Eyes wide shut?

Why Have a residential building survey (RBS)?

When you first decide to move house you take a lot of time and effort sorting through details and choosing the properties that look right to you.  You spend a whole day (or several of them!) looking at different houses and finally you choose one (usually!).   You put in your offer and it is accepted and, of course, you are very happy that you have started to secure your new home.

However, how long did you really spend looking at that house closely even if you went back a second time? And how much did you really see while you were there?

When we look at a house as a potential home we seem to spend a lot of time imagining whether our three-piece suite will fit into the living room, what colour we will paint the bedroom or trying to decide if we can afford to re-fit the kitchen in six months.

Few of us take the time, or have the expertise, to look beyond the rose-tinted glasses and see what work might need doing in the structure of the property for example, re-pointing chimneys, repairing roofs, dealing with damp or even more serious problems.   One surveyor has even found that we spend more time looking at the estate agent than the house we are viewing.

Indeed few of us take the time to instruct an independent expert in the form of a Chartered Surveyor (who does have the expertise to pick up on these problems) to look after our interests.  Statistics tell us that as few as 20% of homebuyers instruct their own survey, independent of the mortgage valuation.

So what is available and why should you spend more when this property seems to be costing you hand over fist already?  Many of us will have to obtain a mortgage to buy that desirable new home and this being the case will have to have a Mortgage Valuation carried out.

You can find out more by clicking on the buttons below: