Homebuyers Report or full building survey?
Discussion
Got to the stage where I need to decide what kind of survey to have on the house I am buying. There is a lot of debate amongst friend/family/colleagues as to the merits of both.
I am conscious of the extra cost of a full building survey and whether it would benefit us that much. The Homebuyers report seems pretty detailed, plus the lender is not going to give me a mortgage if the place is about to collapse etc.
The property is a Victorian semi in very good internal condition. RICS say the homebuyers report should be adequate for any house built in the last 150 years, however other websites suggest much earlier.
Any thoughts? Should I fork out for the extra assurance, or am I wasting my money?
I am conscious of the extra cost of a full building survey and whether it would benefit us that much. The Homebuyers report seems pretty detailed, plus the lender is not going to give me a mortgage if the place is about to collapse etc.
The property is a Victorian semi in very good internal condition. RICS say the homebuyers report should be adequate for any house built in the last 150 years, however other websites suggest much earlier.
Any thoughts? Should I fork out for the extra assurance, or am I wasting my money?
Homebuyers report:
Brief report filled with caveats to ensure no come back on the surveyor. Of little use, takes 5 minutes to read.
Full Structural survey:
Very long report filled with caveats to ensure no come back on the surveyor. Of little use, takes 2 hours to read, then a further weak to organize all the "suggested additional reports" which will also cost you an arm and a leg.
Brief report filled with caveats to ensure no come back on the surveyor. Of little use, takes 5 minutes to read.
Full Structural survey:
Very long report filled with caveats to ensure no come back on the surveyor. Of little use, takes 2 hours to read, then a further weak to organize all the "suggested additional reports" which will also cost you an arm and a leg.
Davi said:
Homebuyers report:
Brief report filled with caveats to ensure no come back on the surveyor. Of little use, takes 5 minutes to read.
Full Structural survey:
Very long report filled with caveats to ensure no come back on the surveyor. Of little use, takes 2 hours to read, then a further weak to organize all the "suggested additional reports" which will also cost you an arm and a leg.
Quite! So which would you go for? Estate agent suggested building survey only if you have doubts over the structure of the house. Homebuyers report seems to assess issues such as damp, cracks, subsidence etc, whereas the full survey assesses them a bit more! Brief report filled with caveats to ensure no come back on the surveyor. Of little use, takes 5 minutes to read.
Full Structural survey:
Very long report filled with caveats to ensure no come back on the surveyor. Of little use, takes 2 hours to read, then a further weak to organize all the "suggested additional reports" which will also cost you an arm and a leg.
Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
Edited by Legend83 on Tuesday 22 April 15:43
Both reports will contain caveats to ensure no comback against the surveyor, that is standard practice.
What the full report will tell you is whether you are likely to encounter any problems in the future. To say neither report is any use is ill-informed. It is true there's unlikely to be any comeback against the surveyor, but one will give you a much, much better idea about the state of the property. Don't be fooled by a good internal appearance. You don't know what nasties are hiding behind the fresh paint.
If you are serious about this property rather than drawing up a short list, you would be silly not to have a full survey done. it might bring up nothing, but equally it might save you a lot of cash in the long run.
What the full report will tell you is whether you are likely to encounter any problems in the future. To say neither report is any use is ill-informed. It is true there's unlikely to be any comeback against the surveyor, but one will give you a much, much better idea about the state of the property. Don't be fooled by a good internal appearance. You don't know what nasties are hiding behind the fresh paint.
If you are serious about this property rather than drawing up a short list, you would be silly not to have a full survey done. it might bring up nothing, but equally it might save you a lot of cash in the long run.
JonnyV8 said:
150 YEARS?!!!
There's no hard and fast rule for what you go for but anything over say 40-50 years old (depending on property type, location etc) I'd start thinking about a full survey. There's much more comeback should anything major rear it's head once you've purchased.
