Single Survey
What is a Single Survey?
The Scottish Executive wanted those looking to buy a home in Scotland to have access to an enhanced level of information.
In other parts of the UK, surveys are carried out later in the home buying process and the outcomes of these can cause sales to fall through.
The Scottish system is designed to prevent this waste of time and money by providing much more detail upfront.
A Single Survey is the first part of a Home Report.
The assessment takes into consideration the property within its setting in a neighbourhood, as well as looking at the age, type, construction, parking and accommodation of a property.
This is the power of choosing a surveyor with local knowledge and, like us at Ruth Brown & Co, local passion.
The complexity of the property market in the Highlands and Islands can be easily misunderstood by those who don’t know the area well.
Taking all of this into consideration, your surveyor is able to give a market value estimation, as well as a Reinstatement cost for insurance purposes.
The report is detailed, including any areas that were not able to be inspected but that could impact the condition or value of the property overall.
There is an accessibility report included in this section. This is designed to help people with disabilities know more about the ease of accessibility, or opportunities for adaption, in and around the property.
Not only will there be a lot of detail, there is also a summary version. This list enables buyers to understand, quickly and easily, where urgent repairs are required, what future ones to be aware of, and also what requires no action.
The list is split into categories:
Category 1 means that no immediate action or repair is needed
Category 2 means that there are repairs or replacements that will require future attention
Category 3 means that urgent repairs or replacements are needed now
This checklist is vital for sellers. Used wisely, it means sellers can get tradespeople in to quote for the various jobs noted. These estimates can then be extremely useful when it comes to negotiating offers, using facts, not supposition.
We recommend that any Category 3 issues are investigated prior to marketing the property. The best way to do this is by getting trusted, local tradespeople to provide quotes for any points raised. These can be then presented to potential buyers along with the Home Report in order to provide a further layer of information and reassurance.
For recommendations of the best local people, feel free to contact us and we will put you in touch with our trusted traders.
The key to the Single Survey is that it is an unbiased assessment. The surveyor has no ulterior motives to persuade, or dissuade, anyone into or away from proceeding with a transaction with the property.
All Home Reports include a Generic Mortgage Valuation Report so it’s important to know you’ve chosen the right surveyor. Read more about why here.
To organise your Home Report with us, get in touch and we’ll be able to chat it all through with you and arrange a mutually convenient time to pop round.
