marty_t3

If your not asked about it and the survey doesn't pick it up then don't mention it.

If you are asked about it, tell them. Otherwise it WILL come back and bite you. As Marko said, you'll probably get a form to fill in which will mention it. (I lucked out when i sold my last house, buyers survey missed some faults and nobody asked me about it so i just kept my mouth shut)

Edited cuz i just read your last post.

Send the seller a list of questions and ask them to reply in writing. They must declare it if you ask them.

[Edited by marty_t3 - 11/8/2002 2:10:56 PM]

RaZe-=Buzz=-

As far as I recall from last year, when I moved house and took advice about this, all the surveyor is giving you is "their opinion", and there's no legal comeback. You might as well get a random bloke off the street to have a look for you. You would have to prove serious negligence, but all they have to say is "it wasnt like that when I surveyd it" and who can argue?

I looked into this last year and bought a 90 year old house without having a survey done. It was cheap and the mortgage company did a cursory inspection, but all they cared about is could they get back the money they gave me if they sold the house.

Im sure there will be replies of "thats rubbish" (after all this is Scoobynet) but thats the advice I was given.

[Edited by RaZe-=Buzz=- - 11/8/2002 4:25:06 PM]

Dunk

iTrader: (1)

As above, if so, at what stage in the process ? (offer,survey etc.)

Dunk

red_dog104

The survey should pick it up. If it doesn't then plead ignorance! Once contracts are exchanged then there is no comeback.

MarkO

You'll be asked about it in the sellers information questionnaire. Having said that, your buyers' survey should pick it up, really.

MarkO

Wrong. Very wrong.

If it's found that there was subsidence (or any other major physical problem with the structure of the house) and can be proven that you were aware of it and didn't disclose it, you can be sued after the sale. Speak to your solicitor about this before trying anything 'clever' on the recommendation of a Scoobynetter.

Dunk

iTrader: (1)

I know the house has had it(I want to buy it), but wondered whether the seller had to disclose it, or what would happen if the surveyor missed it ?

Dunk

iTrader: (1)

Just to clarify I WANT TO BUY IT, I'M NOT SELLING IT.

dsmith

Keep quiet, hope they dont mention it. Agree your price subject to survey. Ensure your surveyor finds it. beat them down some more on price.

Deano

dnb

Be careful. If the surveyor finds (or at least reports to the mortgage co.) the subsidence, you may not get a mortgage, and you may struggle with buildings insurance.

That is if you are going to have a mortgage...

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

All houses subside to some form, now if its gone down 1 foot in 20 years id walk away but you are covered if the survey doesnt pick it up as thats what you pay them for

Tony

druddle

If you want to make sure then specify to the surveyor that you think theres a problem and for them to pay particular attention to that area when surveying. That way theres no real way they could miss it.

I found out also this week that i have a small 5 yr old tree that was planted in my front garden when the house was new before i bought it. My uncle, a builder, said that if it gets very big, the roots could damage the footings and affect a potential buyer from getting a mortgage on the place if a surveyor points it out. So make sure that trees arent too close (or get your uncle to run it down with his Land Rover )

Dave

Puff The Magic Wagon!

iTrader: (2)

The seller must declare something that might fundamentally affect the value of a property if they know about it. If they don't & they know, then they can be well & truly sued later...

Dunk, as the purchaser also has a duty of care to the mortgage company (if one being used) to declare things - could be consrued as fraud otherwise.

I'm guessing that you might be hoping the surveyor misses it, then "find" it & claim of someone's insurance to have the work done, which must include a fair bit of re-decoration as otherwise you probably wouldn't be considering it??

Fraud.

rik1471

How very moral of you red_dog104

mattstant

Dont bet on it especially if its a valuation survey on behalf of the mortgagers and the mortgage is less than 50%.

red_dog104

Hey, I'm just bitter cause the same thing happened to me when I bought my 1st house and the b*stards that sold it to me got away with it cause the solicitors said there was nothing they could do!

Dunk

iTrader: (1)

I know they have had it underpinned & all to my untrained eye looks ok, do they have to tell me or is it down to my surveyor etc to discover it ?

mattstant

bit of both Dunk you especially need to see the bills for the work and find out what guarantees were given

MarkO

If you have suspicions, or know it's been underpinned, then tell your surveyor.

Having said that, if it's been underpinned, there's probably nowt to worry about.

mattstant

Caveat Emptor (buyer beware) no longer applies red dog if you dont disclose you can be sued for any devaluation of the property and cost as well .
Some old dear forgot to declare everything and lost everything she had.

MarkO

This is very true. I speak from bitter experience. We bought a 180-year-old cottage, and hence had a full survey done on it. Despite examining the roof in detail, the surveyor failed to pick up on the fact that the roof slates had been swapped for concrete tiles with without the purlins being uprated to strengthen them to support the extra weight.

We had to pay over £12k to get it sorted, and decided we'd sue the solicitor for negligence - but after 5 minutes with a solicitor we were told "don't even bother trying - the small print absolves them of any blame or comebacks" - and he was right.

Basically, surveyors are a complete waste of money, unless it's somebody you explitly know and trust. [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

RaZe-=Buzz=-

and even then its only THEIR opinion!

Go and look - if its an old house, why would it suddenly start to fall down the moment it's yours? Common sense - ANYONE can look round a house and see if the windows are all out of square, big cracks in all the walls, damp, mould, badly fiting doors etc etc. You can see the roof from across the street so are there big areas of tiles different from the rest? are there any missing? Look in the attic for signs of obvious leaks and massive shafts of daylight etc etc. Thats the reasoning I used - few minor cracks, but hey, it was built in 1909, they all do that sir.

And after all its a building and can be repaired. Minor stuff will always need doing - these things aren't self healing.

And anyone who buys a new spit and tissue paper house... well... it'll fall down in a year anyway, they are crap

C hrist, this is sounding like a lecture! I DONT know anything about it really, I've just got my own memories of sucessfully buying 2 houses with no nightmares. DONT BLAME ME!