Is it normal/ ok to ask a surveyor to second viewing?

[SpringSnowdrop]

I know a surveyor from a previous house sale and we have found a house we love and planning to see it again to put an offer in. Would it be normal to ask if he’d have a look at it at this stage in a less detailed way ? Especially as it’s a very old property i just would rather like him to feel happy with it too before decide on our offer
Thanks

Wouldn’t you end up paying him twice though?

Thanks, that is something I was wondering , what to expect if I did ask or is this not normal to ask so early?. His office is a couple of miles away and I paid him
Promptly when a seller aborted our last purchase so he’s got some goodwill as felt bad for us ; I guess I could just ask and what he’d charge just for any initial thoughts on a short viewing

No I don't think that's normal. If you like the house and want to offer then book in the surveyor to answer your questions.

Ok thanks! That is helpful as if hadn’t occurred to me last time and good to know if might be weird . We do really love it already anyway so will work out best offer ourselves and subject to survey as normal . Thanks for your help !

you can do quite a lot yourself before paying out for the full survey.

look at roof and gutters. Drive by on a wet day and see what happens. Look for blocked air bricks.

check EPC - they are of limited value but are a start. Ask about boiler age and service history. Which way does house face? how much sun does it get? How much will it get in six months time?

inside, look for damp patches, suspicious new decoration, bodged fixes in the airing cupboard, (seen that!), rusty radiators etc etc .

Seems a bit overkill. Do your second viewing, make your offer then book in the survey. If terrible things came back from the survey you could pull out or renegotiate price if need be.

I’m sure a surveyor would do that if you paid them! However it will give a message to the vendor that you are desperate to buy their house and then if you do go on to put in an offer they’ll realise that the surveyor found nothing and they might hold out for a high offer. I’d just do it the usual way.

I've quite often got a surveyor to give me a mini survey of an older property I want to offer on. It's usually in the low hundreds and there are no ties to mortgage lenders etc and no detailed long report. Usually a page or two summary with things that may need attention, things worth further investigation and with a market price estimate. Closer to a valuation survey than anything else.

They never want me around when they do it though. I did, with agreement of the surveyor, once wait outside one house to meet the surveyor after his visit so I could get my firm offer to the agents.

In the overall scheme of housebuying £2-300 at this stage if you know your keen can save you a lot of heartache and having to renegotiate price down the line.