It seems inconceivable that you would buy something expensive without inspecting it or checking out the details first, before parting with your cash, but there are an alarming number of homebuyers who make the biggest purchase of their life, without getting a survey beforehand.
When you use conveyancing solicitors, they will find out about any legal issues that you need to be aware of related to the property you are purchasing, but it is your responsibility to arrange a survey to see if there are any major defects that would affect your decision to go ahead with the transaction.
Are you prepared to gamble?
It seems that many hundreds of thousands of homebuyers will complete on the purchase of their new home in the next twelve months, without even finding out whether the property that will be their home, is actually in a good state of repair or not.
If you are buying your new home with a mortgage, your lender will require you to pay for a valuation survey, but that is a report that is only intended to confirm if the bank will get their money back if you fail to pay the mortgage, and doesn’t give any detailed indication of the buildings current state of repair.
If you were presented with a substantial bill for a major issue such as dry rot in the property, shortly after you moved in, you would rightly be horrified to be forking out such a large sum of money, but that is the sort of gamble you are potentially taking, if you avoid paying for a comprehensive homebuyer survey.
Which type of survey
There needs to be an increase in the number of homebuyers getting a professional property survey done as only 20% of us take this course of action at the moment.
A fundamental point that you need to understand is that a mortgage valuation is not a property survey. Although it is perfectly understandable that if you are buying a house, there will be lots of expenses to consider, so shelling out for an expensive property survey doesn’t seem like an attractive proposition, but the consequences of cutting corners in this area of the process, can be much more expensive when a problem is subsequently discovered after you move in.
Also Read: Three Reasons Why First-Time Homebuyers Can’t Afford Not to Buy Now
A survey as opposed to a valuation report, is a detailed inspection of a property’s condition.
There are different levels of surveys available, but even a standard condition report, which is the cheapest option , should give you some clues and warning flags, if there are any. You might find that this report will use a traffic light system, with green meaning something is considered ok, whereas red would suggest some serious repairs are needed.
More detailed survey
A homebuyers report is much more detailed, and will highlight any obvious major defects that are discovered during the inspection, such as dry rot and subsidence.
Even though this is a more detailed survey, the surveyor is likely to be non-intrusive during their investigation. This means that they won’t lift up floorboards or drill any holes to confirm their findings.
If you want to ensure that everything is as it should be with the house you are buying, you should consider paying for a building survey. It is expensive in comparison to a basic report, but if it uncovers a major issue, it could end up saving you thousands in repair bills.
When you consider how much of your money you are investing in buying a property, are you really prepared to skimp on a detailed survey, when you consider what is at stake?
