Our offer of 90k on a 3 bedroom semi, Ex Council house in S6 was accepted yesterday.
We now have the decision of what type of survey to go for

Home buyers basic report at £245
In-depth building survey at £400

Any advice greatly appreciated

Well if I was a betting man I wouldn't bother with the basic one - its the cheapest but then again they tell you sod all and would probably entail them driving past the place to see if it is still standing. Homebuyers is more expensive but can give you a good idea of anything that could potentially need doing or things that you may be able to negotiate the price with....this is generally the middle of the road option. There is a third option which is the most expensive and you would have to be looking at a really run down place to fork out on that one.....my advice would be go for the home buyers to give you a good idea of what you are getting for your money.....a few quid extra spent now could save you a load more later!

I used the Homebuyers as the one for the property i bought and knocked some off the price for the damp proofing work required - good luck!

Who are you applying for a mortgage with?

Most companies usually have a set of rules as to what survey they require you to have done before they'll go ahead and lend you the money. Some even insist that you use their own surveryers as well.

For your own peace of mind I'd recommend the more expensive survey as the problems it might uncover could run to far more than £400 and should inform the decision to pruchase or not.

Same as everyone else, go for the homebuyers. It it shows nothing its a waste of money - except peace of mind. If it shows something could save you thousends!!

You only need a basic if you are buying a new build, your an expert or come from a family of builders!!

Peace of mind is best :thumbsup:

With surveys you really do get what you pay for- unless you have bottomless pockets you NEED to have the most in-depth survey that you can afford.

Even well behaved houses are frequently money pits- anything you can do to protect yourself against this has to be considered, especially with the 'bodgit and scarper' council maintenance that the house will have had over the years.

If the house has subsidence or dry rot or any of the other dreadful things that houses have which cost a fortune to repair, this is your one opportunity to find out and back out of a deal that could cost you dearly (or get the seller to sort it out before the sale). In a basic survey they may not even get access to the loft space to look at the roof- there could be any number of problems up there not visible from the ground. Don't take the chance with the biggest purchase (and biggest debt) of your life.

Originally posted by whatdyaknow
Well if I was a betting man I wouldn't bother with the basic one - its the cheapest but then again they tell you sod all and would probably entail them driving past the place to see if it is still standing. Homebuyers is more expensive but can give you a good idea of anything that could potentially need doing or things that you may be able to negotiate the price with....this is generally the middle of the road option. There is a third option which is the most expensive and you would have to be looking at a really run down place to fork out on that one.....my advice would be go for the home buyers to give you a good idea of what you are getting for your money.....a few quid extra spent now could save you a load more later!

I used the Homebuyers as the one for the property i bought and knocked some off the price for the damp proofing work required - good luck!

Oh dear! My question to you really would be 'whatDYAknow?'

The 'basic' Homebuyers report IS the Homebuyers report! The structural surveys are somewhat different and entail alot more, but generally not required for most properties. The 'basic' Homebuyers is not just a drive past to see if its standing! What you are talking about there is a 'basic DT valuation' which can be done from your desk if you have the right facts and figures in front of you.

In any Homebuyers report, where access cannot be obtained (such as below suspended timber floors overlayed with tiles), the surveyor will make you aware of that. It is more often then not the case the surveyor will recommend you have the utilities in the property checked independently, and maybe even have a more in depth damp survey done on certain properties.

The Homebuyers report does have an insurance backed guarantee, is is carried out by a chartered surveyor.

The kind of survey you require very much depends on the type of building you are purchasing and its previous history (ie. changes of use etc)

Hope this helps.

Originally posted by medusa666
In a basic survey they may not even get access to the loft space to look at the roof- there could be any number of problems up there not visible from the ground.

Even a valuation survey entails a 'head and shoulders' inspection of the loftspace! If you can get access to it, its not the surveyors fault, unless you want a new hole in your roof :)

Originally posted by 1Man&hisBMW
Even a valuation survey entails a 'head and shoulders' inspection of the loftspace! If you can get access to it, its not the surveyors fault, unless you want a new hole in your roof :)

It certainly does. We got the basic valuation done for our first property, a solid, 25yr old end terrace. We know for certain that the surveyor peeked inside the loft, because she dropped the hatch cover when trying to replace it... which subsequently bounced several times off the walls of the stairwell, damaging the paint... which was then repainted in a slightly different (but very noticeably so) shade of yellow. Very irritating - we had to repaint the whole thing!

We had the cheap one in August and would have benefitted from the more expensive one.
If you can afford it (and I'm sure it feels like another knife in the gut) have the more in depth one.
What's more - question what is said. We were told the electric wiring was in adequate and that there was asbestos in the house and immediately pooped our pants. We rang for explanations, were told that the surveyors don't talk to the customer, rang the surveryor direct and found the most helpful man who actually wrote us a letter to confirm the info which could have a legal effect when we sell.
Anyway - electrically, there are just too few sockets for modern living. So what appeared to be a rewiring nightmare turned out to be an inconvenience only. It cost us around £180 to make life easier.
The asbestos is actually asbestolux and is apparently a safer alternative. Of course, the basic report won't tell you this much detail, you'd have to follow up to establish detail.
So, if you really can't afford the more expensive one, speak to the surveyor or ask to be there when they do it.
Best of luck!

Yep, good advice there. Just speak to your surveyor who is 9/10 pretty helpful and will tell you the in's and out's anyway.

Yes the full surveyors (or structural surveys) do cost more, and do involve more, but only required on certain properties in my opinion. Zebras property may be one such example.

Good luck with your purchase. If you need the number of a very competant surveyor, send me a PM and I will refer you on.