How can a chartered surveyor help you when moving house?
Moving house is up there on the list of the most stressful events you’ll experience in your life. Even if everything seems to be running smoothly there are still factors beyond your control and a lot of procedures and paperwork to be completed before you can exchange contracts and pick up your keys. To help make the process as simple and stress free as possible you’ll need the help of a chartered surveyor.
What does a chartered surveyor do?
A chartered surveyor assesses buildings to find defects and identify future issues and possible repairs that might be required. They can also provide a valuation of a property if requested. These services are particularly useful if you want to know whether you are making a good investment, or just to provide peace of mind ahead of purchasing a property.
What services do chartered surveyors provide?
In brief, chartered surveyors carry out building surveys. These surveys involve inspecting the interior and exterior of a property to provide a report detailing any defects or future issues so that you have the right information available to help you decide whether to proceed with a sale, or perhaps to renegotiate based on the report findings.
When do you need to contact a surveyor?
It is a good idea to find a local chartered surveyor once you have put in an initial offer on a property and had it accepted. As most offers are made on a ‘subject to survey’ basis, it is accepted that once you have had a survey on a property that you might return to the agent and try to renegotiate the price based on what the survey has uncovered.
What issues might a home survey reveal?
There are 3 levels of homebuyer survey, ranging from a very simple condition report to a full structural building survey. The level of survey you choose will depend on the age and condition of the property and the alterations you may wish to carry out in the future. In general, a level 2 homebuyers report or level 3 building survey are the most widely used and these can uncover issues such as:
- Damp
- Subsidence
- Structural damage
- Asbestos
- Electrical issues
- Faulty drain pipes
- Roofing issues – such as missing tiles or flat roof wear and tear
- Woodworm or beetle infestation – particularly in timber framed houses
- Invasive plants such as Japanese knotweed
What can you do about a bad home survey?
If you are not happy with the results of your home survey and the chartered surveyor has unearthed issues and possible future costs that you haven’t foreseen or budgeted for, then you basically have three options:
- Pull out of the sale
- Ask the seller to fix the issues
- Renegotiate the price
As long as your offer is subject to contract then you are within your rights to pull out of the sale or request a change in the price. Depending on how many offers the seller has had or how keen they are to achieve a quick sale, they may be willing to fix the issues or reduce the price so that you can resolve them once you move in without having to be out of pocket.
When renegotiating or asking for the price to be lowered, it’s advisable to be honest about the issues, citing only what the chartered surveyors report entails and having done your research on what would be a reasonable price to fix the issues.
How to pick a good chartered surveyor
Now that you know what you need to do and the different types of report available, it’s time to discuss choosing a good chartered surveyor. It probably makes sense to work with someone locally, as they’ll be able to visit the property promptly and easily, but you should also do your homework in terms of their credibility and qualifications. The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) is the governing body for surveyors, so choosing a chartered surveyor who is registered with them will give you the reassurance that they are properly qualified. In addition to this, look for their reviews, both on their website and on Google, to see what others in the same situation have to say about their services.
Once you have chosen your surveyor and instructed them on the type of survey you require, it is time to relax and await the report, confident in the knowledge that whatever it uncovers, you are better to be informed than to proceed with a sale not knowing the condition of a property.
JTM Building Consultancy is a firm of chartered surveyors in Sutton Coldfield, offering both residential and commercial building surveys across the West Midlands. For more advice on the types of survey available and what you need to do when moving house please visit their website jtmbc.co.uk.