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When you’re looking to sell your freehold or leasehold home, a potential buyer might demand a survey that assesses and uncovers potential problems with your property. There are reasons why an owner would want to sell without getting a survey done, and this guide shows the issues involved with such an approach as well as steps to attract a fair and quick offer from a buyer.
- What does it mean to get a survey when selling your house or flat?
- Problems that surveys can uncover at your property
- Reasons why a homeowner may want to sell without a survey
- Buyers may be suspicious of a property lacking a survey
- Mortgages can be hard to obtain for a home without a survey
- Your choices for selling a property that does not have a survey
- Top questions and answers about selling property without a survey
What does it mean to get a survey when selling your house or flat?
Whether the home you’re trying to sell is a flat, house or any other type, and whether it’s freehold or leasehold, one issue buyers might often raise is getting a survey done.
Generally, a survey is a wide-ranging assessment of a property that you’re trying to sell, where potential problems can be identified for anyone interested in possibly making an offer to buy your home, as explained by Which?
Buyers typically request and pay for surveys, although there are situations where a seller might either be asked to organise this assessment or voluntarily have one done ahead of a sale.
To be legitimate, surveys must be done by a professional who is a member of one of three accrediting entities: Sava, the Residential Property Surveyors Association, and the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Surveys done by anyone else do not count.
There are three levels of survey that can be done for properties:
Level 1: Known as a condition report, this is the simplest type of survey that will include fewer details than a Level 2 or Level 3 assessment. Often referred to as “traffic light” surveys, they’ll summarise if there are no problems (green), some concern (orange) or repairs required (red).
Level 2: The first type of survey at this level is a homebuyer’s report, which offers more details than a Level 1 report and a review of your property’s overall value. This level also includes a home condition survey, another traffic light-style survey but with more information than Level 1.
Level 3: The most detailed and wide-ranging type of survey, referred to as either a full structural survey or a building survey. The expert doing this assessment will comprehensively review your property and identify its condition in great detail, with advice on any repairs that may be needed.
Problems that surveys can uncover at your property
Depending on the type of survey that’s done for a home, there are various structural issues and other factors that the expert will assess before producing their final report. Buyers could then use that information to decide on whether they’d still like to make an offer on the property.
Some examples of problems at your home that a survey might identify include:
- Damage to the property’s roof, which can vary from something relatively small like missing tiles through to large-scale flaws including a hole in the roof.
- Any drainage problems that might exist, which might be hard to detect but that can create hurdles with trying to sell a home, for example if it leads to foul smells
- Infestations from various insects, bugs, vermin and other pests that can vary widely in severity.
- The presence in the garden of invasive plants such as Japanese knotweed, because these fast-growing weeds can create a range of problems for homeowners.
- Whether damp is present at your property and, if it does, the extent to which it exists, because this is among the most frequently reported issues on surveys.
- Concerns about the electrics at the house or flat, which could be significant defects that require an urgent fix or less pressing but still problematic issues.
Reasons why a homeowner may want to sell without a survey
The comprehensive nature of property surveys helps in part to explain why some buyers may want to proceed with selling without getting this type of assessment done – because they might think that the eventual results of the survey will cause buyers to lose interest in the home.
In this respect, selling a home without a survey is similar to trying to find a buyer without getting a valuation on your property. Sellers sometimes don’t want valuations because they fear it’ll result in a price they think is too low for their home, but which will kept on a permanent record, and that it could negatively affect future decisions by buyers on how much to offer for purchasing the property.
Sellers might have a related worry that having a survey done will uncover problems that, even if they get fixed, will permanently be identified in that assessment. They could believe that this will create a stigma over the property that will make it much harder to attract buyers.
Cost can be another factor for why a homeowner might be reluctant to get a survey. Although the buyer typically pays for having the survey done, it’s possible that some buyers could insist that the seller funds this assessment – and it may be too expensive for their budget, especially if they are trying to avoid any extra expenses with the sale of their property.
That’s because a survey could cost at least £350 and possibly up to £2,500 or more, as noted on the website for True Solicitors LLP. But this is much less common a concern for owners compared to their fear about a survey uncovering a problem that could make it much harder to sell the home.
Buyers may be suspicious of a property lacking a survey
Even though you may be interested in selling your home without a survey being done, you could find that this could be the specific reason why a buyer may no longer want your home.
Buyers often look to surveys as a prime opportunity to uncover any problems with a property, and the results of the assessment can give owners the chance to fix certain issues before selling, as White Horse Surveyors notes on its website.
Just as you will likely want to be as informed as possible about the next property where you plan to live, potential buyers will seek as much detail as they can get about your home. And this usually means that they’ll spend money on getting a qualified professional to perform the survey, and then use the results of the assessment to decide on whether to make an offer.
