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Mortgage valuation - RICS Home buyers report - Full Structural Survey

Once you have found a property it is advisable that you have a Valuation/Survey undertaken on the property - you have three choices

The most popular is the standard mortgage valuation - why is it the most popular? perhaps its because this is all the mortgage company ask for or its the cheapest at a very expensive time, but could this be short-sighted on the buyers part?

The problem with the mortgage valuation is that it is very basic, it will not highlight if the property is structurally sound, or any other problems, it will do just what it says - give you a valuation.

If it is important for your own peace of mind to understand the condition of the property better, there are two more in-depth options.

The most popular of the two is the Home Buyers Report licensed by the RCIS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) The report was revamped in 2010 to become more user friendly, whilst still wordy (around 25 pages) it has improved on the jargon it uses and adopted a traffic light system which ranges from Green - no repair to RED - URGENT INVESTIGATION !!

The report is brilliant for giving you peace of mind in what you are buying and if the report does show up and defects it will help you negotiate the price, the Home Buyers Report will also contain a valuation for your mortgage company.

Just a note of cation - please check that your mortgage company is happy with the surveyor you plan to instruct, some mortgage companies will only accept valuations from their own panel of surveyors.

A smaller report can also be commissioned called a 'condition report', this is useful for sellers when they go to market their property, generally, so they can fix any problems for a buyer in advance, this report does not include the mortgage valuation.

The final report is the Full Structural Survey, this is 'warts and all' report, it will cost you more but no stone is left un-turned!.

What report you choose may depend on the property, if you are looking at buying a 15 yr old property on an estate you may be happy with the mortgage valuation, however, if you are looking at buying a property that has vegetation on the inside, as a 'project' you may be best advised in having a full structural survey.

Whatever you do take advice.

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