Who to ask besides surveyor

[andalittlebitofpixiedust]

I've just been to see a potentially amazing house. It needs a fair amount of work but mostly upgrading rather than structural for instance. Obviously we will go for the most comprehensive survey. The surveyor should be able to tell me about the roof and any damp problems as well as structural stuff, right?

But I'd like to get more information than a survey would tell me. I think I need to get the following out to see it but please give me any other useful tips!

*Heating engineer to check boiler, tank, rads, etc
*Electrician
*Decorator to quote for stripping wallpaper and painting
*Window people to quote for window replacements (almost certainly needed)
*Carpeting people
*Solid fuels/chimney people to check flue liner

Never had a fixer upper before. I realise you can't get all the information and there will be surprises. But still.

Ah, also...

*drains survey

New bathroom, new toilet, does the kitchen need updating.

I really don’t think you can expect a vendor to accommodate inspections from eight or so different people!

An electricians visit, fair enough, but if I was selling then I would not be hosting visits from carpet fitters before you’d bought the place!

Oh I thought you'd bought it, no, I agree if I was selling I would not want all these people in but a lot can be done without a visit, just basic quotes if you have room measurements and know what you are looking for. I would think someone doing this was trying to get a lower price. Dont the e.a. details usually say services and appliances haven't been tested.

I agree with the others. You can't have all those people through before you buy. But if you've got the floor areas and no of windows etc you can google a lot of that info. Carpet prices will be on websites etc. that's what I did with our house and I wasn't far wrong.

Agree with the above. Be careful of annoying the vendor with requests for multiple inspections from tradesmen.

It is currently empty and it is an institution selling so it would be the agents that get annoyed.

I agree that taking measurements will get a lot of this stuff sorted without a visit, quite right. I have a very useful friend who will be a big help in getting everything sorted.

We will do the work before moving in but obviously want to reduce the amount of time as much as possible.

They may be happy for you to go and take pics and measurements but having people in might need to wait until you've at least agreed a sale. You don't want to spend yours or their time and money if you decide to not buy. You won't be able to do any work till you move in anyway and most people recommend three quotes for everything. How exciting for you though if it all goes through.

A lot of surveyors will not give you a straight answer on structural defects. They will suggest you get a Structural Engineer in. Surveyors will find the faults but are not necessarily equipped to do complex structural calculations.

I spoke to the agent about this question and he said that they are usually happy to let contractors like heating engineers, drains surveyors etc have the keys and return them, and visits with the buyer can be arranged with the agent. So that all sounds good.

You could visit when the surveyor is there, it usually takes a couple of hours which may be plenty of time to measure up. Good luck with the move.

Thanks! We haven't actually even made an offer yet. I'm a planner.

In personality, I mean. Obviously not actually in the profession of planning or I would know a bit more.!