Buyer presence during survey

Wyndham

As a seller, I let the surveyor in, then left them to it. At the end, as they were leaving I did ask 'is there anything I should worry about?' which they took in the right way and did mention one small thing (which was then negotiated on).

While they weren't really any trouble, it was an intrusion, and I had to take time off work etc. So it was bad enough for me having the surveyor there, without the buyer as well!

It didn't even occur to me to be present for the survey on the property I was buying. That is what I was paying the surveyor for (and the drains problem we subsequently found meant they were well worth the money!)

ManuelG

I asked my surveyor if I could be there, and it was them that said no.

No, it's not standard practice to be there. His rationale was that I'd distract him... and he was probably right!

Doodles

It's not standard practice to be there.  You would be an irritation to both the surveyor and the seller.

DullGreyGuy

RexItaliae said:

I'd probably then amend what it's written on the MSE "Buying a home timeline" page, as it states as one of the tips when getting the survey done:
"Make friends with the surveyor. It's worth going with them. They're likely to say far more than they'd write in a report."

Not sure how many people employ a particular surveyor, most will employ a company who'll have a number of surveyors. You may a nice friendly chat with the office staff but that won't mean the surveyor won't be grumpy or worse if you turn up to supervise their work. 

I'd be going further than getting friendly and explicitly agree that you'll be there and suck up any increase in fee that they want to charge for that. 

The seller could have some issue, after all a surveyor is a qualified professional and their incentive to lift £10 out of a unattended wallet in the sellers home is going to be very low with the consequences of being struck off and losing their job. Similarly they go through hundreds of strangers' houses and are really not going to get any kicks from seeing an open knicker draw etc. They may be more concerned about you prying through their stuff as simultaneously they know less about you but you have a closer relationship. 

That said, sellers will have probably had many strangers in their home, not always accompanied by them, from the viewings so may have gotten better at not leaving things laying around or interimate items on display etc. 

EssexHebridean

RexItaliae said:

Thank you all for your hindsight! You all make good points, although again I'm spending hundreds of thousands of pounds in buying a property, I would've expected to be normal to be wanting to supervise part of that process... but if that's the norm, then I'm fine with it.

I'd probably then amend what it's written on the MSE "Buying a home timeline" page, as it states as one of the tips when getting the survey done:
"Make friends with the surveyor. It's worth going with them. They're likely to say far more than they'd write in a report."

Have a think  about what you mean by "supervise" - if you are a fully qualified surveyor, then why are you looking at employing a different surveyor to do your survey? If you are not a surveyor, then how exactly would you "supervise" someone who is?  I'd also echo what others have said - if you are concerned that your surveyor will be influenced by the sellers, then you're using the wrong surveyor. 

When our survey was done, the sellers weren't even there so far as I know - I think the agent opened up, let him in, then waited for him to finish to lock up again. I have my suspicions that she may well have sat in the car, but no idea whether that is the case or not. 

A good surveyor will also be very upfront about encouraging you to ask them to elaborate on anything you aren't sure about when you get the report. 

user1977

EssexHebridean said:

RexItaliae said:

Thank you all for your hindsight! You all make good points, although again I'm spending hundreds of thousands of pounds in buying a property, I would've expected to be normal to be wanting to supervise part of that process... but if that's the norm, then I'm fine with it.

I'd probably then amend what it's written on the MSE "Buying a home timeline" page, as it states as one of the tips when getting the survey done:
"Make friends with the surveyor. It's worth going with them. They're likely to say far more than they'd write in a report."

When our survey done done, the sellers weren't even there so far as I know - I think the agent opened up, let him in, then waited for him to finish to lock up again. I have my suspicions that she may well have sat in the car, but no idea whether that is the case or not. 

I'd expect the EA normally just to lend the keys to surveyors, not turn up and hang around pointlessly.

EssexHebridean

user1977 said:

EssexHebridean said:

RexItaliae said:

Thank you all for your hindsight! You all make good points, although again I'm spending hundreds of thousands of pounds in buying a property, I would've expected to be normal to be wanting to supervise part of that process... but if that's the norm, then I'm fine with it.

I'd probably then amend what it's written on the MSE "Buying a home timeline" page, as it states as one of the tips when getting the survey done:
"Make friends with the surveyor. It's worth going with them. They're likely to say far more than they'd write in a report."

When our survey done done, the sellers weren't even there so far as I know - I think the agent opened up, let him in, then waited for him to finish to lock up again. I have my suspicions that she may well have sat in the car, but no idea whether that is the case or not. 

I'd expect the EA normally just to lend the keys to surveyors, not turn up and hang around pointlessly.

I had no expectations either way on this really - our buyers didn't have a survey and this was the first time we'd instructed one as when we were FTBs that was a flat and we just had the standard mortgage valuation done. It may well depend on the agents and the surveyor as well of course - a surveyor who the agent knew might be a different story to one that they didn't. 

Mnoee

I loitered in a nearby café and the surveyor called me when he was almost done so I could pop round and have a brief chat when he was finished. This might be a happy medium for you? It meant he could talk about the house in a relaxed way as I know the reports can be quite difficult to digest as a layperson - full of stuff to cover their backs which can be scary sounding. Also let's them get on with their job interrupted. I found it really helpful, and the surveyor was happy to do this vs taking a call at a later date. 

badger09

When we sold our previous home towards the end of 2020, our buyer and his teenage daughter were present for the survey. 

That’s because he was a qualified surveyor & I thought it was too cold to leave her sitting in the car. He spent less than an hour looking around and found a very small patch of damp in the living room which we were unaware of. He said it wasn’t a concern & we exchanged a few weeks later.  

BobT36

Mnoee said:

I loitered in a nearby café and the surveyor called me when he was almost done so I could pop round and have a brief chat when he was finished. This might be a happy medium for you? It meant he could talk about the house in a relaxed way as I know the reports can be quite difficult to digest as a layperson - full of stuff to cover their backs which can be scary sounding. Also let's them get on with their job interrupted. I found it really helpful, and the surveyor was happy to do this vs taking a call at a later date. 

This seems to be the best happy medium, from reading this thread. 
As a wannabe FTB I think I'd be tempted to follow and poke my nose into everything to see for myself, but putting my self into their shoes, I'd HATE that. 
Loitering nearby (timed for around when they plan to finish), to have a quick chat at the end and have him physically point out any critical or concerning issues AFTER the survey is done, sounds to be the best.