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What survey do we want? It needs to be more than just the valuation as it's a 1920s semi that hasn't seen any significant work for what I would guess is around 40 years. We've had a good poke around and other than the obvious things we know about i.e. needs a rewire I haven't seen anything obvious at a structural level like cracks or anything.
Is it worth going for the full level 3 survey or just stick with the level 2 one?
When we bought our first house we got a "more extensive" survey, I can't recall whether it had a level attached, but it was one up from the basic mandatory one the mortgage providers require where some bloke rocks up outside in a car to confirm that, yes, there is indeed a house there, and that no, it doesn't appear to be currently on fire or falling into a sink hole.
It was a waste of money to be honest. We got a lengthy report on all the things that could possibly go wrong, and which consequently sounded terrifying. I actually rang the surveyor up to ask him about it and he said: "well, it doesn't look too bad actually for a 100 year old house". We ended up buying it, and the things that did need fixing weren't picked up by the survey by anything other than a general catch-all paragraph.
I think we would have been served equally well by just having a good look round.
It was a waste of money to be honest. We got a lengthy report on all the things that could possibly go wrong, and which consequently sounded terrifying. I actually rang the surveyor up to ask him about it and he said: “well, it doesn’t look too bad actually for a 100 year old house”. We ended up buying it, and the things that did need fixing weren’t picked up by the survey by anything other than a general catch-all paragraph.
I think we would have been served equally well by just having a good look round.
This. We bought a 300 year old house and just had the basic survey and a good look around. Previous more detailed surveys on previous properties have been so enormously caveated as to be basically useless.
it’s a 1920s semi that hasn’t seen any significant work for what I would guess is around 40 years.
So, it's still standing after a hundred years, so is unlikely to fall over now, and any significant structural issues, if there were any, would be starting to show (and if they're not a survey wouldn't spot them either). It'll need rewiring, probably replumbing, and probably some roofing work. There you go, that'll be £500 please 🙂
100% agree with the above.
Basic survey and then pay a builder, plumber and electrician to look at it properly.
Ours failed to pick up on no insulation i. The loft, a boiler leaking air, water and oil, a garage door held on with bungee cords, a section of roof with no membrane, a garden wall which was near collapse, etc, etc.
That was a FULL survey, the most expensive type.
Pointless waste of money.
We didn't bother with anything more than the mandatory survey for our last house having felt thoroughly ripped off by the previous three purchases. We knew that it needed new windows, a rewire, plumbing and heating. We also knew it was dry and structurally sound from looking around it. If you know it needs a full refurb then it is unlikely to tell you anything you don't know, and as noted above, surveys are caveated so much that they basically tell you everything needs replacing anyway, or that they couldn't actually check that it wasn't damp/falling down, etc. because there was a sofa in the way.
My first house was about 100 years old. Had a full survey which was a complete waste of money and impossible to ask further questions. If you know any friendly trades get them to take a look or pay one to do it.
A 1920s semi will have all sorts of stuff wrong - that's just how they are. You'll never be done! 🙂
(Owner of a 1920s semi and 1900s semi before that!).
First house I bought I had the a homebuyer's survey done, the middle one between a valuation and a structural one. I happened to be there when he came to do it, what a waste of money it was! He knew nothing about damp management, or windows, timber etc etc.
Not had a survey done since beyond what the mortgage people need, this 130 year old house has thrown up no surprises since moving in, nor did the 300 year old cottage before that.
Funniest bit of self surveying was finding the porn stash at the cottage when I went into the loft 🙂
As above, cheapest one you can get to satisfy the mortgage requirements, then take some trusted tradesmen in. (or have a good poke round yourself - its not rocket science!)
I didn't get a survey on my current house (1950s terrace), as I was a cash buyer. Had a good poke round with my dad (former tradesman).
We knocked the price down a bit for one obvious issue.
There have been a couple of issues that a survey might have caught, and I could have knocked a bit more off, but I reckon it's 50/50 that they would have been picked up anyway.
Full survey on the 1920s terrace my ex purchased has been worth its weight in gold, in terms of substantiating a big discount.
24 pages of arse covering caveats?
Our current house was declared uninhabitable when we were buying it 😂
The cheapest will do.
Stoopidly paid for a “structural“ survey when we bought our barn. Found none of the glaringly obvious issues I’d noticed within a day of moving in.
What I should have done was brought a 3 pin flat plug and a bit of cable around and asked the previous owner to wire it up while I watched. Then asked them to show me how they’d join two bits of pipe with a compression fitting.