How do I find a good surveyor?

[Zeeky]

Our mortgage company are sending in a surveyor to do a valuation on the property we are buying, but we also want to get a full survey done independently of the mortgage company. How do we go about finding a good surveyor? We are relocating to a different county so have no friends/family to ask for recommendations from.

To be honest as long as the mortgage companies guy is a chartered surveyor I always use them.

We also recently moved to another part of the country so had to find a surveyor in that area. We found one through www.reallymoving.com.

We could read reviews that other people had posted about them and got quotes before we decided to choose which one to use.

We had excellent service from the one we chose and we got feed back by phone the same day he visited the property, with a full report sent by email and post.

If the mortgage company are sending a surveyor to do a valuation, you can generally pay him/her extra money to do a full structural survey. It will be cheaper than hiring a separate surveyor and he/she will report directly to you on the full survey. Speak to your lender and they will set it up.

We didn't got with the mortgage surveyor because the mortgage company made such a fuss about it. Then, the surveyor himself called us before and asked if we wanted a Homeowners done at the same time, which was nice.

However, by that point, we had found another surveyor. I just did an internet search for local surveyors and was confident after the conversation I had with him. He explained in depth what he would and would not look at. The survey was cheaper by over £100, and was an 'Intermediate Report'. It was more detailed than a Homebuyers and not as detailed as a full survey. It didn't include a valuation (but the mortgage company did that so that was fine). I found this far more useful and it will continue to be useful after we move because it explains things like where the drains are, etc. I have our old Homebuyers and this is much better. I am very glad we went this route. Don't be freaked out when the surveyors you call offer this option - it seemed normal from the ones we called.

Check that any surveyor is registered with their regulatory body - they should be MRICS or FRICS members. And that your survey will be covered by their professional indemnity insurance (my surveyor volunteered that information easily).

If you want a recommendation your EA should be able to give you some names too.