Surveys and buying a home
A survey tells you what is wrong and almost never what it costs. That gap — between a list of problems and a decision you can act on — is where most buyers lose either money or the house.
Read the report in this order
Condition Rating 3 items first: those are the surveyor’s actual concerns and the basis of any renegotiation. Then every instruction to obtain further investigation, written down as a list of jobs to commission before exchange. Then the caveats, which tell you how much of the building was never looked at. Only then the Condition Rating 2 list, which is ordinary maintenance that almost every house has.
"Further investigation is recommended" is a task, not a verdict
It means the surveyor could not see enough. An engineer’s report, a CCTV drain survey, an EICR or a damp inspection each cost a few hundred pounds and convert an open-ended risk into a number. Do them before exchange — afterwards you have no leverage and no way out.
Sellers respond to schedules, not to worry
What moves a price is a specific, evidenced, costed list of work that genuinely needs doing now, presented in one page through the agent. What does not move a price is a dated kitchen, single glazing or general decoration, because those were visible when you offered and the price already reflected them.
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Every guide on this topic
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