Find more information believe that the cost of a property survey is adding an unnecessary expense to an already very costly time. However, just how many buyers would feel confident buying a car without it having an MOT or service documents? Research carried out by the insurance firm Churchill showed that typically in the UK only 25% of most homeowners purchase a property survey for his or her new home. However, figures show that 56% of these that had major building works completed on their property after discovering pre-existing issues, said that if they had been aware of the faults in advance it could have influenced their decision to get the property. Exactly like with many second-hand purchases, it is useful to know the prior history and overall condition before you get.
1. A mortgage valuation will not benefit the homebuyer
A valuation informs the lender of the value of the property they are lending against, to confirm whether the property is worth what you are spending money on it. Through the valuation (usually significantly less than 20 minutes in length) characteristics of the property including significant defects which might have an impact on the property?s value are taken into account, however, the valuation scope doesn?t delve into common issues such as damp, dry rot, subsidence, in as much detail as a survey. It is also worth noting that the lender does not have to disclose the valuation report to the homebuyer.
Traditionally, a surveyor could have visited the property to compile the valuation report. However, these days, most valuations are completed remotely as desktop valuations. Desktop valuations do not require surveyors to go to the property, but instead depend on recent sales data, that is all gathered online and remotely.
2. Surveyors will take a target and impartial look at a house
All our surveyors take an impartial view when inspecting a home, which alongside their wealth of skills and experience, make it more like that they will be able to spot problems a buyer might not notice. While the average home buyer spends 35 minutes viewing a potential property before deciding whether or not to get it, our surveyors will spend at the least two hours inspecting the house (depending on the size). Our surveyors may also go in areas which you may not visit before relocating, such as the attic!
3. Save yourself an expensive bill down the line. If you can?t afford a survey, will you be in a position to afford any surprise repairs?
In line with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) buyers who didn?t get yourself a survey faced normally �5,750 worth of repairs when they moved in and 17% of these ended up paying a lot more than �12,000 normally to make their homes habitable. Ask yourself, when you can?t spend the money for price of the survey, is it possible to afford the hefty cost of house repairs down the road?
4. Find issues and address the impact with contractors before you invest in purchase and sign any contracts
If the surveyors encounter any defects that want expensive repairs, it doesn?t automatically mean you shouldn?t choose the property. Should the seller not desire to address the reported issues, you could utilize the report as a renegotiation tool, requesting the price of the house to reflect the cost of the repairs. By decreasing the purchase price, you will have the amount of money to do the repairs by someone that you select. Our digital home buyer report, Digital Home Survey, lets you send issues reported in the survey right to your contractors, for a quick estimate of work.
5. Your surveyor will have a broad understanding of known issues within your chosen area and any local risks
We realize that local knowledge matters. Our team of RICS surveyors could have a broad knowledge of your chosen area, forms of local property, and issues to look out for, such as past flooding or potential risk, proximity to pylons, overhead cables and electro-magnetic fields, current or past underground mining.