[Diny]

Not too sure where I should post this question, if it should be in the lounge then please accept my apologies.

We had a call today from a surveying company saying that they've been instructed by our buyer to come around to do the survey. They informed us that they have been instructed to do a 'homebuyers survey' which will take about an hour to an hour and a half.

Can anybody tell us what that involves? The reason we ask, there's no worries about access to the outside of the house but indoors is a different story. To move from room to room you need to work your way through a network of packing boxes, sea chests and all manner of things wrapped up ready for the off.

Do we need to move these out (God knows where too). The loft is now empty so that's not a problem - I presume they'll need to go up there.

Will he be able to see what he needs to look at or will we need to do some pretty major moving around for him. It's no big problem just a darn inconvenience that we could well do without at the moment.

Diny

[jubjub]

He will want access to every room and cupboard, but I dont see a need for you to move any of your cases, unless he asks, I presume you are going to be there?

He will have a good look around the house looking for signs of things like damp, dry/wet rot, any subsidence etc. He will want into the loft too to check the roof

You should be fine :nice1

[Danpoll]

well being an expert now in the inepitude of those within the conveyencing and soliciters of home sales I think I may be able to be of some assistance. There are three types of survey that you can have a little, medium and big. the big is aout 600 quid the middle about 400 and the basic ones are cheaper still. very few have the full one. my buyers (A******) went for the mid. The surveyor walked round for twenty minutes stuck his head in the loft and said the lounge door was too tight to close, we then pointed out a thing called a door wedge. and he was happy. 20 years experience he was a right charlie. Of course you would expect a career in the construction industry or a building related degree would be neccasary to be a buildings surveyor, but no a NVQ will be suffice. They then work within 5% of other ceiling prices of similar properties in the same area and then pull a figure from the sky.

Do you know what I dont like the real estate industry and anyone in it.

Tommorow I have to give a sworn affri David (spelling?) that I have never been stopped or prevented from walking to my property.

load of old tosh the lot it.

Dan

[adamsat]

We had the surveyor visit us yesterday for a "mortgage valuation survey" or the cheaper one. He just asked a couple of questions, counted the number of rooms and then walked around the outside of the house.

[Kim39]

Diny. Been told by her indoors(oh yeh she will be there on Sat) that a homebuyers survey is the full hit. Apparently, they are done on house's that are 30 yrs old or more. They will want full access, and this includes the loft where they can inspect the rafters and such like. They will be checking for wood/dry rot, damp, floorboards. All i can say is get rid of that CLOCK as that could create a problem :laugh but with that said if he keeps looking at it he may want to get out in double quick time. Leave it up it just might come in handy.......

See ya Saturday.

Kim

[Diny]

Thanks folks, I can't see that there will be too many problems. He'll have fun in the loft 'cos it's empty now !!!!

If he wants boxes/chests moving he can do it himself, he'll soon get fed up after the first couple :nice1

Diny

[Hannah]

We had a homebuyers survey on our house purchase 7 yrs ago. The guy missed a major roof flaw :oops: which we identified ourselves with the aid of a "guide to surveys" book :laugh

A neighbour said the guy spent 15 mins in the house (we weren't there) - I guess he would have spent more time if we were there!! If you have any dodgy bits lurking then maybe you need to be out when here turns up :laugh :laugh :laugh

Used the info found from our "guide to" book to negotiate ourself a decent discount on the purchase price in spite of the surveyor.......

[Hannah]

We had a homebuyers survey on our house purchase 7 yrs ago. The guy missed a major roof flaw :oops: which we identified ourselves with the aid of a "guide to surveys" book :laugh

A neighbour said the guy spent 15 mins in the house (we weren't there) - I guess he would have spent more time if we were there!! If you have any dodgy bits lurking then maybe you need to be out when here turns up :laugh :laugh :laugh

Used the info found from our "guide to" book to negotiate ourself a decent discount on the purchase price in spite of the surveyor.......

[jonSE]

As a professional in this field (Chartered Structural Engineer) - have surveyed in excess of 300 domestic properties in the UK that had suspected structural problems.

None of the surveys small, medium or large, that you will routinely pay for as part of a house purchase, are really worth the money. The building society will probably require the small around £150-200 valuation survey. This should take about 15minutes and is purely to protect the Mortage Co.s interest - is the house of sufficient value relative to their lending on it. Does it have any major defects that will seriously detract from it's value as surety against a mortgage.

It should take no more than 5 minutes to determine with reasonable probability of being correct that a property has either no serious defects (eg foundation failure) or has some structural defects that warrant further investigation or is just in such a generally dilapidated state that it would not provide sufficient surety against a mortgage. In the event of symptoms of some defect being found the next step is probably going to be some form of intrusive survey - ie digging trial holes to inspect foundations, removing plaster from walls, lifting floorboards etc.

Most of the surveys (quite often termed "structural surveys" which they are not) that folk pay a lot of money for are just a list of dilapidations that anybody who is not blind could put together for themselves.

If you are paying for any form of enhanced survey yourself the most important thing to ensure is that the surveyor or Engineer has lots of local experience. (I mean local to your area or even road, not has surveyed in the UK before.)

Cheers

Jon