When to get property survey done?
Discussion
Hi,
I've just purchased a property, for the first time. However, at what point do I instruct a surveyor to conduct a building survey? (Will be carrying out some extensive renovations).
At present, I have instructed my solicitor to begin the purchase although the seller is a bit slow off the mark and has not yet instructed his conveyancer to begin the sale.
I've just purchased a property, for the first time. However, at what point do I instruct a surveyor to conduct a building survey? (Will be carrying out some extensive renovations).
At present, I have instructed my solicitor to begin the purchase although the seller is a bit slow off the mark and has not yet instructed his conveyancer to begin the sale.
valiant said:
Once your offer is accepted (written confirmation from EA) then it’s all systems go!
Forgive me for being th**k but the seller is using purple bricks. The offer has been formally accepted on the online system..... does that mean I can go ahead and instruct the Building Surveyors?You can but......it is unlikely that your solicitor / conveyencer will want to proceed with anything until they receive the draft contract of sale from the seller as this will define the property that is being sold and details of any other issues / items relevant to the sale. The potential issue with instructing surveys at this point is that something gets disclosed which makes that survey pointless. In practice, that probably won't be an issue but ideally you would chase the seller to get their draft contract over ASAP.
SSG1000 said:
Forgive me for being th**k but the seller is using purple bricks. The offer has been formally accepted on the online system..... does that mean I can go ahead and instruct the Building Surveyors?
I’d be very hesitant to instruct anything that costs money at this stage. PB and their ‘in house’ conveyancing team are horrendous to deal with as a buyer, I lost a couple of grand through eagerness to speed up a deal I later ran a mile from. SSG1000 said:
Hi,
I've just purchased a property, for the first time. However, at what point do I instruct a surveyor to conduct a building survey? (Will be carrying out some extensive renovations).
At present, I have instructed my solicitor to begin the purchase although the seller is a bit slow off the mark and has not yet instructed his conveyancer to begin the sale.
Are you actually having a proper survey for your benefit, or are you just after the minimum required for the purchase? I've just purchased a property, for the first time. However, at what point do I instruct a surveyor to conduct a building survey? (Will be carrying out some extensive renovations).
At present, I have instructed my solicitor to begin the purchase although the seller is a bit slow off the mark and has not yet instructed his conveyancer to begin the sale.
If you just want it for the purchase then the mortgage company will do it (probably a drive by). If you want a proper survey then beware. When I got a "full survey" done all I got was a list of things I should get a specialist to look at. As an example the survey recommend I get the wiring inspected. I thought I was paying the surveyor to check stuff like that and give an opinion, not write me a to do list.
A few years back I paid £359 to a bank to do the valuation survey and apply for the loan and when it came back all good, I instructed a local surveyor to do a full structural survey.
It was only when his secretary phoned the wrong estate agent, that it came out he'd accepted 2 offers and was hedging his bets, the other being a cash buyer offering exactly the same £££.
It was only when his secretary phoned the wrong estate agent, that it came out he'd accepted 2 offers and was hedging his bets, the other being a cash buyer offering exactly the same £££.
The idea is to get the survey done once you're serious about trying to buy the property but before you're committed to a final price. So if you've had an offer accepted, then now would be the time to get a survey done in case it uncovers something unexpected and dreadful that means you'll need to revise or withdraw your offer. And in your case I assume you'll be asking the surveyor to give an opinion on the renovations you've got planned? I guess there's the risk that his estimate of the likely costs may be higher than you're anticipating. Only fair to the vendor to crack on with the survey to qualify your renovation plan.
We sank a couple of thousand into a survey that uncovered fifty thousand pounds of pretty urgent roof repair. It was a bit of a shock to the vendors as the damage had been caused by a botched repair they'd had done only a few years before. They weren't the most practical people and they genuinely thought the original repair had been successful until our surveyor showed them the damage. The vendors weren't prepared to drop the price, so we withdrew our offer and walked. 2k paid to save us an unexpected 50k bill.
We sank a couple of thousand into a survey that uncovered fifty thousand pounds of pretty urgent roof repair. It was a bit of a shock to the vendors as the damage had been caused by a botched repair they'd had done only a few years before. They weren't the most practical people and they genuinely thought the original repair had been successful until our surveyor showed them the damage. The vendors weren't prepared to drop the price, so we withdrew our offer and walked. 2k paid to save us an unexpected 50k bill.
Edited by ATG on Tuesday 23 June 21:09
Thanks all for the responses - really proving to be useful.
We are seeking a full building survey due to building a two-story side extension, single story rear and extending into half of a tandem garage. Fortunately, we've already had a builder quote us for the build works etc and they are within what we anticipated - and reflected upon our offer for the property.
We know the roof is going to need a replacement, although the survey would give us peace of mind with respect to the structure of the building.
I think I may arrange the surveyors tomorrow....... better to spend the money now than find something unexpected later!
I will also be using an RICS qualified surveyor to undertake the job.
We are seeking a full building survey due to building a two-story side extension, single story rear and extending into half of a tandem garage. Fortunately, we've already had a builder quote us for the build works etc and they are within what we anticipated - and reflected upon our offer for the property.
We know the roof is going to need a replacement, although the survey would give us peace of mind with respect to the structure of the building.
I think I may arrange the surveyors tomorrow....... better to spend the money now than find something unexpected later!
I will also be using an RICS qualified surveyor to undertake the job.
Edited by SSG1000 on Tuesday 23 June 21:33
SSG1000 said:
I think I may arrange the surveyors tomorrow.......
Unless you're a cash buyer there's surely a mortgage company somewhere in the picture who will insist on a survey by somebody on their "panel" and with appropriate terms of reference. You don't want to end up having to pay two surveyors for two different flavour surveys.https://www.landc.co.uk/mortgage-guides/property-s...
The mortgage valuation is just that, a valuation. Sure, he may note the fact that roof is completely knackered, or if there is a 6 inch crack running across the front elevation, but his primary job is to protect the lenders investment. You may be able to get a building survey as an 'add-on' from the lender, but you'd have no way of specifying who carries it out, how experienced they are or asking them to answer specific questions related to the OPs planned extension etc.
It may cost more, but much better to get a recommended and reputable local surveyor who knows the local area and housing stock and who you can ask specific questions to about the cost/feasibility of your plans or even have a chat on the phone to if required. The extra cost is probably small beer in terms of the OPs overall spend, and it could save him even more in the long run.
For what it's worth, I'd probably wait until the vendors solicitors have sent my solicitor a draft contract before I paid for a survey. That way you know that your sellers are serious enough to have instructed a solicitor and paid disbursements etc....
It may cost more, but much better to get a recommended and reputable local surveyor who knows the local area and housing stock and who you can ask specific questions to about the cost/feasibility of your plans or even have a chat on the phone to if required. The extra cost is probably small beer in terms of the OPs overall spend, and it could save him even more in the long run.
For what it's worth, I'd probably wait until the vendors solicitors have sent my solicitor a draft contract before I paid for a survey. That way you know that your sellers are serious enough to have instructed a solicitor and paid disbursements etc....
Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 24th June 10:22
Edited by anonymous-user on Wednesday 24th June 10:22
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