Booking Surveyor Before or After Memorandum of Sale?

[notamum3210]

So at the moment our offer has been verbally accepted and we've been invited into the estate agent for a finance and ID check. This was all yesterday.
We're waiting on the memorandum of sale. I've used Surveyor Local to get a quote for a survey - has anyone used them before?
They called me and wanted to make arrangements to book the survey and take the full payment. I feel it's best to wait for the memorandum of sale to make sure that things are in writing. Does that sound about right?

Sorry- naive FTB.

[wowfudge]

What about your mortgage? Your mortgage provider will want a valuation survey as a minimum - using the surveyor they have a contract with or one they approve - and usually you can pay more to get a homebuyer's or structural survey instead.

[notamum3210]

Sorry, I should have clarified: we're not getting a mortgage so we're doing the survey independently.

[wowfudge]

You do want to check the details on the memo are correct before you do anything - has the estate agent sent it to your solicitor or are they still typing it up?

[notamum3210]

They're still typing it up apparently. I'll call to chase up tomorrow. The surveyor company have been calling like mad trying to get me to book. Not sure I'm keen on the hardsell....