No there isn't - they make damn sure there is no comeback by putting caveats in on anything and everything. They simply advise you to get professionals in for every conceivable outcome - if you don't, then they are covered. If you do and there is a problem, they are covered. If you do and there isn't a problem, no skin off their nose, they've just cost you £x,000 in additional reports to ensure their P.I. is not put at the slightest risk.There's no hard and fast rule for what you go for but anything over say 40-50 years old (depending on property type, location etc) I'd start thinking about a full survey. There's much more comeback should anything major rear it's head once you've purchased.
Legend83 said:
Davi said:
Homebuyers report:
Brief report filled with caveats to ensure no come back on the surveyor. Of little use, takes 5 minutes to read.
Full Structural survey:
Very long report filled with caveats to ensure no come back on the surveyor. Of little use, takes 2 hours to read, then a further weak to organize all the "suggested additional reports" which will also cost you an arm and a leg.
Quite! So which would you go for? Estate agent suggested building survey only if you have doubts over the structure of the house. Homebuyers report seems to assess issues such as damp, cracks, subsidence etc, whereas the full survey assesses them a bit more! Brief report filled with caveats to ensure no come back on the surveyor. Of little use, takes 5 minutes to read.
Full Structural survey:
Very long report filled with caveats to ensure no come back on the surveyor. Of little use, takes 2 hours to read, then a further weak to organize all the "suggested additional reports" which will also cost you an arm and a leg.
Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
Edited by Legend83 on Tuesday 22 April 15:43
The additional level of "assessment" in a full survey is IMO utter b
ks - I've seen a "full" structural survey done in under 15 minutes and, surprise surprise, it listed all the possible bad things that could happen and suggested getting full reports done. There was NOTHING wrong with the property.Had a home buyers for my 1st house, then decided to splash out on a full survey for the 2nd, it was a complete waste of money, the vendor told us the surveyor didn't even look in the loft never mind lifting any carpets. It made a big point that the windows would need replacing, no st sherlock!?, they were the original windows dating back to 1936 and rattled like tin cans behind a wedding car! My half blind Great Uncle Bert can work that one out.
After this and other minor issues were highlighted it was still valued at the amount that we had affered and subsequently been accepted (£10k over asking!)
For our latest house we went for the homebuyers and spent the rest on beer and curry!
Also you can just pay for indemnity insurance anyway if anything goes wrong.
Can you tell that I don't rate surveyors?
t sherlock!?, they were the original windows dating back to 1936 and rattled like tin cans behind a wedding car! My half blind Great Uncle Bert can work that one out.After this and other minor issues were highlighted it was still valued at the amount that we had affered and subsequently been accepted (£10k over asking!)
For our latest house we went for the homebuyers and spent the rest on beer and curry!
Also you can just pay for indemnity insurance anyway if anything goes wrong.
Can you tell that I don't rate surveyors?
Davi said:
Homebuyers report:
Brief report filled with caveats to ensure no come back on the surveyor. Of little use, takes 5 minutes to read.
Full Structural survey:
Very long report filled with caveats to ensure no come back on the surveyor. Of little use, takes 2 hours to read, then a further weak to organize all the "suggested additional reports" which will also cost you an arm and a leg.
Brief report filled with caveats to ensure no come back on the surveyor. Of little use, takes 5 minutes to read.
Full Structural survey:
Very long report filled with caveats to ensure no come back on the surveyor. Of little use, takes 2 hours to read, then a further weak to organize all the "suggested additional reports" which will also cost you an arm and a leg.
That sounds about right!
I guess the advantage with the full structural is that at least you'll know some of the faults - maybe it would make a good negotiating tool too?
The disadvantage (which happened on the first house I bought when I was quite short of cash) is that surveyor for the building society and my surveyor were one and the same people. (Small town). So he therefore had more knowledge of the house (courtesy of me) and was able to advise a retention on the mortgage - where money is held back until certain repairs are made....
I'd advise going for the full one, it's a big undertaking buying a house. Maybe it'll throw something up that you really should know about - maybe not.
