[BNM] [OT] Can anybody recommend a surveyor?

[Tom Dussek (Hotmail)]

Unless you are concerned that the structure of the place is suspect, I'd 
recommend the cheapest drive-by survey you can get that will satisfy the 
mortgage company. A surveyor has no actual responsibility for what they 
say - there is no real comeback against them if they were found to be 
wrong in their survey. Rather like many professional bodies (e.g. The 
Federation of Master Builders), the veneer of security that they appear 
to offer soon reveals itself to be no more than the Polyfilla'd plywood 
of caveat emptor..

Houses aren't that hard to work out - if there are big cracks, or ones 
that run the full length of the building, or if you can see light 
through the roof, or if the paint on the walls is bubbling and peeling, 
or is you can smell damp, then there are problems. But all Brighton's 
Victorian housing stock was built before the invention of straight lines 
and right angles, most of the builders were drunk, much of it was slum 
housing (particularly Hanover) and was built accordingly, and the 
materials were often brought up from the beach. Old places round here 
will always leach water and cost money to maintain. The seaside is a 
surprisingly harsh environment for buildings, and I think you just need 
to accept that it is very likely you'll need to spend money on your 
place, whatever the surveyor says.

Tom Dussek


JOHN COOPER wrote:
> eah I thought you had to get a surveyor before buying the house -  
> usually sent by whoever is supplying your mortgage
> 
> john c
> 
> On 28 Jun 2008, at 14:51, James Moss wrote:
> 
>> Hi,
>>
>> Me and my girlfriend have just have just bought our first place  
>> together.
>> Can anybody recommend a surveyor to do the inspection? We don't mind  
>> paying
>> a bit more if they do a good job.
>>
>>
>> Cheers,
>> James
>> -- 
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