Surveyors and Quotes

MaryNB

konn1ch1ha said:

MaryNB said:

RICS is the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. It provided the standards and guidance for Home Buyers Reports. It's not a surveying company

If the RICS logo is on the GoTo email/pack that can only be a good thing, right?

The email also has this list:

• Loyalty - a valuation is for the lender not for you and you will receive no information on the state of the property. A surveyor will act in your best interest and will not jeopardise your mortgage.
• Independence - your surveyor reports back to you not your estate agent or your bank, as members of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors this is part of their code of conduct.
• Attendance – if the valuation is free then the bank will probably do a desk top valuation and will not attend in person.
• Experience – all our surveyors are members of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, will be local and you can have contact with them personally.
• Recommended – GOTO is the only company that has been recommended to contact you. Please be mindful of who you give your personal information to.
• Speed – open 7 days a week.
• Peace of Mind – understand the condition of your property before buying.
• Price Promise – We are confident we can get you the best deal. If you find it cheaper we will match it and you will have all of the benefits above with the assurance of the best deal.

I wouldn't see it as a positive. I would see it as the bare minimum of requirements.

konn1ch1ha

MaryNB said:

konn1ch1ha said:

MaryNB said:

RICS is the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. It provided the standards and guidance for Home Buyers Reports. It's not a surveying company

If the RICS logo is on the GoTo email/pack that can only be a good thing, right?

The email also has this list:

• Loyalty - a valuation is for the lender not for you and you will receive no information on the state of the property. A surveyor will act in your best interest and will not jeopardise your mortgage.
• Independence - your surveyor reports back to you not your estate agent or your bank, as members of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors this is part of their code of conduct.
• Attendance – if the valuation is free then the bank will probably do a desk top valuation and will not attend in person.
• Experience – all our surveyors are members of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, will be local and you can have contact with them personally.
• Recommended – GOTO is the only company that has been recommended to contact you. Please be mindful of who you give your personal information to.
• Speed – open 7 days a week.
• Peace of Mind – understand the condition of your property before buying.
• Price Promise – We are confident we can get you the best deal. If you find it cheaper we will match it and you will have all of the benefits above with the assurance of the best deal.

I wouldn't see it as a positive. I would see it as the bare minimum of requirements.

That was my point, the bare minimum above is quite an adequate list of things that should be reassuring? It says they're acting independently or should I be cautious still?

Tracet74

konn1ch1ha said:

Tracet74 said:

GoTo are just a panel manager so they will farm the work out to a different company.  You could try:

https://www.reallymoving.com/
or
https://www.localsurveyorsdirect.co.uk/

Be warned - you will get contacted by a raft of different companies and you should research whoever you choose by the reviews.

I'm not sure if they are a panel manager as the email/quotes/application pack are from GoTo Surveys but the HomeBuyer example pack just says RICS Home Surveys, is this an independent surveyor recruited by GoTo?

Thanks for the link. Will check out. If I go independently, how to the surveyors access the property?

Unquestionably they are a panel management company.  They will take on the instruction then pass it to a third party, which you have no influence as to which company ultimately undertakes the work for you.

Any firm of surveyors would arrange the appointment through the selling agent on your behalf.

AlexMac

Kingstreet's advice, above, to ask if your lender's surveyor can beef up their survey is excellent.

My wider concern is that a Homebuyers is so superficial as to be merely a pointer as to whether to commission a more detailed survey; look at what it typically covers at 
https://www.rics.org/globalassets/rics-website/media/upholding-professional-standards/sector-standards/building-surveying/homebuyer-report-survey-valuation-description-and-standard-terms-of-engagement-rics.pdf

and you'll see it misses lots out.  If anything expensive went wrong in future because a problem was missed, you'd have little chance of claiming on the Surveyor's Professional Indemnity Insurance because of its professed failure to look at anything hidden

On the other hand, it depends how risk averse you are.  Houses are surprisingly resilient (although most of the 10 or so which I've owned have been older buildings; anything between 150 and 40 years, so any problems would have surfaced)  so I've tended not to bother with a Homebuyers.  If I had the slightest misgiving, I've inspected with a trusted or  experienced builder. 