The survey is useful for buyers because it can alert them to large-scale problems with the property that they will become responsible for as the next owner of the house or flat. Having these issues identified in a survey means that buyers can then calculate how much money it would cost them to fix the problem and decide whether that’s within their budget or not.
Without having full knowledge of any potential defects at your home, a prospective buyer could also have concerns that you’re concealing a significant flaw with the property that they’ll only learn about once they own it – and this fear can be a dealbreaker for certain people.
Mortgages can be hard to obtain for a home without a survey
The lack of a survey may also make it difficult for a buyer to get approved for a mortgage to afford your home. This is because lenders often look to the results of a survey to assess whether the property sale price is fair, and whether there are major issues that could make it harder to resell the home.
Mortgage providers in particular want to know about the viability of reselling a property for which they issue a loan, because this could end up being their only outcome if the buyer falls behind on the monthly mortgage payments once they own your home. If that happens, a lender may move to repossess and sell the property in order to recoup the outstanding loan amount owed.
Without a survey, a lender may worry there’s an uncovered problem with the home that could significantly complicate their future efforts to sell it and recover the remaining debt.
Should a buyer be relying on getting a mortgage in order to afford purchasing your property, it will make the sale collapse if they get turned down for such a loan. But there’s no need to be concerned that this is the only way to sell a property, as you have other options available.
One solution would be getting in touch with an honest no-fee quick buyer like LDN Properties, as these businesses are known for making fair and speedy offers to purchase practically any freehold or leasehold home, even those that are lacking a survey. You will also avoid paying commission, and the entire selling process should take no more than a few short weeks.
Your choices for selling a property that does not have a survey
When you are prepared to seek a buyer for your home without a survey, you’ll next have to select which approach to use for selling, whether that is selling to a quick property buyer, selling without any assistance, selling at a property auction or selling with an estate agent.
To identify which of these four methods might pair best with your unique selling needs, decide on your top aims with selling, such as whether you are willing to pay any commission, how long you are willing to wait to sell, and your goal selling price. Then measure these facts against the specific details of the options below to find the one that’s the closest to your situation.
You’ll find that some of the options have clear perks, such as being able to finalise the sale of your property within a handful of weeks with a quick buyer. And some other choices have notable cons, for example having to pay expensive commission when selling via an auction.
Selling to a quick property buyer
The speediest option for selling a home, particularly one without a survey, is by contacting a quick home buyer like LDN Properties, because they can complete the purchase of most homes within a few weeks, and that includes exchanging contracts and paying the owner the proceeds.
Quick buyers make rapid and fair offers for all properties that the buy, no matter their age, condition, location, shape, size or type, and regardless of whether there are issues that might discourage other types of buyers, such as the lack of a survey for the flat or house.
Since launching in 2003, LDN Properties has bought and made offers for many properties without a survey throughout the UK, as well as penthouse flats, houses with drainage problems, properties that have high levels of asbestos, homes that lack a kitchen or bathroom, flats with old electrics or faulty wiring, houses built close to mobile phone masts, properties that don’t have planning permissions, flats that don’t have much time left on their lease agreement, houses with septic tanks, properties where the owner can’t find the title deeds, flats with a regulated tenancy and other examples.
These companies can buy homes so swiftly because they already have the financial resources to do so, without needing to first get a mortgage – a process that can take many weeks or more. Their timeline of a few weeks is often much faster than the three other options for selling below.
Homeowners looking to keep their selling expenses low can also benefit from the fact that quick buyers will never charge any commission, so you’ll get to keep the entire proceeds. And there are no other costs associated with selling this way, compared to other methods in this guide.
Selling without any assistance
One of the more stressful ways to sell a home is doing so alone, which means you’ll handle all of the steps, starting with creating a listing that includes photographs of your property and a description of its main features. You’ll pay to advertise this listing and then schedule viewings to give buyers tours of the home, and finally hear offers, hopefully taking one through to a sale.
This is a lot of work, even for experts, and therefore you should only seriously consider it if you have managed to sell a home without a survey in the past, or if there’s an experienced family member or friend who may be willing to offer you their help at no cost. If not, you may be waiting for many months or even more than an entire year before you’re able to sell your home.
Surveys are usually done before contracts are exchanged on a property, as explained on the QLAW website. If you are selling without any help or a survey, that suggests you will likely be skipping this step, if you find a buyer who won’t demand the assessment be done before completing the purchase.
But remember that even if a buyer tells you they’re willing to overlook the lack of a survey, they could still cancel their offer and not face any penalties for collapsing the sale of your home, so long as contracts have not yet been exchanged. This would extend your selling timeline much further because you would have to start again with the search for a buyer.
