, and got nearly 10% reduction.

Get a survey.
It's like getting insurance.

Drains. Roof, Unsafe structure etc etc. It’s not a lot given the overall cost.

Armed with the survey, i went back to the sellers, and got nearly 10% reduction.

That's a really good reason for having a survey.

Thanks everyone. If anything it's not the cost that concerns me (although that is pretty crazy these days) it's the lead time to get a decent surveyor, I'm worried I might lose the house.

If you know a lot about renovation then I wouldn't bother. Just get a valuation. We didn't get one on our current house because we knew we wouldn't use the results for negotiation and we were confident we would be able to pay to repair anything which needed doing once we had moved in or so it ourselves.

If you are genuinely worried there could be a structural issue then you could just get a structural survey

I have done it, but then I've done a few renovations and know what to look for.

Invasive plants are easy to spot!

Structural issues - as long as you have a contingency for a Biggie (eg new roof, or wall ties, or tanking) you'll be ok.

We didn’t get a survey on our last house. I wanted one but DP didn’t and I let him win that one. We nearly bought an identical house on the same road though and had already had that surveyed, and we were going to completely gut the place anyway - I still felt uneasy not getting one though but we didn’t find anything unexpected during the renovation.

I did. But DP is a builder and DF is both a builder and an engineer.

I did get an electrical inspection. (would also have got a gas / oil inspection if the property had had either)

I would have got a survey if it was not detached / was in anyway relying on or being relied on by other properties.

We found that small local surveyors are much more readily available than big companies.

Hugely depends how much you know about buildings - the surveyor can't see anything you can't see, so if you understand what to look for then the surveyor is of dubious benefit. They make loads of assumptions and wave their hands to avoid liability. Lots of things only come back on a survey as "recommend a specialist survey", so for asbestos for instance, the surveyor just looks at the age of the property whether it has any risk items such as artex or a back boiler and advises you get a specialist surveyor in.
But that said, if you don't have the knowledge to recognise the difference between standard deterioration and signs of something more sinister, then it's a risk.

I wouldn't say I'm in any way an expert but we can work out certain things, for instance the house is one of many on the street and I can see no walls have been removed.

I think the main issue is that I don't think we would be able to negotiate on price as the house is already significantly discounted due to the work required and if the vendor's already pricing major works into that discount then me turning up with a survey which says major work is required won't make much difference to the price. It's hard to look at comparables as there aren't many recent ones and those that have sold have had wildly different degrees of finish. It's also hard to put a price on the effort it takes to do a big renovation.... I guess this is part of the risks you take on this kind of project.

We got a survey on a doer upper. It wasn't to knock any money off, more so we could jiggle money around to sort out the priorities if the survey threw anything up.

We were honest with the seller and told them we had no intention of dropping the price after the survey unless it was major. This was to reassure them that we were not going to try and chip them because there were a few issues as we are experienced in the property game and very little phases us.

If anything the survey helped us as some of the things we thought were our immediate priorities were actually in better nick and some of the things we thought could probably wait couldn't.

I doubt most people know if a roof is unstable or a chimney has been taken out making a wall unsafe! If trained people don’t know anything more than the buyers, I’m amazed they have jobs at all. In property, there’s very expensive faults and easy to rectify faults. Most older houses need a new boiler. Relatively inexpensive but a new roof and replacement timbers ? Way more money,

I think this is a useful line of thinking. I dream of being able to do a one off massive renovation but in reality finances will require a more staged approach and guidance on this would be really helpful.