House buying.

[Electric_Andy]

First question.

Local solicitors or national firm?

Seems a large variety of pricing.

I've excluded the brokers rightly or wrongly.

Local 100%. My mate/colleague went through a national firm which was recommended by the agents (I think). He had nothing but trouble. They would rarely answer calls or emails. They sent him paperwork with someone else's details on, TWICE, which delayed things significantly. They would not accept any responsiblity. They probably aren't all like that, but we used local ones where we could actually go into the office and chat. And they actually answered the phone. They do not want to risk their repuation being spread by word of mouth. Something a national firm won't care so much about

 

[JohnHughes307]

Totally bucking the trend, I just sold my home, then separately bought a new one using a national firm of conveyancers - MJP. I would use them again in an instant. Meanwhile my buyers used a local solicitors who were absolutely abysmal! MJP have an excellent online portal with very quick response - they do nothing else except conveyancing and are very good at it. Prices are fixed and seemed very reasonable to me.

 

[Jameshow]

Totally bucking the trend, I just sold my home, then separately bought a new one using a national firm of conveyancers - MJP. I would use them again in an instant. Meanwhile my buyers used a local solicitors who were absolutely abysmal! MJP have an excellent online portal with very quick response - they do nothing else except conveyancing and are very good at it. Prices are fixed and seemed very reasonable to me.

I couldn't see a breakdown in fees / costs tbh.

 

[dicko]

A local solicitor always.

 

[steveindenmark]

I have bought over 20 houses and always go with a local solicitor. Someone who everyone knows and the agent will vouch for. It's a no brainer for me.

 

[Jameshow]

Second question.

Full survey or mortgage survey?

 

[ianrauk]

Second question.

Full survey or mortgage survey?

It all depends on what type of property it is, it's age and it's condition. There are 3 levels of survey. Most opt for level 2 which is very detailed anyway. If an older style property that may need structural work then a level 3 is best.

 

[Gunk]

Second question.

Full survey or mortgage survey?

Homebuyers report is probably the best middle ground IMO, it’s also a much more consumer friendly report, easy to navigate.

 

[Profpointy]

I went to a local firm for my last but one purchase, though he'd retired before my current house. I think he was recommended by someone. He had more in depth knowledge of aspects of my flat the the surveyor despite never having set foot in the place. TBH I'm not wholly convinced the surveyor set foot in the flat either but that's another story. There is a potential advantage of a local firm as they are more likely to be aware of local foibles of how deeds and leases are set up, or determining which things that come up in searches that actually matter. They likely know who the local officer for this or that is.

He subsequently sorted out out wills for us too, and unlike a "will writing service" was happy to send an editable copy in MS word and being a lawyer was familiar with the complexities of my position at the time.

Word of warning: a friend's dad bought a house via a conveyancer to save money but got the value of the house embezzled when the conveyancer did a runner with all the money. There are, at least in theory, backup insurances with proper solicitors

 

[Jameshow]

It all depends on what type of property it is, it's age and it's condition. There are 3 levels of survey. Most opt for level 2 which is very detailed anyway. If an older style property that may need structural work then a level 3 is best.

Standard stone built semi.

I couldn't see anything that phased me tbh. Having built an extension in the past and done home maintained on three previous houses...

I'll take a deeper dive when I go to view again tomorrow.

 

[Profpointy]

Homebuyers report is probably the best middle ground IMO, it’s also a much more consumer friendly report, easy to navigate.

I had a "homebuyer's report" for my flat. Despite it costing a grand it was utterly hopeless including such gems as "a random sample of windows were checked and some found to be stuck". There were only 6 windows in the entire flat and none were stuck if given a shove. Another gem was "cracked ceiling, could be expensive to replace, not checked closely as didn't have ladder". So you've charged me a grand and not actually brought a small folding ladder to check and you haven't even looked properly ! It was inconsequential flaking paint in any case - easily determined by me (did I bring my ladder or merely stand on a chair?) There was a bigger list of things not checked than even superficially actually looked at. I was fuming but in the greater scheme of things let it go as I needed the purchase to go through. Basically I felt I'd been defrauded.

Went for the bare minimum for the house we subsequently bought and it seemed OK; basically a valuation and what seemed a fair enough overall assessment.

 

[Gunk]

I had a "homebuyer's report" for my flat. Despite it costing a grand it was utterly hopeless including such gems as "a random sample of windows were checked and some found to be stuck". There were only 6 windows in the entire flat and none were stuck if given a shove. Another gem was "cracked ceiling, could be expensive to replace, not checked closely as didn't have ladder". So you've charged me a grand and not actually brought a small folding ladder to check and you haven't even looked properly ! It was inconsequential flaking paint in any case - easily determined by me (did I bring my ladder or merely stand on a chair?) There was a bigger list of things not checked than even superficially actually looked at. I was fuming but in the greater scheme of things let it go as I needed the purchase to go through. Basically I felt I'd been defrauded.

Went for the bare minimum for the house we subsequently bought and it seemed OK; basically a valuation and what seemed a fair enough overall assessment.

the report sadly is only as good as the surveyor who produces it, and there are some slap dash, lazy surveyors out there.

 

[DRM]

Get a proper roofer to check the roof condition, my son did this after the surveyor said the the roof was basically ok, but may need some work later, yeah right, roofer said it was shot and needed at least £10,000 spending on it, then we found out several sales on the property had fallen through!!

 

[Gunk]

Get a proper roofer to check the roof condition

in my experience they’ll always find something, it’s like asking turkeys to vote for Christmas.

 

[ebikeerwidnes]

in my experience they’ll always find something, it’s like asking turkeys to vote for Christmas.

To be fair the surveyors always find something as well
then "advise" you to get it checked properly by an expert

I had a survey once where they claimed a possible problem with pretty much everything and recommended a specialist look at it

so I backed out because it would cost a huge amount to get all the experts in and the buyers were just not prepared to compromised on the cost of anything