Why Property Surveys Are So Important

For most people buying a house is likely the biggest investment they’re ever going to make. Indeed this may well be the home you decide to leave to your future generations of your family to come. A small investment in a home survey will either give you peace of mind that your home is one that will stand the test of time or alternatively show you where the work needs to be done.

In an ideal world, your home wouldn’t have any issues. But, knowing those issues exist before you purchase can help you negotiate a better deal for the house. Not only that but, that information may well inform your decision on whether or not you wish to proceed with the purchase of the building. research shows that around 20% of buyers who did not have a survey done ended up paying £5,750 on average to repair defects in the homes they purchased. 

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Although finding a defect in your new home isn’t the most ideal situation, having prior knowledge of such an issue could help you negotiate a better deal on the house, or alternatively, you can ask the seller to repair these problems before you buy the property and provide warranties and certificates where possible.

The average home buyer will only have visited the property twice and have spent only around 38 minutes in the property before deciding to make their purchase. So, to say you won’t have had time to see every nook and cranny of the property would probably be an understatement. A  surveyor will spend hours in the house, investigating the property objectively. 

We’ve all got that one mate who has done a bit of building work and he’s offered to take a look, I’m sure that will be fine right? Unfortunately, unless your mate has had the five years of training it takes to become a surveyor and your mate probably isn’t trained in forensic building investigations, the causes of subsidence, dry rot, wet rot, and other potential risks that could befall your home. An experienced surveyor knows what they’re looking for and unlike your mate, our surveyor will give you an honest, objective evaluation of the house you wish to purchase. 

A survey can let you know exactly where the boundary lines are for your property. Which, right now may not seem that important to you, but moving into the future and you want to make alterations to your home could help avoid any unwanted disputes with your neighbors. This can help with the construction of fences, driveways, and extensions to your house.

Many people confuse a valuation for a property survey and that could be quite a costly mistake. Valuations only provide a mortgage lender with the price that the property is worth and doesn’t comment on the condition of the building. A detailed survey can tell you what repairs need to be done as well as the timeframe and cost of the work that needs to be carried out.

Most people will spend less than 2 hours in their new home before deciding to ‘pull the trigger’ this is hardly enough time for every nook and cranny to be investigated and even if you did have the time you probably wouldn’t know what you were looking for, right? Potentially a small problem when you moved in could turn into a massive disaster 6 months down the line! Having a survey on average saves buyers £5,750 in potential repair costs alone!

The main purpose of a survey is so that the purchaser knows exactly what condition the building is in. Helping them decide whether or not they what to make the purchase, negotiate a deal or just ensure the building is prepared to stand the test of time. Whatever the result, at Mccallums we believe it’s only right that you should make an informed decision! And frankly, the information that you can get from a survey as a potential home buyer is invaluable.