When is a HomeBuyer Report not a HomeBuyer Report?

Since the launch of the RICS HomeBuyer Report service in 2009, many buyers will have experienced a move with the assistance of our most popular survey report.

However, having recently revisited some of our initial Reports that went out using the official RICS software, we can clearly see where we think we have improved. Photographs are now added within the Report to clearly identify issues where necessary.

Unfortunately, this is not easy for Surveyors to do without the software we use as supplied by Quest Associates, so your Survey may not necessarily be the same as one of ours.

Interestingly, during a recent visit, a homeowner showed me their HomeBuyer Report carried out by a competitor. Their Report had no photographs and the client was happy as they had not expected any. So does it add value? Well, we with think so given that we get so much positive feedback and repeat business. It may take us an extra 20 minutes to do the Report and increase the costs for printing, but isn't this what you would expect from a Report that's going to be used for negotiation, or as a guide to when to get jobs done, or as just that something to read through in the evening as you look forward to your move?

This does not cost anything extra and in fact many clients have told us that our fees are lower than our competitors, so how we can afford to do it? Easy, each new client costs us a given amount in advertising, so if we do a good job, hopefully we will be rewarded by them telling someone else. This brings down the cost of advertising in the future and therefore the cost to our client. So doing a good job is essential for keeping fees low.

But what if one of our Surveyors falls short of the mark?

Not all Surveyors are the same and yes the standards may on occasion fall below our own. We do our best to ensure that this does not happen, but if we do find a Report is lacking, then a revisit may be instigated by one of our supervising Surveyors and a new Report commissioned.

Let us provide a quote for your survey and let us show you how different we are.

Mortgage valuation is ok, so do I need a HomeBuyer Report?

In a word, yes. The mortgage Valuer will spend up to 30 mins looking at your property, often less. From this, the floor area is calculated and they will decide whether the agreed purchase price falls within a reasonable tolerance of where they think it should be.

A HomeBuyer Report includes a valuation and a detailed condition summary of the property ranging from the chimney stack to where meters are and stop taps etc.

The valuation is not always the same as the mortgage Valuer, as we are looking at greater detail and sometimes this can lead us to thinking a renegotiation may be required.

So, most importantly, when you get the results of your mortgage valuation, do not tell your seller or the estate agent as it really would be worth waiting to see what your HomeBuyer Report reveals. And if you can't decide whether to have the HomeBuyer Report separately, then think how the surveyor will be thinking. To provide a lower value on the HomeBuyer Report would mean having to reduce the value on the mortgage valuation. And do that, the mortgage may be delayed or it may affect your ability to obtain the mortgage you want. We would suggest to go independent and have someone truly looking after your interests only.

International property investors paradise

With the pound devalued we quickly think about our holidays and when to get our Euros.

Those in business look at how easy it would be to export given the perceived 10% discount to Europeans etc at the moment. Others in business cringe as they see the cost of their imports increase by 10%.

Property prices in London may have been kept high by foreign investment over the past 7 years and this is likely to continue with the pound losing its value. Russian, Saudia Arabian and Chinese have been the most popular sources of property investment as far as we can see.

Elsewhere in the country we see property values in the North struggling as interest from overseas appears to be restricted to the Capital.

Properties are still selling nationally though, but most of the houses we are seeing are either empty or the owners are downsizing or moving into rented accommodation.

We have lost our triple A rating and to be honest, would we really know what this meant 10 years ago? But we listen to the Press and we worry about something new. Just another excuse for lenders to increase interest rates maybe? RBS makes huge losses and pays out huge bonuses, but we accept this as we hope that banks making their money back will result eventually in them lending again. And that is what we need most of all. Not that small businesses want to borrow, but they want to know the option is there IF they need it.

So lets hope the new Canadian Bank of England Governor will make it all better. More to the point, lets hope he keeps interest rates low!

Building insurance valuations

If your insurer has recently asked you for the cost to rebuild your home so you get a quote for insuring your property for a buildings and contents policy, it is likely that you could either over insure or under insure and either way, this could be costly.

Normally, we only provide insurance valuation figures as part of our valuation but for February (2013) we would like to trial the desktop reinstatement cost valuation. The cost of this is a one off fee of £10 inc vat and is only applicable to properties less than 150 years old and of traditional construction. If the property is Listed or of non-traditional construction, then we will try to help you, but it may be that an inspection just might be necessary.

If this is something that might interest you or your clients (insurance brokers), then please email esurveyors@hotmail.co.uk or contact us via twitter or Facebook using the links provided on our website: www.esurveyors.co.uk

If you like this service and may use it in the future, but not yet, please click like button and maybe the trial might be extended.

Thank you

esurveyors

The use of photos in HomeBuyer Reports

When carrying out inspections of properties, Chartered Surveyors are often keen to record as much information as they can to help them remember the property now and in the future. However, many Reports do not include these photographs as attaching them to files is time consuming and costly for printing.