I had a homebuyers on a old house - our suveyor wrote a 20-30 page detailed report with lots and lots of good points and recommendations - we asked him to upgrade to a full buildings suvery if he had any concerns when out there - which he didn't. We then had to get specialists to assess damp, wood and roof.
Neither!!! I would go for a basic valuation then get structural engineer to give you a report. If you think it needs it.
Surveyors are specialist at nothing! Anything they dont like you need a specialist report for. Electrics, Plumbing and Heating, Structural, damp....
If the surveyor doesn't like something for the basic valuation he will tell you what else you need to get checked.
Surveyors are specialist at nothing! Anything they dont like you need a specialist report for. Electrics, Plumbing and Heating, Structural, damp....
If the surveyor doesn't like something for the basic valuation he will tell you what else you need to get checked.
Edited by Smirnoff on Tuesday 22 April 16:00
Homebuyers: 30 minute scout round and will not do more than shine a torch in the loft, check the durability of the fittings, windows, guttering, report on any obvious cracks and very brief damp check. Brief recommendations.
Full strucural: 2 1/2 hours spent at the house, going into the loft to examine the roof, examine drain, examine cracks in walls, examine the external roof with binoculars, guttering, soffits, bargeboards, go through the house looking for damp. Quality of fittings & windows, even the structural integrity of the garden shed! Quality of wiring, plumbing, central heating. Full list of recommendations prioritised as urgent and non-urgent with timescales.
Had a full structural done with our current house as it was underpinned in '96 for clay soil shrinkage. Difference in price about £500, peace of mind, priceless.
Even managed to haggle on one of the findings and got £1k knocked off the asking price so it paid for itself really.
Full strucural: 2 1/2 hours spent at the house, going into the loft to examine the roof, examine drain, examine cracks in walls, examine the external roof with binoculars, guttering, soffits, bargeboards, go through the house looking for damp. Quality of fittings & windows, even the structural integrity of the garden shed! Quality of wiring, plumbing, central heating. Full list of recommendations prioritised as urgent and non-urgent with timescales.
Had a full structural done with our current house as it was underpinned in '96 for clay soil shrinkage. Difference in price about £500, peace of mind, priceless.
Even managed to haggle on one of the findings and got £1k knocked off the asking price so it paid for itself really.
Coco H said:
I had a homebuyers on a old house - our suveyor wrote a 20-30 page detailed report with lots and lots of good points and recommendations - we asked him to upgrade to a full buildings suvery if he had any concerns when out there - which he didn't. We then had to get specialists to assess damp, wood and roof.
Reading between the lines, are you saying that your 20-30 page Homebuyers report screwed you?Smirnoff said:
Neither!!! I would go for a basic valuation then get structural engineer to give your a report. If you think it needs it.
Surveys are specialist at nothing! Anything they dont like you need a specialist report for. Electrics, Plumbing and Heating, Structural, damp....
If the surveyor doesnt like something for the basic valuation he will tell you what else you need to get checked.
Surveys are specialist at nothing! Anything they dont like you need a specialist report for. Electrics, Plumbing and Heating, Structural, damp....
If the surveyor doesnt like something for the basic valuation he will tell you what else you need to get checked.
this is the only really safe way to do it. I'd ask yourself what you are most worried about - if it's subsidence / heave / slip, then the first thing the surveyor will suggest is to get a structural engineer to check it, so you'll have £1000 fee from a surveyor to tell you to pay a S.E. £600 for a report...Legend83 said:
I am definitely serious about the property and we plan to live there for at least 5 years. My only concern is that the house is on an incline, but from what I gather this would be assessed through the homebuyers report.
I hate decisions like these!
I live in Sheffield and I haven't heard of any houses falling down hills I hate decisions like these!
It can be an advantage, at least it won't flood!
Unless there is evidence of subsidence which is normally obvious and a Homebuyers will pick this up.
Also look for signs of damp, make sure all the down pipes are ok and the guttering isn't blocked. Look for mold etc on the walls and any evidence of peeling wall paper inside and any damp coming through plaster.
Most of the problems are normally in view its just wood rot which you can't see.
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