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Reallymoving for a surveyor - how to choose which one?
noisla
Posts: 147 Forumite
I got 4 quotes from reallymoving for a full building survey, ranging from £350 to £580. I've contacted two of the surveyors, giving more info about the property and detailing specific areas of potential concern. The £350 guy has confirmed his quote stands. However, £580 guy has quoted £750 - and actually I got this quote beforehand, outside of reallymoving, as I'd had contact with this surveyor before re a property purchase which fell through – not sure if this is why the quote is higher, he said reallymoving was just a “base quote” which he tries to stick to as far as possible.
How do you choose which surveyor to use? I don't want to pay more if I don't have to, but there's no point skimping if the survey will be lower quality. On the other hand, I've read that the survey might just be a bunch of caveats about potential issues, and that they are likely just to recommend a further structural engineer's survey, electrical survey, etc.
For reference, it's a 1830s end of terrace that looks in reasonably good condition, £240k. Particular issues I’ve raised to the surveyors are:
- a couple of double-glazed windows with possible moisture inside
- a damp-looking sky light window frame (the only wooden window frame in the house)
- a small patch of damp on one outside corner wall by an air vent (probably just a condensation issue, as generally there appears to be no damp, even in the basement, and nothing is suspiciously newly decorated either)
- the state of the butterfly roof with central gutter, which is hidden from the street as the outside walls are built up high, with a single drainage pipe on one side.
The current owners have been there 3 years and apparently have had it re-rendered at the front, got new damp-proofing, and their structural engineer's survey at the time of their purchase came back saying no problems with the roof (and it looks fine from the road - but it is largely hidden).
How do you choose which surveyor to use? I don't want to pay more if I don't have to, but there's no point skimping if the survey will be lower quality. On the other hand, I've read that the survey might just be a bunch of caveats about potential issues, and that they are likely just to recommend a further structural engineer's survey, electrical survey, etc.
For reference, it's a 1830s end of terrace that looks in reasonably good condition, £240k. Particular issues I’ve raised to the surveyors are:
- a couple of double-glazed windows with possible moisture inside
- a damp-looking sky light window frame (the only wooden window frame in the house)
- a small patch of damp on one outside corner wall by an air vent (probably just a condensation issue, as generally there appears to be no damp, even in the basement, and nothing is suspiciously newly decorated either)
- the state of the butterfly roof with central gutter, which is hidden from the street as the outside walls are built up high, with a single drainage pipe on one side.
The current owners have been there 3 years and apparently have had it re-rendered at the front, got new damp-proofing, and their structural engineer's survey at the time of their purchase came back saying no problems with the roof (and it looks fine from the road - but it is largely hidden).
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