If you are planning on purchasing a property, one of the key parts of the purchase process is to have an RICS surveyor visit to inspect and advise.
The surveyor’s role will be one of checking and informing you in respect of the issues that they locate during the course of their inspection and survey.
While many banks will have their own valuation surveys done, it is important to note that these surveys are very much towards the basic end of the spectrum, and in many cases outside of a quick walk-through of the property, the valuation surveyor will not be taking an informed look at the property.
Like any investment, purchasing a property needs to be carefully considered, they can not only have with them a wave of issues, those issues can also place a significant financial burden upon the owner of the property.
It is for that reason, that a pre-purchase survey is pivotal, as it will ultimately ensure that as a purchaser you are not buying into a property that has inherent issues and defects, for which you will need to pay the price to rectify and make good.
Generally speaking, there are two different types of prepurchase surveys available in the market.
RICS Homebuyer Reports
An RICS Homebuyer Report is considered a medium, or Level 2, survey.
The survey itself will see a surveyor go room-to-room, facet-to-facet, while also inspecting all of the external surfaces which make up the property, such as the roof, walls, fences and so on.
The outcome of the surveyor’s inspection will be to fully accommodate themselves with the lay of the land and property as a whole, so that they can ensure that their client is purchasing a property that is free from defect. Or, at the very least, that their client is made aware of any defect that exists at the property itself.
The RICS Homebuyer Report also uses a handy condition rating, whereby any defects are labelled on a traffic light system, one being green, two being amber or orange, and three being red.
The traffic light system is self-explanatory, green being good, red being bad.
The RICS HomeBuyer Report Condition Rating System
Whatever the condition rating is, here at Stokemont you will be sure to get reasoned and practical advice to best address and overcome the issue.
Condition Rating 1:
Green This means that there is no repair currently needed – It’s the best outcome!
Condition Rating 2:
Amber This means that the item being inspected has a defect that requires repairing or replacing. However, it is worth noting that the defect is not considered to be serious or urgent. – This is a medium rating confirming that the item may need attention at some point in the near future.
Condition Rating 3:
Red This means there are defects that are serious and/or need to be repaired, replaced or investigated urgently – This is the worst rating possible and will mean urgent attention and likely cost is required.
The more reds that are located, the more cost and consideration the purchaser will need to consider.
Here at Stokemont, we are also very proud to use an industry first cost rating system.
This cost rating system takes its inspiration from the condition rating system, albeit we aim to identify and inform our clients of potential cost and expenditure that they could find themselves in for should they proceed with the property purchase.
Stokemont’s Cost Ratings
To help you gain an informed understanding of cost in respect of each defect and issue our Surveyor’s locate. We include a cost rating chart setting out likely cost in an easy to follow: Low, Mid & High rating system.
We’ve classified these ratings as follows:
Low Cost
These are costs towards the lower end of the spectrum. We’d classify these as less than £1,000.00.
Mid Cost
These are costs towards the mid end of the spectrum. We’d classify these as £1,000.00 – £5,000.00.
High Cost
These are costs towards the upper end of the spectrum. We’d classify these as more than £5,000.00.
The next survey we are going to look at is a Full Building Survey.
Full Building Survey
A Full Building survey is the most comprehensive pre-purchase survey that a surveyor can undertake.
The RICS classifies this as a Level 3 survey.
Generally speaking, Full Building Surveys are going to cover all of the same areas that an RICS Level 2 Homebuyer Report would, the only difference being that the surveyor is going to go into significantly more detail when it comes to explaining the issue.
This detail will not only offer subjective advice on how to remedy and rectify, however is also going to give an informed cost rating and cost expectation to the purchaser.
The premise being, that the purchaser is then able to proceed with the property with a complete and full understanding of the financial impact that progressing with it will contain.
As with our Level 2 surveys, here at Stokemont, we are very proud to include the cost rating system as standard.
This cost rating system, in our opinion, really changes the way in which our clients can interact with our reports, as they not only gain the benefit of understanding defects in a handy condition rating system, they also gain the benefit of fully understanding those located defects through the perspective of cost.
Cost usually being the key consideration when it comes to understanding the impact that the various different defects will have on the property and upon their purchase.
Pre-purchase surveys are intensive both in terms of time on site and in terms of writing up the reports. In terms of our cost positioning here at Stokemont, we are well aware that there are surveying firms out there that will offer the services on a far lower basis. For a long time, we have attempted to reduce the costs of our pre-purchase surveys to the lowest possible rate. It is important to note that you get what you pay for with pre-purchase surveys, and it is impossible for a surveyor to be going into the level of defect that we do, if indeed their fees are 50% less than ours.
The time on site simply would not allow for thorough inspection, equally the report itself just would not contain the practical information, advice and photographs that we find our clients value so much on receipt of the report.
If you would like to discuss your pre-purchase surveying requirements with our team of experienced and qualified surveyors, or perhaps you would like to look at some of the pre-purchase surveys we have done in the past.
Please feel free to give us a call today, or pop us an email, we will be more than happy to assist and advise you.
