To Survey or not to survey a 2nd hand house?

B

BA

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I waiting for Ulster bank to organise the valuation of property. Should I wait until the valuation is carried out before getting a survey done or is a structural survey only necessary if the valuer recommends it?

Also are structural survey actually worth it? I hear mixed reports of the surveyors just taking a quick look of the house and not even checking the attic - saying ' it fine - that will be €300 please'.

Or is it just for peace of mind.
 
Get the survey done. The valuer is valuing only - he/she may or may not spot something and put you on the right track but he/she has no responsibility to you.

Get the survey done after contracts have issued ( contracts will show any planning issues e.g. unauthorised developments) and after loan approval has issued. If you do your survey beforehand and problems show on title and/or you cannot get a mortgage, you've wasted money.

Are they worth it? I think so. I have a friend ( a lawyer to her shame ) who did not get even a rudimentary survey and found the house to be riddled with dry rot when she started renovating. It is your choice. Try and get a recommendation for the surveyor from a friend or colleague.

mf
 
i think the age of house is a big factor. it it is an old house there could be all sorts of problems hidden away and a survey gives that extra peace of mind plus the surveyor can be sued if there are expensive problems that he didnt spot.
for newish houses that have nothing visibly amiss,it is a waste of money in most cases
we are moving and our buyers surveyor came out today to check out our 7 year old semi. he had a general poke around , checked that all the windows were opening and closing etc. the most technical thing he did was get us to flush the loos while he looked down the drains to see they werent blocked.
anyone with a short checklist could have done the same thing and saved themselves €500
 
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If the house is older than say around 15 years you should definitely get a survey done, or at the very least have a friend with good construction experience check it out - this is probably the biggest investment of your life so its smart to have all possible risks assessed.

I can highly recommend Joe Lynch of Collins Maher Martin ([broken link removed] This crowd were recommended to me by my BoI broker and they did valuation at a reduced rate cos it was done at the same time as the survey.They were highly professional throughout and produced a very detailed report. I'm fairly clued in on this subject but they included some points on parts of the property not complying with building regulations etc. that I would not have picked up on. Cost of survey was €285 plus VAT for 3 bed semi-d in D12, and reduced valuation cost was €75 (bank paid this so not sure if there is VAT).

I have also heard recommendations of Martin Ridge (thinks its called Ridger Surveyors or something).
 
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If it looks like a lot of DIY has been done then it may be worth it too. There could be more problems than a dodgy paint job if the DIYer got ambitious!
 
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