To survey or not

Section62

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/82109972#Comment_82109972

The problem with this is very few people will have the skills and knowledge to carry out their own survey to an equivalent level to a qualified surveyor.

Our old friend Dunning–Kruger can apply, along with some additional optimism bias that we might not 'see' defects on a property we've already fallen in love with. There's also a risk that serious defects can make us over-focus on those, and miss some of the less significant signs.

When looking over a house a friend was buying I totally missed the asbestos-containing ceiling of a passageway because I was too busy looking at a crack in the wall and working out whether the adjacent garage could be converted to a habitable room. Asbestos is a bit of a personal red-flag to me, which makes it all the more alarming I didn't spot it.

stuart45

Surveying a property properly is more difficult than most builders realise. I did a surveying course about 20 years ago for the surveys in the Home inspection pack. I didn't do many as it was quite short lived, you have to get used to examining the house in a logical order. Even then there's certain areas of the house you might have no access to. The Home inspection report was even more of an issue because you had the vendor who'd complain if you found too many faults and the buyers who moan if you didn't find enough.