We have found a house!

madfrenchgirl

hello everyone!

I am not the boasting kind but I am so happy and this site has had such an influence in my MSE ways that I thought I would share the news!

We have found a house and the offer has been acccepted! it is a 3 bedroom, with a big gardena nd a drive big enough for both our cars, we are very ahppy.

of course the house has been taken off the market and we are sorting out the sol;licitors, mortgage and surveys!

which brings me to the question: the estate agent has recommended a semi-retired surveyor, for the full strucutral survey. Because he only does survey on part-time, we would not have to pay the VAT. he quoted my partner 250 pounds for a full structural, and I have phoned a surveying company that quoted us 445 (without VAT).

Does anyone see any reason why we should not go with the semi-retired guy?
I am a bit worried by the price difference. OK, the bloke does not have overheads etc... but still.

What would any of you do in my situation?

Thank you in advance for the answers. And thank you so much for all the contributions that everyone has brought to the site, it has helped me and inspired me so much!

zappahey

madfrenchgirl wrote:

Does anyone see any reason why we should not go with the semi-retired guy?
I am a bit worried by the price difference. OK, the bloke does not have overheads etc... but still.

So long as he is fully qualified with the appropriate indemnities in place then there shouldn't be an issue. He wouldn't have close to the overheads that the larger companies will have so there's scope for plenty of cost savings. Just make sure that one of the cost savings isn't a lack of adequate liability insurance.

jimjams99

In my opinion the only thing you need to decide is whether you think he can do the job and as he has been reccomended by the estate agent I see no reason to doubt it. I take it the estate agents is a reputable one```/
When I bought my first property I was nervous and opted for a full survey which cost alot! I guess it gave me some piece of mind but to be honest I think they're a lot of money for nothing. I would in the future get the cheapest survey to comply with the mortgage company and then if I had any reason to think that their might be a problem with the proprty I would get an experienced builder to look round the property with me.

Hope that helps, best of luck

Jamie.

madfrenchgirl

well the hosue is a 1930's built, and yes we are very nervous but for 250, it is not that expensive to reassure ourselves... lol

he ha sbeen recommended by the estate agent, she said she had been using him for 15 years and never a problem.

thx for the advice!

Stewboy1978

As long as he has all the qualifactions, cert's etc then go with it.

All he is doing differently is not having to pay for various overheads etc and keep the Area Manager happy!!!!

SammyD_2

Make sure he has insurance...after all, that is part of the reason you are getting him. £250 seems very cheap to me, 3 years ago we paid over £850 for a full structural survey on our 1930's house. To be honest, I would be a bit concerned about the EA recommending him - afterall, the EA is there to make the sale and is acting for the vendor not for you. It is probably all legitimate, but personally, I would find my own surveyor.

bunking_off

As other have said, the critical thing is whether he has the relevant professional indemnity insurances in place. Paying someone cash in hand to do a job like this would be a madness, because the whole point is to have some comeback if he doesn't spot something he should.

Can I play devil's advocate? The estate agent represents the seller. Never, ever, ever forget that. Defacto, the seller is recommending a cheap surveyor to you. Do you still want to save the money and go with their recommendation?