How do I find out if my house survey was ok?

[evilbungle]

Hi all,

Hope that this question is ok here as it isn't so much a general knowledge question as a request for some life experience advice.
I am in the process of selling my first house and there is one part of the process that I am unsure about and can't find the answer online.

DAK How (or If) I find out the result of the survey carried out by the people who are buying our house? Do they give a copy to our Conveyor? - Just to clarify - I am talking about the survey of the house I am selling that has been carried out by our buyers. I have tried to look up online when we find out if everything is ok, but all I have seen are articles about using the Survey to get some money off - which has now got us concerned so we really want to find out everything is ok so we know that they won't try and drop the price on us (Which we can not afford to do)

Sorry if this is something that is obvious but we have just never been in this position before and so I was hoping that the experience of this site may be able to help us.

Thanks for any help, and sorry if this is the wrong board, please feel free to move if it should have gone somewhere else.

EB

[richlist]

The survey details will be available to the person who commissioned the survey. If you didn't pay for the survey it's unlikely you will be given access to it. If your buyers use the results to try to reduce the price you can ask for and should be given evidence for the price reduction.

[evilbungle]

So it is not shared unless they are trying to get a cheaper price? Fair enough, In that case, How long do you think we would need to wait to understand if anything has come up from it? Obviously I am sure it will be different each time but does anyone with more experience know generally when it is likely there wasn't an issue? Should anything that will come back have come back after a week? or a month? or is there no way to know at all?

We are not expecting anything to have come up - not least because the Surveyor only looked around very briefly - but also want to know if everything is likely to be ok so we can stop worrying about it.

[richfool]

So it is not shared unless they are trying to get a cheaper price? Fair enough, In that case, How long do you think we would need to wait to understand if anything has come up from it? Obviously I am sure it will be different each time but does anyone with more experience know generally when it is likely there wasn't an issue? Should anything that will come back have come back after a week? or a month? or is there no way to know at all?

We are not expecting anything to have come up - not least because the Surveyor only looked around very briefly - but also want to know if everything is likely to be ok so we can stop worrying about it.

As richlist says, the survey is commissioned and paid for by the buyer, and therefore it is not available to you. If the buyer is obtaining a mortgage then it could be just a basic valuation for mortgage purposes anyway, (which is what it sounds like from your comment that the surveyor only looked round briefly), rather than a more comprehensive survey, though in either case it is not for your information.

Again as richlist says if it suggested that any significant work is required then the purchaser could refer to it when negotiating.

It's probably a case of no news is good news and I would expect you yo have heard something within a week or so. A way you might be able to confirm that all is OK, is to ask your selling agent (if you are using one), if has heard from the buyer that all is OK. Often the selling agent can "elicit" from the buyer whether there were any issues.

[Dod101]

Surely only if the price was agreed 'subject to survey' should there be any variation, and then you could have said 'Well OK but let me know if you are unhappy with the survey in, say a week'

The offer on my last house was 'subject to survey' and that is what I did. Admittedly I am in Scotland so I suppose that the practice may be different in England if you are south of the border.

Dod

[evilbungle]

A way you might be able to confirm that all is OK, is to ask your selling agent (if you are using one), if has heard from the buyer that all is OK. Often the selling agent can "elicit" from the buyer whether there were any issues.

Thanks Richfool, A good idea, I will leave it to the end of the week (Which will then be 2.5 Weeks) and if we haven't heard anything speak to our Agent and see if they will check that everything is ok.

[evilbungle]

Surely only if the price was agreed 'subject to survey' should there be any variation, and then you could have said 'Well OK but let me know if you are unhappy with the survey in, say a week'

The offer on my last house was 'subject to survey' and that is what I did. Admittedly I am in Scotland so I suppose that the practice may be different in England if you are south of the border.

Dod

We are in England so it may be different (but as I said this is my first sale so I don't really know the process well.) There was no mention of Subject to Survey but pretty much every website on the subject talks about getting the survey so you can ask for money off the offer price so it seems to be reasonably common.

[Dod101]

Surely only if the price was agreed 'subject to survey' should there be any variation, and then you could have said 'Well OK but let me know if you are unhappy with the survey in, say a week'

The offer on my last house was 'subject to survey' and that is what I did. Admittedly I am in Scotland so I suppose that the practice may be different in England if you are south of the border.

Dod

We are in England so it may be different (but as I said this is my first sale so I don't really know the process well.) There was no mention of Subject to Survey but pretty much every website on the subject talks about getting the survey so you can ask for money off the offer price so it seems to be reasonably common.

