11081 A question on purchase process in UK

There have been several threads about people buying property here and finding out after the sale and the rebuild has started that things were not as they seemed. Many times buyers appear to rely completely on the selling agent, geometra and builder to provide clear information on the property. (Many times these parties are connected financially)

Is this the process in the UK? In the US when a house is sold a third unbiased party is hired by the buyer to inspect the property and provide a report on the condition of the property, operating systems, etc. I realize in the US most people are not buying places to rebuild but this seems a logical step to alleviate some post-sale problems.

However, this may be a new concept to many buyers.

Category
Property Sales/Rental Advice

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 12/02/2008 - 02:49

It's normal in the UK for a home buyer to commission a "survey" of the property they want to purchase. This is carried out by someone independent of buyer and seller. There are various sorts of surveys. For the most basic, the surveyor gives the place a fairly cursory examination to see if the reality matches what the seller or estate agent are saying and to have a quick look for any obvious signs of major problems. A full structural survey costs more because the surveyor (supposedly) examines every part of the property he can look at without knocking holes in walls, lifting floorboards or digging trenches to look at the foundations.

It's also common for lending organisations to have their own survey done on a property before they agree a mortgage.

So, to answer your question, Brits are indeed familiar with the idea of a third-party inspecting a house prior to purchase. Why they often encounter problems in Italy is that, first, the concept is not a familiar one here and so the report one might get from a geometra will often be so general and vague as to be completely unhelpful while if you go for a much more expensive full engineer's report, it's likely to be highly technical and loaded with qualifications and disclaimers (all in Italian, of course). Also, as you say, outsiders normally have no idea of the links that exist between seller, agent and inspector and it's very likely that the Italians will not feel under any obligation to point these out to the potential buyer.

A truly prudent buyer considering buying an Italian ruin to rebuild would probably get the best idea of what that work will actually entail by hiring an architect to look at the property in it's present state and draw up plans and estimates. This, of course, is also the most expensive course (in the short term, anyway) and not one that many people looking at some picturesque collapsing ruin will even consider if they haven't taken on a similar project in the past. And, even if they do fork out for an architect, of course that still does not guarantee that problems, complications, delays and tensions will not occur during the project.

Al

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 12/02/2008 - 02:58

I totally agree with Al and I would add that it is important to get as many documents as possible regarding the property, not only the one you are buying but also neighbouring ones which may be the cause of problems. You can obtain those on line and the cost is worth it:

[url=http://www.evisura.it/immobiliare.php]E-Visura | Visure catastali, ipotecarie e camerali online[/url]

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Tue, 12/02/2008 - 10:11

"Also, as you say, outsiders normally have no idea of the links that exist between seller, agent and inspector and it's very likely that the Italians will not feel under any obligation to point these out to the potential buyer."

Thanks Al, I think this is the key and unless someone if familiar with the process here they won't know that each party is connected financially.