Surveys

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Sold our house subject to contract and the buyer is arranging a homebuyers report. Now it's been 14 years since I last bought a house so am a bit out of the loop. What is the homebuyers report and is it much to worry about? From googling it seems to suggest its just a slightly more detailed valuation report. How long do the take thanks
 

mjd

mjd

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It's supposed to be a more detailed report, but is invariably a waste of money for the person paying for it. Could take as little as an hour and is only a very basic visual check of things like the roof, construction and general condition of the property. If you would rather the surveyor didn't nose around somewhere in particular, just pile something in front of it. On the one occasion we did get one done, the report was riddled with reasons why they couldn't check something.
 
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Thanks that was kind of what I was getting from reading up. My house was only built in 2001. I personally would have just had a valuation. The buyers were doing that and then decided to do pay for a full survey but can't get anyone so now looking at the homebuyer. It seems pointless to me the reports I've seen dont say yiu need to just suggest something may need looking at
 
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Yes they do have lots of caveats but to blanket them as worthless is complete bs. Sure on a house built 2001 it may not bring anything up but that's not guaranteed, I've seen newer houses than that with problems.

Mine paid for itself more than 10 times over as I knocked £5k off the purchase price as a result.
 
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Yes they do have lots of caveats but to blanket them as worthless is complete bs. Sure on a house built 2001 it may not bring anything up but that's not guaranteed, I've seen newer houses than that with problems.

Mine paid for itself more than 10 times over as I knocked £5k off the purchase price as a result.

Thanks mate. It didn't blanket them as worthless or at least that's notnwhat i intended. Just more they sppear vague
 
Soldato
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Surveys often 'appear' to be caveated bits of paper if they have nothing interesting to say. What your really paying for, is a professional who knows what major defects to look for. If they find evidence of significant movement, they will say there is something worth investigating further.
 
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Nope **** up from lender they rang and booked a valuation in error and still a homebuyers. Is it worth getting a gas and electricity certificate done or it overkill?
 
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No, don`t do anything, see what the report picks up.

Houses can be nasty and people will try and hide stuff if they are trying to sell a house, trust me people try it. I have known whole walls to be have been taken back to brick and just plaster boarded over to cover damp coming in from outside in an effort that someone viewing the house wont notice (why would they when its covered) A good Surveyor would be able to potentially spot stuff like that from the outside of the house, leaks from high up valley guttering is a prime example because most of the time you cant see it you can only go from whats inside the house and a brief look from ground level outside. Another house I looked at had the chimney removed below the loft level and whoever removed the chimney was basically putting the lives of people living below it at risk by using pieces of wood to hold up about a tonne of bricks across 2 roof beams!

There is also a thread on here about a guy who made a successful claim from a surveyor who didn't identity some asbestos in a garage so yeah they tend to be over cautious when it comes to disclaimers when completing surveys just in case stuff is missed but then again only poor professionals would miss including `a building of this ages might contain asbestos` as a caveat.

Wait for the survey, they will potentially come back with a list of items that have been picked up on the survey, one or two them might be no service history for the boiler. No fixed electrical test for the electrics (who ever does this in a domestic property anyway?) and they might try and get some money knocked off the price of the house. You can try and then negotiate a reduction on the price or not its up to you as the seller and how badly you want to sell.

If you need more advice when you have had the survey post up some of the recommendations and I`ll see whats what.
 
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Thanks. Like I say the house was built in 2000 and I personally would say in good condition. I had the roof checked last week with no issues and everything works as it should. The wooden windows were replaced for upvc 8 years back and all work and in Good condition.

No service history with boiler but know someone who can come and do a check and issue certificate for £50 hence thought may be good to be able to have them ready to give straight to surveyor.

The price was priced under anywhere to get a move quicker. The house behind us which is the same and on a main road sold within a week for 5k more than we were asking in the first place.
 
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You should like a reasonable chap and know one knows your house better than you do.

