Scared About House Survey

[DreamHousehelp]

We’ve recently sold our house and found our onwards purchase which we’re besotted with. Our buyer is due to arrange a survey, and I can’t stop thinking about it.

Our house is lovely, but a little dated in places and hasn’t had any major redecoration done in a long time (think wood chip wallpaper, artex ceilings, etc). There are no issues that we’re aware of (no damp, no leaks, etc), but I’m just dreading their survey coming back saying we need a new roof or something major 🙈 as I say, no obvious indicators that we do, I’m just concerned will surveyors look at the age of the house (1930s) and tear it apart.

Our buyer got a good deal, and we do have some wiggle money in our budget, but worried about the unknown basically!

Any advice / reassuring stories welcome!

I felt like this too. Although our house is MUCH older. We own a Grade 2 listed cottage dated back to 1860. We were so nervous before our survey. It was a level 3 all singing all dancing one. To our eye, the house is in good condition, no obvious signs of damp or mould, no weird cracks or leaks. But still, we were really nervous as to what the survey might show.

Survey report came back with no major issues and just 2 small minor ones, estimated total cost of 2K!! Stated as in good condition for its age and structurally sound.

So try and relax about it. The survey will happen and you cannot control the outcome and what is uncovered. But, like us, it may well just not be as bad as you are expecting. Good Luck.

Woodchip will not be an issue to a surveyor and most buyers will redecorate to their own taste anyway and overlook this. Buyers may have an issue with artex, there have been several threads on here about worries re asbestos. We bought our current home which is also 1930s, no fitted kitchen just a freestanding sink unit and wall cupboard, burgundy bathroom suite, damp in the bay window and various other places. Lead mains water pipes, old single glazed sash windows, possible insect infestation to the floors which turned out to be pop hatches cut into the floor for access and floor boards not supported. "recessed display areas to chimney breasts" aka bits of old wardrobe with wallpaper on the back. No upstairs bathroom as it had been relocated downstairs. Electric wiring had not been touched for years and years. We needed a bigger home for our family and it was what we could afford at the time. When our buyer had the survey done on the house we sold to buy this one they picked up that the floor in the lounge sloped and they suspected subsidence. We had to get a structural engineer in who deemed it to be a "Friday afternoon job" and the builders had run out of ashphalt so spread it thinly running off in one corner. We are considering selling next year and despite 26 years of renovation and thousands and thousands of pounds spent we still worry about surveys. Wishing you lots of luck and hope you get the new home you have fallen in love with!

If you don't know of any issues then I'm betting there aren't any or they'd be staring you in the face - rotten wood, damp problems, cracked walls, leaky roof.

The decor issues you mentioned are already known to your viewers as they've seen the house and, if the surveyor brings it up it will be one line saying - needs decor updating or something like that.

Nobody buys a 100 year old house without expecting a few wrinkles and jobs to do.

I've sold 16 houses - many of them well over 100 years old...the oldest was built in 1730 and the survey found nothing. A 1930s house is new compared, there are a lot of them, it's going to be pretty standard stuff.

Don't worry.

I am in the same boat but it’s a 1980s house. I read articles. online about this, that and the other making a house unmortgageable and wonder if it applies to my house. Probably illogically! Sending empathy.

You have nothing to be scared of. We bought a 14th century grade 2 star pit despite the survey

A 1930s property really really isn’t old

It’ll be fine
If something comes up just come back on here. There’s Lots of MNetters with lots of experience

Any 1930's house buyer needs to expect maintenance to be a regular thing. Assuming they are not a ftb they will know that the survey won't be a list of green ticks.
Make sure all the easy obvious stuff is done. Boiler service records, guttering cleaned, electric safety inspection, chimney swept if you use it etc etc. The decoration isn't relevant

1930s isn't that old. My favourite house was older than that and the survey was fine.

The survey for the 1930s house we bought said it needed a new roof (based it would appear on others in the street having new roofs). It did not. It just needed a few replacement tiles and then the survey when I sold was absolutely fine!