WilkoRam Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 Don't know if anyone on here is experienced with house buying. Basically me and the Mrs are moving from our flat and buying our first house together. We got a home buyers report and when reading it, it sounds like it'll be expensive work in the new place. There are a number of actions: Specialist to make a full examination of all timbers Inc underfloor areas to ascertain extent of timber defects Specialist to investigate the cause and extent of damp within the building and carry out appropriate remedial work Quotation from contractor in respect to repair cracking between kitchen and extension Qualified registered electrical contractor to test electrical circuitry and report as to it's condition with quote of any repairs There a few other things but wanted to know if this was more covering their backs or things I should be concerned about before we sign contracts. Any help or tips appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boycie Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 PM me for a price of a Periodic Inspection and Test of the Electrics if you need one. 10% discount, as always, for members. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilkoRam Posted April 25, 2011 Author Share Posted April 25, 2011 Place is in Hemel fella, bit of a trek if you're still in the motherland Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boycie Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 Get Peter Cox Preservation to do a free damp check and report. Make sure there's no carpets down, or they are able to look at the floor boards or under them even downstairs. If the floor sounds solid underfoot downstairs, then it'll probably be just woodworm check and damp proof check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boycie Posted April 25, 2011 Share Posted April 25, 2011 Place is in Hemel fella, bit of a trek if you're still in the motherland Meh! bread and jam for another week! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramms Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 Having worked for mortgage companies and brokers for over 20 years I've seen loads of valuation/home buyers reports. Most people choose to have the cheapest basic valuation which as the names suggests is very basic - just gives you very brief details of the property and any essential repairs or further reports needed - together with the valuation of the property. All of this takes about 20 mins and is enclosed in 2 pages of A4. Now a Home Buyers Report sees the valuer/surveyor spend about a hour and a half to 2 hours at the property and the report is about 10-12 pages long with headings that the valuer has to comment on. These obviously give a lot more detail and look at what areas are also going to require maintenance over the next 5 years or so. In most cases this leads to a lot more information being given to the buyer and can seem quite scary and off-putting because it looks like there is loads that needs doing to the property. However a lot these issues are standard issues that are seen on almost every report, the reason being that they have to cover their own backs against being sued for negligence. Damp-proof reports are recommended every time there is a slightly higher reading than normal from the damp probe they put against the walls. If he suggests a damp report he has to suggest a timber inspection as well because the 2 are linked. Again the electrical reports are recommended on almost every case unless it obvious that it has recently been rewired Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ramms Posted April 29, 2011 Share Posted April 29, 2011 sorry posted before i'd finished!! some will even ask for a report or suggest seeing the safety certificate even if it appears to have been recently rewired. Of the comments you've stated, the one i would be more concerned about would be the cracking. It's not too serious as he has not told you to get a structural engineers report, it may just be the foundations of the new addition settling if its a fairly new addition, and the crack just needs filling. What I would suggest you do is telephone the surveyors to speak to the person who inspected the property and just ask are these areas of serious concern that need addressing immediately. If you are not comfortable with doing this yourself ask your mortgage adviser to do it - thats what you have employed them to do (even if you have gone direct to a bank) Hope that helps Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilkoRam Posted April 29, 2011 Author Share Posted April 29, 2011 Cheers for the advice. We had our mortgage advisor over the other day who put our mind at ease. Re the crack. I spoke to the surveyor who simply said that it would need stripping away to look at the crack in the ceiling properly and determine the extent of the problem. The crack is between the original end of the house and the extension so the obvious worry is a lack of sufficient support as they've removed a supporting wall. The extension was done in 1973, I'm hoping this means if it was a major issue it would have collapsed by now. I guess it's probably advisable to get someone to inspect it more thoroughly incase it's a problem. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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