The nervous wait to exchange....

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squerble said:
Yea the surveyor didn't even pick up on one of the windows not sealing properly because it looks like the window frame is slightly twisted/warped, and a couple of other bits.

As this is the third house we've tried to buy, shy of it falling down we won't pull out now.
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So long as there is no structural damage, you will be fine.

I Would be perfectly fine buying a dump of a house as long as the structure is good.

I would just tear out all the interior and redo it all bit by bit but the main thing is to make sure the foundations and structures is sound. Windows, wiring, walls, floors and even the roof etc can all be done and fixed up easily.
 
newbuilds are always a bit off putting from my POV. There are a handful of smaller developers that do quality builds but majority of bigger ones cut corners. My mate bought one and it's shocking quality, one of the windows for e.g. wouldn't close, he can hear his neighbors drop a spoon in their kitchen etc. Just awful, hopefully the one you're looking at is better!
 
Homebuyers surveys (level 1) are barely worth the paper they are written on. They are just to satisfy the mortgage company that if you default they won't be too much out of pocket.
Even a level 3 survey, whilst more comprehensive is just a more in depth indicator of what you're getting yourself into.
The surveyors themselves also have to protect thier own backs so they will always have disclaimers and say things like 'bit of moss on roof' recommend hiring a professional to appraise and make good, estimate £500.

So you do have to read between the lines a little bit. But a level 3 survey will be more comprehensive and highlight actual faults in general structure/roof /damp that could cost serious money.

It's worth doing a level 3 survey at a minimum unless it's a new build, but if you're buying a more complex place listed building /extensions and structure modifications maybe an even more in depth custom survey.
A level 3 shouldn't cost any more than £600, dunno where some people are getting quotes from lol!
 
mattyfez said:
Homebuyers surveys (level 1) are barely worth the paper they are written on. They are just to satisfy the mortgage company that if you default they won't be too much out of pocket.
Even a level 3 survey, whilst more comprehensive is just a more in depth indicator of what you're getting yourself into.
The surveyors themselves also have to protect thier own backs so they will always have disclaimers and say things like 'bit of moss on roof' recommend hiring a professional to appraise and make good, estimate £500.

So you do have to read between the lines a little bit. But a level 3 survey will be more comprehensive and highlight actual faults in general structure/roof /damp that could cost serious money.

It's worth doing a level 3 survey at a minimum unless it's a new build, but if you're buying a more complex place listed building /extensions and structure modifications maybe an even more in depth custom survey.
A level 3 shouldn't cost any more than £600, dunno where some people are getting quotes from lol!
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We did a Level 2 survey on the house as it's only 5 years old :)
 
For info: our survey (summer 2020) cost £720 and got us a straightforward £8k off the price already agreed due to some things it highlighted. It also gave us some focus on where to direct funds once we'd moved in.
 
mattyfez said:
Homebuyers surveys (level 1) are barely worth the paper they are written on. They are just to satisfy the mortgage company that if you default they won't be too much out of pocket.
Even a level 3 survey, whilst more comprehensive is just a more in depth indicator of what you're getting yourself into.
The surveyors themselves also have to protect thier own backs so they will always have disclaimers and say things like 'bit of moss on roof' recommend hiring a professional to appraise and make good, estimate £500.

So you do have to read between the lines a little bit. But a level 3 survey will be more comprehensive and highlight actual faults in general structure/roof /damp that could cost serious money.

It's worth doing a level 3 survey at a minimum unless it's a new build, but if you're buying a more complex place listed building /extensions and structure modifications maybe an even more in depth custom survey.
A level 3 shouldn't cost any more than £600, dunno where some people are getting quotes from lol!
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When I was looking at options for surveys I found them incredibly vague and caveat almost every part of their report.

Things such as "Won't move furniture", so basically could be a huge damp patch that the vendor has covered with a sofa and they would never pick it up or if there is no loft ladder they won't check inside the loft. Perhaps I was just speaking to bad companies.

My dad is in property maintenance industry and hes done a once over on the property we are buying (Early 1900's build) and I have a friend's dad going in next week who is a surveyor for the local council. He said he can't do a 'official' report as such because we aren't paying but if he finds anything then I will certainly put it forward to the vendor. If they want a professional opinion then I feel more comfortable paying for a specific report to be done e.g. roofing or brick work.

If he says its all good then ive saved myself a few hundred quid!
 
mattyfez said:
Homebuyers surveys (level 1) are barely worth the paper they are written on. They are just to satisfy the mortgage company that if you default they won't be too much out of pocket.
Even a level 3 survey, whilst more comprehensive is just a more in depth indicator of what you're getting yourself into.
The surveyors themselves also have to protect thier own backs so they will always have disclaimers and say things like 'bit of moss on roof' recommend hiring a professional to appraise and make good, estimate £500.

So you do have to read between the lines a little bit. But a level 3 survey will be more comprehensive and highlight actual faults in general structure/roof /damp that could cost serious money.

