When purchasing a home, should the seller or buyer pay for the survey?

Question

When purchasing a home, should the seller or buyer pay for the survey?

Answer 1

Everything is negotiable.

Answer 2

talk about it, you might find that the seller will cover it, and if the house is in a good price range then the buyer will happily pay...  

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Answer 3

The buyer pays for the survey if they want one.  Another option would be, that if the seller has an old copy of the survey, they can provide that to the buyer and have a survey affidavit prepared just stating that nothing on the property has changed since they had that survey done.  Ofcourse, as mentioned in previous post, everything is negotiable and if the seller does not have  an old survey, they can pay for it on behalf of the buyer if they choose to.

Answer 4

Land surveys are costly, and for smaller parcels in built up areas they are often unnecessary.  If the lot is a larger parcel of acreage or if there is any possibility of encroachment, a prospective buyer may not buy if he has doubts of the layout of the land.  The seller should obtain a certified survey with legal description of the parcel and tack the cost onto his selling price.  

The seller or real estate agent would have a COPY of the survey available for a prospect to study.  The original signed survey would be handed over to the buyer at the closing.

Answer 5

Either one.  Some sellers pay to have it done in advance so it doesn't cause any surprises later.  In some areas a survey is not required and seldom done.

Answer 6

in the UK the survey now forms part of the Home Information Pack that the seller has to produce before the property can be put on the market, but a buyer may wish to conduct their own survey and cover the costs.