When you buy a house for the first time you will quickly realise that there is a lot to get your head around, especially as you are new to the world of house buying! One thing that many people don’t realise is part of buying a house is the survey. Some may have heard about it but do not realise what it entails. Read on to find out more about the property survey…
A survey is something that is done to provide detailed report of the condition of the property for the buyer. Even though you have been to see the house before deciding to purchase it, and you may have even been to look around it several times, you won’t have been able to have a detailed look at the condition of the property – this is where a surveyor comes in.
When buying a property have a look for a local surveyor, like Sam Conveyancing building surveys Birmingham, or ask people you know who have moved recently if they will be able to recommend one to you. It is not essential that you have a survey done in most cases, but it is strongly recommended – a survey may be able to uncover any potential future problems so you will be able to work out the cost of fixing them, and in some cases, it may prevent you from buying a house that turns out to be an expensive mistake!
Some reasons that people might particularly choose to have a survey done on the property are if they feel that there is a particular part of the property that could be a concern, if the building is quite old or is a listed building, if the roof is thatched or if you are not sure what sort of things to look for when looking for problems and don’t want to have to make repairs when you move in.
There are also different types of surveys that can be done on a property. A level one survey is called a condition report, and this is the cheapest option. It is there to provide information to support the mortgage valuation but doesn’t go into a great deal of detail. If you don’t have many concerns and the property isn’t very old this may be the best option for you.
A level two survey goes into more detail and it will show you any big problems, but this isn’t a completely thorough survey as the surveyor will not make any changes to the property such as looking under floors or behind walls.
Level three surveys are the most expensive, but they will provide you with a very thorough report of all the details you will need to know when weighing up the condition of the property. It will also advise on the repairs needed and the costs of them that you can expect to pay – this is a good idea if you are purchasing an older property or if you have some concerns about it.
