Soil survey before purchasing property - who does it?

Hello everyone,

we are interested in a plot of land being sold privately. It was formerly farmland and is now approved as building land.

The seller has not yet had a soil survey done and, in response to our remark that it is then not recognizable whether a pile foundation is necessary, said that this should be clarified between the soil surveyor and the executing construction company. However, there is only an executing construction company once we have bought the land, which we certainly will not do as long as we do not know whether a pile foundation is necessary, since this can easily cost 20k to 30k.

Is it unusual for the buyer to expect a corresponding report on the land before purchase? Or does it rather indicate an unserious or at least inexperienced seller (as said, a private person)?

Best regards
Supergrover

Since a soil survey is not a requirement, the seller naturally does not have to provide one. If the buyer wants to secure themselves, they have one done. The client of course pays

Hello!

What does the surrounding area look like? At least it's a clue; if all the neighboring properties are also on stilts, you should expect that. However, I definitely wouldn't buy a property in the area without a soil survey. If the seller wants to shift this risk to potential buyers, I would deduct 30,000 euros from the property price or keep looking.

Best regards
Dirk Grafe

A soil survey is purely the buyer's responsibility. The soil survey costs between €600-2000 depending on the number of boreholes and the region. It is not absolutely necessary to discuss the foundation with the builder. There is usually a foundation recommendation that even a layperson can interpret; if necessary, you can ask the surveyor.

We had a soil survey conducted before purchasing the property because we definitely wanted to build with a basement. I would recommend this to everyone, because if you find out after the purchase that the house cannot be built the way you imagined, it suddenly becomes very expensive. And in my opinion, you should still have the 1000€ available...

Strange argumentation:

As an interested party (sic!) you spend 1000€ on a soil survey to find out that you might not buy the property after all. Then you do this for 5 properties and every other interested party nicely on their own, instead of the seller having it done once and then passing the cost on to the actual buyer through the purchase price?

Best regards
Dirk Grafe