Is the cost of a survey justified?

Gorgeous_George · 28 February 2007 at 2:26PM

I think surveys are too expensive. However, if it has been carried out by a time-served professional, I can accept the cost.

We'll soon be having relative amateurs providing HIPs. A seven week course and they'll truly rip us off while earning circa £50K.

GG

bionic_banjo · 28 February 2007 at 3:41PM

As a Chartered Valuation Surveyor - I think we are worth the money. I have seen people get really excited about buying places -and then they get told the entire roof needs replaced, or the cellar is full of dry rot - or theres an issue with boundaries or rights of way. A solicitor or conveyancer doesnt get to see the property so they cant even imagine what can be wrong with it. Property is so expensive and so illiquid as far as investments go - its really important you get the entire lowdown on a house before you buy. No nasty surprises then - and if there are - an RICS surveyor cannot practice without professional indemnity insurance. Survey costs do vary alot though, I can see that it would be good for the surveying profession to make a bigger show on how they really do provide value for money.

AndrewSmith · 28 February 2007 at 4:37PM

My tip is this:

Find out from your lender how much they charge for valuation, homebuyer's and building survey.

Then contact a local RICS surveyor (not the one being used by the lender) and ask for their price to carry out a homebuyer's and building survey.

The valuation has to be carried out by the lender's nominated surveyor as it is for their benefit not yours.

It is sometimes the case however that it can be cheaper to arrange the valuation via the lender but pay your own independant surveyor to carry out a homebuyer's or building survey for you, especially if your selected lender is offering a low price or free valuation as a bolt on or incentive to the mortgage product.

Make a couple of calls and see for yourself.

@KUZTARDD

Nice Flexifoil. I used to have a Skytyger 40 and used it with a Peter Lynne Folding parakart. Nice bit of kit but evil in strong winds.

dunstonh · 28 February 2007 at 10:50PM

I fully understand that people have to earn their crusts. Just £500 for half a days work does seem quite well paid. But hey, don't even ask how much some solicitors get paid ;-)

£500 is not much for half a days work. After all it doesnt go all in their pocket. There are office fees, staff, regulatory requirements, training, expenses as well as making up for the time spent becoming qualified.

A surgeon may get paid £5000 for doing an hours operation. It isnt the time spent with the knife that you are paying for. Its knowing what to do with the knife that you are paying for.

cwcw · 1 March 2007 at 1:02AM

Personally I think the Home Buyers report is a waste of money. If you're worried about major problems, get a full structural survey. If you're buying a newish place and it all looks well, has building regs/certs, etc, go for just the valuation. The Home Buyers seems to me like a pointless in between which writes about things you can see for yourself anyway, whilst adding a few @rse-covering caveats such as "looks ok but get an electrician to check" and "looks ok but get a plumber to check".

Gorgeous_George · 1 March 2007 at 11:19AM

dunstonh wrote:

£500 is not much for half a days work. After all it doesnt go all in their pocket. There are office fees, staff, regulatory requirements, training, expenses as well as making up for the time spent becoming qualified.

A surgeon may get paid £5000 for doing an hours operation. It isnt the time spent with the knife that you are paying for. Its knowing what to do with the knife that you are paying for.

That is all true but £500 may well be the equivalent of three or four months' expendable income for many home buyers.

As for surgeons. Why do we pay a surgeon, who absorbed a vast amount of info to become qualified, to do a hip replacement. Surely, we could train hip replacement technicians much quicker. Perhaps a bit like Kwik Fit doing exhausts and tyres.

GG

JCR · 2 March 2007 at 12:23PM

I don't think the cost of a survey is justified. I paid £565 for a basic report from Northern Rock - 1 page, no detailed findings, which we didn't actually get a copy of until we had purchased the property. Only the mortgage broker who we used had a copy (and don't even get me started on him) and we stupidly went on even without seeing for ourselves what the survey said. The property is not very old, but nevertheless we were stupid I know. Previously when I have bought a property I have had the survey sent to my house within days of the survey taking place. So needless to say paying £565 for this did seem totally overpriced.:o

Is the cost of a survey justified?

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