The only tangible benefit of selling on your own is that you will not be required to pay any commission to an estate agent or auctioneer, which helps with reducing your total costs. But this saving might be wiped out by the money that you spend on advertising the listing.
Selling at a property auction
Auctioning your home without a survey is another option, where people will have the chance to place bids on the property of ever-increasing price. Your goal is to get many people interested in your house or flat and drive the final price very high, resulting in a decent profit.
But you may only get a single bid at the reserve price, which is the lowest value at which you can accept selling the property. This is a binding legal agreement to sell your home, and the buyer who placed the bid can sue to enforce the sale if you attempt to cancel it. That’s why you must choose a reserve price which is calculated to generate at least some profit.
To help with those calculations, note that the average auctioneer will charge commission at about 2.5 percent of the price your home achieves at the auction. This fee will add to your overall selling expenses because it will be taken out of the final proceeds right away. Some auctioneers could be open to setting a lower fee, so ask them if this is feasible.
Auctioning a house or flat may take many weeks or months, with a long delay between the day on which you opt for selling your home this way and the day on which the auction happens. Then, if your property sells, the buyer will usually have about a month to complete all their required actions to finalise the purchase, including signing the relevant legal paperwork.
There are some auctioneers who might be willing to negotiate a shorter deadline for the winning bidder to do these tasks, so it’s worth asking whether this might be possible. But beware that other auction houses could give the buyer even more time than the standard month.
Selling with an estate agent
Finally, you could sell your flat or house through an estate agent, and this can help to reduce your workload and stress because they will take care of the main tasks. Their work includes making and advertising a listing, handling viewings and hearing serious offers from buyers.
For putting in all this effort, the average estate agent will charge you commission within a range of 1.15 percent to 1.40 percent of your home’s eventual sale price. This will be deducted immediately from the sale proceeds, adding to your net expenses with selling.
Selling with an estate agent can often have a lengthy timeline, and you should not be surprised if it takes more than a full year before you are able to get a serious offer. Note also that someone can make such an offer but then withdraw it and make the sale fall apart. They can do this and not be subject to any penalties, so long as contracts haven’t yet been exchanged.
You might also find when selling with an estate agent that they insist on you obtaining a survey, because they don’t know how to get potential buyers interested in a property that doesn’t have such an assessment. If one of your firm positions with selling is that you don’t want a survey, you should review other options for selling, like getting in touch with a no-fee quick buyer.
Top queries and answers about selling property without a survey
Homeowners thinking of selling their home fast may want to ask a few questions, ranging from selling a home with problems through to selling without a lawyer involved. Here are a few questions you could ask when considering trying to sell without a survey:
Your top questions when selling property without a survey
Surveys are effectively assessments of a house or flat that you’re trying to sell. Whilst there are varying levels of surveys, generally they will look at a host of factors relating to the property’s structural integrity, condition, any faults and other factors. Surveys can uncover problems that may include asbestos, infestations, the presence of Japanese knotweed and more.
No, there is no specific law or regulation issued by the UK government that mandates the existence of a survey before you can proceed with selling your property – and some sellers would prefer not to have this assessment done. But you should be aware that the lack of a survey can complicate the sale of a home for buyers and for mortgage providers.
A buyer might find it difficult to convince a mortgage company to approve a loan to purchase your property unless they can get first get a survey done for it. That’s because the home loan provider will be wary about the lack of a survey and worry that there could be major faults with the home that remain uncovered and that could jeopardise reselling it in the future.
Being able to get approved for a mortgage is one of the primary reasons why a buyer might want to have a survey done on your house or flat before they make a serious offer on it. Another top explanation for why many buyers will want a survey is that they’ll rely on it to detect any potential significant problems with the home, such as damage to its structural integrity.
There are a handful of justifications for why the owner of a property could not want a survey to be done before selling. One explanation is that they could worry the survey will detect a problem that will be a dealbreaker for many potential buyers, and the assessment creates a record of this. Other sellers may view surveys as too expensive if they are asked to organise one.
If you sell your home using the services of an estate agent then they will usually charge a fee between 1.15 percent and 1.40 percent of your home’s final sale price, whilst an auctioneer often charges commission at 2.5 percent. But if you decide instead to sell your home without any help or to a no-fee quick buyer like LDN Properties then you’ll avoid paying commission.
Usually, you’ll find that the swiftest way to sell your property without a survey is contacting LDN Properties or another quick buyer, because the process will only take a few weeks and that includes paying the sale proceeds to you and exchanging contracts. Expect to wait many months at least when selling with an estate agent, on your own or at an auction.