In which case I can see why it is so important to you. I hope it works out well.

Dod

[richfool]

A way you might be able to confirm that all is OK, is to ask your selling agent (if you are using one), if has heard from the buyer that all is OK. Often the selling agent can "elicit" from the buyer whether there were any issues.

Thanks Richfool, A good idea, I will leave it to the end of the week (Which will then be 2.5 Weeks) and if we haven't heard anything speak to our Agent and see if they will check that everything is ok.

If your agent is proactive (and keen to earn his commission), he ought to be checking the progress with the buyer and giving you regular updates (anyway). As the survey has been done, you could let him know that and enquire how things are progressing. After all you are paying him for him to look after your interests.

[Laughton]

I certainly don't claim to be an expert but have sold and bought several houses over my lifetime.

I think you can take it that, if the potential buyers are keen, they will have spoken to the surveyor the day after he carried out the survey for his/her initial findings/feelings about the house. That's certainly what I always did and surveyors seemed to be happy to give their initial impressions and would include any major causes for concern. Then a full written report would follow within just a few days.

As previous comments, if you are using an estate agent - speak to them and find out what's going on. They're earning a lot of money and if they are any good will be making sure that things are progressing in a timely manner.

Try to stay as relaxed as possible - selling (and buying) a house in England can be a very stressful experience and there are a number of stages to get through. It's definitely a lot more difficult than it should be.

[staffordian]

One point to bear in mind about these surveys is that unless the surveyor ripped up carpets, floorboards etc and thoroughly inspected every aspect of your house, which I'll wager he didn't, then the final report will be full of caveats, possibilities and suggestions for possible further investigation.

So basically, unless your house is in some way obviously defective (things like old fuseboards , visible lead pipes, leaking guttering, missing roof tiles etc might fall into this category), then the report will be of little more use than a chocolate fireguard and hopefully, of little use to a buyer in negotiating a price reduction

[Alaric]

So basically, unless your house is in some way obviously defective (things like old fuseboards , visible lead pipes, leaking guttering, missing roof tiles etc might fall into this category), then the report will be of little more use than a chocolate fireguard and hopefully, of little use to a buyer in negotiating a price reduction

Does anyone ever commission a "defensive" survey. In other words if you suspected defects not least because the house hadn't been subject to an inspection for sale in thirty years, would it be worth checking whether there were any obvious problems to fix before attempting to sell?

[EssDeeAitch]

So basically, unless your house is in some way obviously defective (things like old fuseboards , visible lead pipes, leaking guttering, missing roof tiles etc might fall into this category), then the report will be of little more use than a chocolate fireguard and hopefully, of little use to a buyer in negotiating a price reduction

Does anyone ever commission a "defensive" survey. In other words if you suspected defects not least because the house hadn't been subject to an inspection for sale in thirty years, would it be worth checking whether there were any obvious problems to fix before attempting to sell?

Defensive survey - no I have not but yes I would.

On my last house sale, the buyer commissioned a full survey the results of which scuppered the deal. The prospective buyer was kind enough to give me a copy of the report (which he was not obliged to do) and I then commissioned a surveyor to comment on the worst aspects of the survey. His conclusion was that I was "unlucky" with the first surveyor. Not very comforting at all.

The house sale went through with another buyer who commissioned their own surveyor. No serious faults were found and no price reduction was sought by the buyer. So, for me, two things; the quality of surveyor is variable and you need to hope that you are on the right side of the luck of the draw. Secondly, the next time I sell a house I shall commission a full survey (sellers pack anyone?) so that I can attend to any issues that are deemed necessary. This will enhance the sale value, speed up the transaction time and also prevent spurious claims of repairs needed so as to reduce the asking price.

[swill453]

Secondly, the next time I sell a house I shall commission a full survey (sellers pack anyone?) so that I can attend to any issues that are deemed necessary. This will enhance the sale value, speed up the transaction time and also prevent spurious claims of repairs needed so as to reduce the asking price.

Unlike the rest of the UK, Scotland did implement the mandatory "Home Report" paid for by the seller.

This contains sections:
- Energy Performance Certificate
- Single Survey
- Mortgage Valuation Report
- Property Questionnaire

The system has been in place for some years now and seems to work pretty well. The reports are given out freely to prospective purchasers by the sellers or their agents.

Prospective buyers are, of course, at liberty to commission more detailed surveys at their own expense.

Scott.