Conveyancing vs surveying

proformance

Hi guys 
We are going through the house buying process for the first time and wanted to know what the difference is between the conveyancing and the surveying. 

I understand its something like:

Step 1) conveyancer/solicitor - legal paperwork, searches
Step 2) lender survey - lender sends someone to value the property 
Step 3 - optional) we instruct our own survey of the property 

So my questions are:
1) have I got the steps and sequence right? 
2) am I better off saving money on the legal fees (ie going with the cheapest) and being more discerning with the independent "survey"? My rationale is the legal stuff is very objective and as both parties are chain-free, I don't see how there could be a value add. Conversely, with the survey, I assume we'd want to pick someone with good creds? 

3) is it normal for an estate agent to request proof of deposit? I would have preferred my broker to do it all.. 

Thanks in advance people. 

davidmcn

proformance said:

My rationale is the legal stuff is very objective and as both parties are chain-free, I don't see how there could be a value add.

How have you come to that conclusion? We could point you to pointless threads here by people frustrated with the lack of (or downright faulty) advice offered by their conveyancers. And it's not just the advice, it's the fact that it's the conveyancers who are responsible for actually getting the transaction done - the surveyors just give you their report and then make their excuses.

proformance

Ahh you see. I've been educated already haha. Should have posed this more as a question and less like like a statement, my apologies. 

Thank you. Just the advice I needed. 

Slithery

You may want to get step 2 out of the way before step 1. If your lender undervalues the property and won't give you a mortgage then you will have wasted money on the conveyancing and searches unnecessarily.

Sachs

A minor point of terminology,  the lender very rarely surveys the property. It's just a valuation and depending on the house they may not even get out of the car.

greatcrested

In terms of the sequence, they do not have to be done consecutively. It depends if your priority is to reduce the risk of spending money on an aborted purchase (consecutive as one step might fail saving you money on the unecessary following steps) versus speed - doing them one by one slows everything down a lot!

Do not skimpon conveyancing.You might end up paying £X00,000 and not own anything! Or own something different to what you thought. Or something with lots of restrictions attached. Or......

Survey is dependant  on the type/age/ condition of property,your own abilities looking at properties, and your attitude to risk.

Now - get yourself a book and learn what you are getting yourself into.

https://www.waterstones.com/book/how-to-buy-your-first-home-and-how-to-sell-it-too/phil-spencer/9780091935375

https://www.waterstones.com/book/buy-your-first-home-paperback/regina-brown/9781625460011

Thrugelmir

Sachs said:

A minor point of terminology,  the lender very rarely surveys the property. It's just a valuation and depending on the house they may not even get out of the car.

Indeed the lender will rarely survey the property. As they'll subcontract the work out to a third party. Lenders tend to focus on the financial aspects rather than the physical bricks and mortar. 

Thrugelmir

proformance said:

My rationale is the legal stuff is very objective and as both parties are chain-free, I don't see how there could be a value add. 

While you are paying all the costs. Your appointed conveyancer will also be working on behalf of the mortgage lender. Their responsibilities are two way, not to just you alone. 

proformance

Thrugelmir said:

proformance said:

My rationale is the legal stuff is very objective and as both parties are chain-free, I don't see how there could be a value add. 

While you are paying all the costs. Your appointed conveyancer will also be working on behalf of the mortgage lender. Their responsibilities are two way, not to just you alone. 

Right and that was my next question. Is recommended I provision my own independent survey because of this? 

greatcrested

While you are paying all the costs. Your appointed conveyancer will also be working on behalf of the mortgage lender. Their responsibilities are two way, not to just you alone.

proformance said:

Thrugelmir said:

proformance said:

My rationale is the legal stuff is very objective and as both parties are chain-free, I don't see how there could be a value add. 

While you are paying all the costs. Your appointed conveyancer will also be working on behalf of the mortgage lender. Their responsibilities are two way, not to just you alone. 

Right and that was my next question. Is recommended I provision my own independent survey because of this?

You can ask your lender to upgrade their Valuation to a survey. Often this is cheaper than instructing your own surveyor (though not always, so check!) since it means the same guy travelling to visit the property for both purposes.

The occasional risk is that this more indepth survey might throw up something the valuation would not have done, which you might be OK with but might ring an alarm bell for the lender.If you've instructed your own separate surveyor, the lender would not see it.

AdrianC

The difference between conveyancing and surveying hasn't actually been addressed in the replies so far...

The conveyancing looks at the legals, and looks at the paperwork for the slightly wider area via the searches. They never once visit the site.
The surveying looks at the condition of the property itself. They don't care about the paperwork.

They're very different people, doing very different jobs for you and your lender, both trying to make sure you're buying what you think you are, but in different ways.