It's worth doing a level 3 survey at a minimum unless it's a new build, but if you're buying a more complex place listed building /extensions and structure modifications maybe an even more in depth custom survey.
A level 3 shouldn't cost any more than £600, dunno where some people are getting quotes from lol!
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lol surveyors level 3 are north 1000!!!

600??!?! lol where? They are around 1000+ in the london area
 
We were quoted anywhere between £200-400 for a Level 2 in the Liverpool area, ended up getting them for £200 through the mortgage provider. Most Level 3s were definitely in excess of £1000 from what we saw.
 
uuuh our sellers being a pain, they now apparently have a chain, was not the case when we asked a couple weeks back, including our solicitors and their solicitors. No one knew, we pushed for exchange and now we're back sitting waiting for them to come back with update on what they're doing. So deposits left our accounts, in our solicitors account and were ready for exchange but we're back to square 0. This costs us £65/transfer to do too so extra money wasted. I hate this process.
 
@grudas that sucks, least with us we discovered the mistake about 4 weeks back…still such a blow to discover your no where near as close as you though.

We’re almost there our side now, but have no idea what the end of chains situation is and the EA is getting no response for the last few weeks.
 
Itchytrigg said:
@grudas that sucks, least with us we discovered the mistake about 4 weeks back…still such a blow to discover your no where near as close as you though.

We’re almost there our side now, but have no idea what the end of chains situation is and the EA is getting no response for the last few weeks.
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We’ve askew multiple times and were told no chain ready to move or rent temporarily. Now their own solicitor can’t get hold of them. And they’ve gone with someone else to handle the rest of the chain. It’ll be a long ride for sure and our mortgage offer expiry is getting closer and closer.

I hope yours goes through ok.
 
Biz.Kid09 said:
I don't really fancy paying both a mortgage and the rent. Worst case, I can get out of this flat and just go back to my parents for a couple weeks until we complete. It is a risk of course if everything collapsed.
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That's not really the worst case though. The worst case is you hand your notice in, the purchase falls through or (even worse) takes an extra 6 months to complete over what you expect and completely out of your control and you're a bit screwed!
 
grudas said:
We’ve askew multiple times and were told no chain ready to move or rent temporarily. Now their own solicitor can’t get hold of them. And they’ve gone with someone else to handle the rest of the chain. It’ll be a long ride for sure and our mortgage offer expiry is getting closer and closer.

I hope yours goes through ok.
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Sadly people are **** or ***** when it comes to this stuff - as I've posted before acquaintances have had people do stuff like go on a months long holiday, near the end of the process, to the South of France and expect everyone else to wait on them, etc.

I have to hand it to our estate agent as weird as that sounds to say - she was brilliant about kicking people into gear especially the solicitors and people in other parts of the chain who were holding things up.
 
Peerzy said:
That's not really the worst case though. The worst case is you hand your notice in, the purchase falls through or (even worse) takes an extra 6 months to complete over what you expect and completely out of your control and you're a bit screwed!
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Yup.

I personally wouldn't hand a notice until I have the keys in my hand
 
Peerzy said:
That's not really the worst case though. The worst case is you hand your notice in, the purchase falls through or (even worse) takes an extra 6 months to complete over what you expect and completely out of your control and you're a bit screwed!
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Handing in the notice removes the responsibility of rent off my shoulders. If I have to move to my parents for a day or so till its sorted then no issue. If it collapses, then I will get another rental. The one upside of rental properties is their availability.

Anyway, its a moot argument. I spoke with the landlord today, explained my situation and she has no problems. She just said let her know the date of completion on the house and jobs a good un. Be it a month or two weeks.
 
LuckyBenski said:
I paid 550 for a L3 survey in Bedfordshire so, not London but not miles out. Some of my tenders when looking for firms cane from London based companies.
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Oooo that sounds decent, our lvl2 survey cost more than that.

Who did you use if you don't mind saying?
 
-Ad- said:
Oooo that sounds decent, our lvl2 survey cost more than that.

Who did you use if you don't mind saying?
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WELL - I will preface this with the fact we're about to raise a complaint so not an unhappy customer, but feel they could improve their process for future clients.

The firm was recommended by a friend who just completed a purchase and he showed me his report, I was pretty impressed. Ours was a similar standard, pretty thorough, lots of photos, lots of attention to detail. However we think they failed to do some of the technical report process correctly e.g. not categorising risks by rating (1, 2, etc). The result of this is that we didn't rank issues as seriously as we might have if they had labelled them better. I believe there is a standard RICS process which they outlined but didn't completely follow.

They did spot lots of things we didn't know about and it was very very informative, considering we only got 2x 20 minute viewings ourselves. I wouldn't say it didn't help. But I feel that we would have acted differently e.g. negotiated costs of work before completion, had we realised which ones were critical. So yeah, don't regret having the survey done but potentially got unlucky with our particular experience.

The firm is called Allcott, should be first Google result.
 
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