Or have a look at other levels of survey;
https://www.rics.org/uk/upholding-professional-standards/sector-standards/building-surveying/home-surveys/

desthemoaner

As already said above, looking at reviews is a good way forward.

I found Trustpilot very useful when looking for a surveyor, though I must admit that despite a four-and-a-half star rating, our conveyancing solicitor has been a disappointment.  

konn1ch1ha

AlexMac said:

Kingstreet's advice, above, to ask if your lender's surveyor can beef up their survey is excellent.

My wider concern is that a Homebuyers is so superficial as to be merely a pointer as to whether to commission a more detailed survey; look at what it typically covers at 
https://www.rics.org/globalassets/rics-website/media/upholding-professional-standards/sector-standards/building-surveying/homebuyer-report-survey-valuation-description-and-standard-terms-of-engagement-rics.pdf

and you'll see it misses lots out.  If anything expensive went wrong in future because a problem was missed, you'd have little chance of claiming on the Surveyor's Professional Indemnity Insurance because of its professed failure to look at anything hidden

On the other hand, it depends how risk averse you are.  Houses are surprisingly resilient (although most of the 10 or so which I've owned have been older buildings; anything between 150 and 40 years, so any problems would have surfaced)  so I've tended not to bother with a Homebuyers.  If I had the slightest misgiving, I've inspected with a trusted or  experienced builder. 

Or have a look at other levels of survey;
https://www.rics.org/uk/upholding-professional-standards/sector-standards/building-surveying/home-surveys/

Thanks for the response. I'm really confused whether I should trust this company or not.

On one hand, it's RICS registered, the example you linked is very similar to the one I've been sent and on the website, and looks legit in home-moving/buying. On the other hand, there have been responses here which say they're panel management company, which I'm not entirely sure what that means. This is the website, which checks out in everything they've told me. https://www.gotogroup.co.uk/

I am inexperienced at this, but to me it looks ok, or am I missing something? 

The house is a medium sized terraced two-bed, what else would you suggest I get if I weren't to get the HomeBuyers report?

TIA

EDIT: they've even sent a link in an email why estate agents don't tell buyers to get a report. It's not like they're trying to pull a fast one?

EndlessStruggle

Go independent. I did and got a 3 bed detached Homebuyers done for £380. Various places were quoting up to £800.

He was extremely thorough and it was a great experience. He talked me through everything on the phone for close to an hour, he didn't just dump the report on me and has offered another talk through now I have seen the report in full. 

Estate agents will recommend them as they'll get a commission. The estate agent recommended ones were the £800 quote. 

konn1ch1ha

EndlessStruggle said:

Go independent. I did and got a 3 bed detached Homebuyers done for £380. Various places were quoting up to £800.

He was extremely thorough and it was a great experience. He talked me through everything on the phone for close to an hour, he didn't just dump the report on me and has offered another talk through now I have seen the report in full. 

Estate agents will recommend them as they'll get a commission. The estate agent recommended ones were the £800 quote. 

The one I've been quoted through the EA is £540.

Thrugelmir

konn1ch1ha said:

EndlessStruggle said:

Go independent. I did and got a 3 bed detached Homebuyers done for £380. Various places were quoting up to £800.

He was extremely thorough and it was a great experience. He talked me through everything on the phone for close to an hour, he didn't just dump the report on me and has offered another talk through now I have seen the report in full. 

Estate agents will recommend them as they'll get a commission. The estate agent recommended ones were the £800 quote. 

The one I've been quoted through the EA is £540.

Go to the RICS website. Find some alternative local surveyors , ring them and obtain some quotes. 

abdelmoumensilk

I recommend you to buy it. You won't regret it.