Are you moving to another house? just apply the same principles that you are applying to your house in reverse when buying.

Also, try and find out the name of the surveyor and check they are registered with RICS it will give you the piece of mind that you are getting at least a potentially decent survey, good surveyors will welcome this, bad surveyors wont, also check they have some form of professional indemnity insurance just in case they miss something (like the asbestos issue in my previous reply). At £400-500 for the survey you would expect the surveyor to have spent a fair amount of time in the property to get a decent idea of its condition, try not to let them fob you off.

If you are looking at an older property its worth paying the extra money for a full RICS Building survey, on new builds and more modern houses the homer buyer report or even just a home condition report might be suitable.

It wouldn't be a bad idea to get the boiler serviced. You don`t really need the gas certificate just evidence its been serviced but for the sake of a couple of quid it might be worth having. It will give them one less item to list on the report and less ammo when it comes to negotiating a reduction in the purchase price.
 
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I have my moments. Yes reserved a brand new build. Slightly different. Just having a basic valuation on it as not worth paying for bigger survey and I wouldn't have in mine either to be honest.

That's kind of what I was thinking with the certificate. But that said we priced it 5k under other house one to sell quick and two that master bedroom could do with a re paint but I'd change colours in pretty much any house I bought anyway. I suspect I'm dwelling too much on the survey and that will find something I'm not aware of.
 
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A Homebuyers report is not a waste of time. If there is an issue you will be told about it. Vendors don’t like them when there are problems and buyers don’t like them when there aren’t as they can’t knock
money off. None of this is the surveyors fault
 
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Im sorry in this instance I think it was. Like I said he was here just over 20 mins for a 3 bed semi with garage and gardens front a back. No binoculars to look at roof, no damp meter no torch. Didn't measure any rooms. He literally stuck his head as far as chin into the loft and didn't try any light switches or plugs ect or even open the shower door run any taps. Didn't flush any toilets.

Id much rather the buyer came round themselves and spent time in tne house trying everything and bringing builders ect with them and saving themselves £500
 
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We're in the process of buying a mid 70s terrace and our homebuyer survey picked up a couple of potential asbestos issues (kitchen floor and garage roof) and loads of things like the lack of electrical and gas certificates, internal glass panel doors without reinforced glass etc. Some things we are not bothered about, some we are. It also picked up on an issue where the porch is coming away from the main building (thread incoming!!).

Part of me wishes we didn't bother with the whole survey as its just made the process that much more stressy and difficult as I now have to arrange for proper tests and builders etc. Burying my head in the sand would have been a lot easier!!

I guess the real issues start when the buyer and seller aren't on the same page when it comes to getting the issues put right and the whole art of renegotiating!!
 
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I can see the benefit in it but I personally think a friendly decent builder to come on a 2nd or 3rd viewing would spot most of the issues a home buyers report will pick up plus yoir own eyes. Surveyor didn't even ask for any certificates or boiler servicing ect.

Apparently all is fine and buyer is happy with report at this time and recieved formal mortgage offer today
 
Soldato
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Don't know how much a homebuyers report runs these days, but we did a building survey for the place I just bought in November and the £550 survey cost paid for itself 10 times over. It wasn't the last word in detailed surveying, but it highlighted a lot of things which we could use to leverage the price down. Good to be aware that this is an option as a buyer, and also to know how it works to be able to counter it as a seller.
 
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Don't know how much a homebuyers report runs these days, but we did a building survey for the place I just bought in November and the £550 survey cost paid for itself 10 times over. It wasn't the last word in detailed surveying, but it highlighted a lot of things which we could use to leverage the price down. Good to be aware that this is an option as a buyer, and also to know how it works to be able to counter it as a seller.

I think the buyer paid close to 500 for it. I guess depends on the house and quality of the surveyor. My house was only built in 2000 and generally in good condition plus don't think the surveyor was particularly thorough. Good for me I guess but not for buyer
 
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