Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Flip

Original poster

Using the EA's recommendation on surveyor. Any reason why not?

18 replies

aufaniae · 12/09/2012 15:46

The Estate Agent mentioned a local surveyor they reckon is good. I've looked him up and he's a Fellow of RICS.

I wouldn't dream of using an EA's recommended financial advisors for example!
But I can't think of any reason why not with a surveyor.

Am I missing something or should I go for it?

OP posts:

AngelDelightIsIndeedDelightful · 13/09/2012 13:58

Well I wouldn't, but that's because I've had a bad experience in the past with a surveyor recommended by my insurance company's loss adjuster and it has made me a cynical cow

I would suspect that the EA was getting a kickback for the referral and that ime blurs the lines. I felt like our surveyor wasn't really acting in our interests at all.

NotMostPeople · 13/09/2012 14:02

EA's do get kick backs on referrals, so that would annoy me for starters. Who's EA is it - if it's the EA for the property you are buying I wouldn't do this is a month of Sundays. EA will lean on the surveyor to value at the price you are buying at and put it all through. I would always chose my own surveyor and make a point of drawing their attention to any areas that I have converns about.

Whiteshoes · 13/09/2012 14:03

Yeah, in theory, it should be fine, but the estate agent is working for the seller, not you. The surveyor is getting paid by you but only because of the recommendation of the estate agents. I'd say their incentives aren't ideal, and I'd use Rics to find another one. But perhaps I'm unduly suspicious!

titchy · 13/09/2012 14:18

You need to make sure your mortgage company is OK with the surveyor you use - assuming you're getting a mortgage of course. I'd go with their recommendation rather than the EA's.

financialwizard · 13/09/2012 14:28

I always instruct Esurv if I want an independent survey. Have never had a drama with them.

MissPerception · 13/09/2012 14:36

I wouldn't do it. I just don't trust EAs.

NotMostPeople · 13/09/2012 18:09

I wouldn't use the mortgage company's surveyor either, just get the basic valuation that you have to have and then instruct your own independent surveyor for a thorough survey.

Original poster

aufaniae · 13/09/2012 20:28

Thanks for the advice everyone.

Decided against him in the end as he quoted £900 for a building survey.
Found another one who's a MRICS, who quoted £320 for a building survey.

(We suspect there's quite a bit wrong with the house so we want the more detailed survey).

The new one seems great. We are concerned the house may be of concrete construction. He's looked it up for us for free, prior to any survey (his verdict - it may well be as they're known on that road, but can't be 100% sure without looking) and then told us what to look for, so we can go have a look ourselves before instructing him to do anything. So he's helping us for free before ven committing to doing a survey on the house. And bothered calling us at 7pm to pass on useful info. He seems really decent.

You can be damn sure we know who we'll be using! Even if this house does fall through he's got our business for whichever house we end up buying.

(Hope this one doesn't fall through though!)

OP posts:

NotMostPeople · 13/09/2012 23:26

Good luck, hope it goes well.

GreenEggsAndNichts · 14/09/2012 00:01

I don't know much about surveyors here in the UK- would you have no insurance against a surveyor claiming a house was sound when it really was not? Or is this more of an issue with their valuation of the house?

Am naive, but not on purpose, I promise. I'm also going to cancel the surveyor we've booked and find another one tomorrow...

Daisybell1 · 15/09/2012 04:34

Yes, you would be able to claim for negligence against a surveyor, if they missed blatant problems with your property. You'd claim off the RICS and all their surveyors have to have professional indemnity cover in case of this.

Original poster

aufaniae · 15/09/2012 07:37

It's essential your surveyor is a member of RICS if you want to be covered by their insurance. That's the first thing to check.

In fact a good place to start your search for a surveyor is the RICS website.

OP posts:

plutocrap · 15/09/2012 09:00

We got ours through the mortgage providers (not EAs, no way!), but that was for a full survey, so perhaps needs to be more objective?

We have booked a timber and damp survey through a company recommended by the EA, but their interests are reasonably dis-aligned from the EAs' by the fact that they also perform works, so it is in their interests to find any problems there are (in addition to their professional liability, of course!)!

alto1 · 15/09/2012 09:20

I regretted using the surveyor recommended by the estate agent. When I later wanted to plan some work on the house, and needed to discuss some points in their report, I found it was impossible. The format of the report was 'locked': I couldn't discuss with the surveyor who wrote it, they couldn't provide a further or supplementary report, I'd have to start again with a new surveyor.

ladymuckbeth · 15/09/2012 15:47

I wouldn't - our EA confided in me that our buyers were using the surveyor he'd recommended to them and that I "shouldn't worry" because said surveyor had a reputation for not being as anal as some. It's in the EA's interest for the survey to go as smoothly as possible - great for the seller who dreads the buyer asking for money off but not so much for the buyer!

GreenEggsAndNichts · 15/09/2012 19:18

We aren't getting a mortgage, hence us not having a bank suggesting one.

The one we've chosen (who was one of the two recommended by the EA is a member of the RICS.

The implication that some might not do their job as well as they should because of the EA recommendation is depressing, if I'm honest. I'm not saying you all are wrong, it's just sad.

I guess I have another day to go with him or schedule someone else.

comixminx · 15/09/2012 19:23

We used the surveyor recommended by our EA, and were very pleased. The EA we were buying from wasn't anyone I would have trusted with any sort of recommendation but the one we sold through was a good sort and trustworthy.

ladymuckbeth · 15/09/2012 20:02

Wanted to add that I am nowhere near as distrusting of EAs as many - my experiences with them have been fairly impressive and I've never got the impression they've been engaged in any skullduggery behind my back. I don't think for a minute that anything dreadful would happen if you used their surveyor and one thing you could probably rely on is that it would all happen very swiftly and efficiently. But in our case we have always bought period (or listed) properties and I'm quite careful to make sure that I have a surveyor who fits our needs and not just the needs of the EA (ie. gets a bloody move on with it all and can be contacted easily so they can be chivvied along if necessary!). :)

Flip