This is why our HomeBuyer Reports stand out as we use software that allows integration of the photographs within the body of the Report to help explain issues where it is deemed appropriate. A good example of this is the photograph of the inspection chamber and whilst a clear chamber does not mean anything to you now, if a defect occurs in 3 months time, this proof may be quite useful to you when you discuss it with insurers.

Other times they are useful could be in identifying condition of areas that you were unable to see when viewing the property with the estate agent watching your every move. For example, the loft space inspection shows photographs that are often missed by the mortgage Valuer. The holes in the party wall where fire could spread, lack of chimney breast support, condensation, mice droppings, wasp nests, etc.

But don't expect all companies to promote the use of photos as more time on attaching photos, means slower turnaround times and less jobs per day. We promote the idea of less jobs and higher quality reports and yet still carry out surveys at very competitive rates.

We hope you enjoy the results of your survey and that it gives you something to read over and over again as you wait to move in.

House Prices to rise in 2012? Oh and the Olympics.

The start of a New Year is always exciting. You start to think ahead and plan your year.

It may have been New Year resolutions to give up smoking, chocolate or alcohol or a promise that this year will be better. Perhaps a new car or the moving home you have been putting off as you wait for the market to drop to its worse point or pick up so that you can sell for the price you paid for it.

Surveyors are not fortune tellers, neither are economic editors who will try and predict a gloomy year to try and grab the headlines. So perhaps a little common sense may prevail as we try to give a view on 2012.

The Queens diamond jubilee kicks off in June as so does the UEFA Euro football tournament. A good run for England could inspire Andy Murray in June and July to triumph at Wimbledon. July and August, the World watches London and Great Britain as hosts of the Olympics.

Sport can inspire and excite but most of all it can be a great advert for London. More than ever, in this period of uncertaintly and concern over unemployment, we need to stand out from our European partners and be proud of being British. This period of just three months could make so much difference in the three years that follow. Investment could flow in from overseas as we are seen as the place to be. London is the link between the East and the West and this year, with the help of a strong government and a stunning sequence of events we could see house prices rise in the South East. The knock on effect to the North may not be instant, but we could see stability for a period of time with rises elsewhere across the UK in the following year.

But, if you want to plan for the negative, an attack by terrorists or an embarrassing opening / closing ceremony at the Olympics could have a disastrous affect. Fortunately that won't happen, because our Armed Forces, Police and Secret Services are the best in the world. In 2011, Harry and Kate showed the world how we celebrate and in 2012, it will be even bigger.

Get ready for 2012 and to the Olympians, good luck from E Surveyors - no pressure but our livelihoods depend upon you.

The VAT Rise, Inflation and Interest Rates

It has been a gloomy start to 2011 according to the Press, but the word on Surveying Street is that things have not been that bad at all.

Talking to our affiliates, it is clear that some parts of the country are enjoying plenty of interest from property investors, first time buyers and the bungalow buyer.

The VAT rise has not affected our customers as we have not decided not to increase our prices in line with inflation and in some cases, returning customers buying their second or third investment property have been rewarded with lower fees for returning to us, so in fact, they have been better off than 2010.

Interest rates though are likely to rise in March, so what will this mean? Well no doubt the mortgage companies will be delighted to pass on the increases. Shame they were not as keen to reduce them so quickly!

At E Surveyors though, we love the mortgage lender. So many times we get calls from mortgage brokers asking what the fee would be for a homebuyer report because Santander offer free mortgage valuations, but the upgrade to a homebuyer report is more expensive than coming to us direct. So, the benefit to the customer, two valuations for the price of one.

Santander though are one of the nicer lenders; they offer free valuations. Others are still charging as much for a mortgage valuation as we would charge for the upgraded and much more extensive homebuyer report. Compare the difference of your mortgage valuation fee for a one or two page report that will take the surveyor 25 mins to complete and 30 mins to type and sign off (a mortgage valuer is quite often expected to carry out 7 valuations a day - so you would allow 1 hour per inspection and report and 30 mins travel between appointments = 10.5 hour working day) whereas the homebuyer report inspection will take somewhere between 1.5 hours to 2.5 hours plus 3 hours of putting the report together. Yet they cost a similar amount.

But this is critical. So many buyers will only rely on the mortgage valuation and the estate agent will no doubt tell you, "you don't need anything more than a mortgage valuation". Well they would, wouldn't they. They don't want you to know the warts and all story of the house you are buying, but just whether the bank would be happy to lend on this property. That will get the deal through won't it.

So be glad that Chartered Surveyors fees have remained at low prices for the foreseeable future and before you invest your hard earned cash in a £246,387 property (average house price in November 2010), for less than the £387 you will get an in-depth report full of photographs telling you the condition of the roof space, the electrics, the gas central heating, damp defects, and drainage problems.

You will be amazed at the difference. Choose E Surveyors and be informed.