Why it pays to have a survey

Press release issued 30 June 2011 by
The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors

For many people, buying a home is one of the biggest decisions they will ever make. However, by failing to commission a survey before purchase, homebuyers across England and Wales* are risking potential bills running into thousands of pounds.
According to RICS research, a quarter of all homebuyers who fail to have a survey are forced to make unplanned building works to their property after purchase**. The average bill for these works, such as damp proofing or repairing a roof, is over £1,800 – but the cost can be much higher.
A common misconception is that a mortgage lender’s valuation report represents a survey. In fact, it is merely a valuation carried out on the mortgage lender’s behalf and is not designed to highlight any potential problems with the property. By commissioning a home survey, any structural problems or urgent defects are highlighted, enabling the buyer to make an informed decision before committing to the property.

In difficult economic times it pays to be prepared. Nobody wants to be left with a home that needs extensive repairs or one they can’t sell on. By having a survey you’ll be armed with information on the condition of the property which puts you in a stronger position to decide whether to proceed with the purchase, or negotiate a better deal.
Interestingly, other parts of the housing market are also using surveys to their benefit. For landlords this can be to assess their investments, while we are also seeing sellers turning to surveys in order to prepare for the sale of property. These highlight any problems that may potentially delay the sale or impact on the price later in the process.
**Survey conducted for RICS by GfK NOP Business 1,001 interviews were conducted online during August 2010 with people who had bought a property in the last 12 months or were considering doing so in the next 12 months.

The same principles apply in France - where by and large, and sad to say, the French don't look after their houses very well ...

Go West ... to termite country !

It was back to Aquitaine last week (the western part of France that was for many years owned by the British) to carry out a pre-purchase survey in the department of Landes. Much of Landes is low-lying, and marshy, so much so that it was at one time normal for the peasants to walk about on stilts - and this mode of transport is demonstrated from time to time at country festivals in the area. It was one of the kings of France who decided that the marshy wastelands of Landes should be planted with forests - without giving a thought to the fact that the trees would later prove very tasty to the termites arriving at Bordeaux. Landes now has the densest population of termites in France - and knowing this I was hardly surprised to find that the house I was surveying had indeed had a termite problem.

Termites can do a vast, and very often structural, amount of damage to a building unless diagnosed early and eradicated. These "little white ants" are sensitive to light and live underground - travelling up through stonework and under floors where you can't actually see them, so I look for the tell-tale signs rather than the creatures themselves. A bit like Poirot really, I suppose.

More computer viruses ?

Oh dear ... or as they say in these parts Ooh la la, la la la la la la ! Once again we seem to have hit the season for virus warnings.
This morning I was one of over 50 people who had been circulated with an e-mail warning of "the most destructive virus ever"; one that would do unmentionable things to my hard disk etc. etc. - and I was being encouraged to send this e-mail on to as many people as possible. From the "cc" section on the e-mail I guess several thousand other people had had the same one today. You get these warnings and requests too ?
The first thing I do, whenever I receive one, is to go straight to the McAfee web site where there is a section called "Virus Information". And there, as I had suspected, I learned the warning is a hoax. There I found the wording of the e-mail I had received, reproduced almost word for word: There is no such virus at all.
The McAfee "Virus Information" pages, which are kept bang up to date, are there for all to see; you don't have to pay anything; they are free. Simply go to
http://home.mcafee.com/VirusInfo/
Every time I receive one of these e-mails I ask myself - "why has somebody written this nonsense ?" and more to the point "why have all these people fallen for it ?"
Circulating warnings of hoaxes does nothing except clog up the Internet and slow down legitimate e-mails. Maybe that's the intention of the people who start them. I just don't know. But next time you receive one, PLEASE check the McAfee site first.

Time now to climb down off my soapbox for today .... !

Surveys across France from East to West

No blog posts for 6 months !

That's because I was kept very busy through the autumn of 2010, travelling to all points of the compass to carry out pre-purchase surveys for property buyers across the southern half of France.

Trips over to the east, sometimes criss-crossing the Swiss border either side of Lake Geneva, were for surveys that included alpine chalets.

Trips to the west were to properties in the foothills of the Pyrenees - where the peaks were already becoming snow covered early in October.
And once again I found myself working in Ceret, a town known for its modern art, located in the prime cherry-growing region of France, and very popular with British buyers.

To the north I carried out surveys in Lot-et-Garonne, Dordogne and Haute Vienne: I've lost count with the number of times I've driven up and down the A20, but the scenery always makes it a pleasant journey.
More about Haute-Vienne in my next post.

Make sure you get the right kind of surveyor in France

Unlike the word Doctor, or solicitor, there is no restriction on the word Surveyor. Anyone can call themself a Surveyor !

However, Chartered Surveyors, i. e. members of The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) are qualified by examination and experience and have to conform to a strict Code of professional conduct. At the present time there are about 95,500 qualified Chartered Surveyors worldwide, all with the letters MRICS or FRICS after their names. What isn’t always appreciated, however, is that Chartered Surveyors train and qualify in one of seven disciplines, and the sort of work undertaken by one kind of Chartered Surveyor can be quite different from that undertaken by another. This is rather like doctors with the same letters after their names; they may have quite different specialties - and you need to make sure you are dealing with the right one.

Those who have trained and qualified as Chartered Building Surveyors understand how building materials are best used, how buildings are constructed, how building problems occur - and how they are resolved, how buildings should be repaired and maintained, and so on. These are the surveyors who deal with the "nuts and bolts" of buildings - and building problems.

Anyone can call themself a building surveyor, and some chartered surveyors might belong to a building surveying faculty. But relatively few are qualified as Chartered Building Surveyors.

At the present time there are about 9,250 qualified Chartered Building Surveyors worldwide. Only 24 are registered in France.

Ian Morris is a Chartered Building Surveyor …. a building pathologist.

And he is registered in France.
For more details visit http://www.french-surveys.com/SurveyorsinFrance.htm

Surveyors in France: Frequently asked questions

I’m not too sure whether I need a survey. Is it really necessary ?

A pre-purchase survey is not exactly necessary but is probably advisable. Carried out by a properly qualified and experienced surveyor it will identify any problem areas, or potential problems, which might involve you in expense now or in the foreseeable future. It will also put any such problems into context, telling you which are serious and which are not. If nothing else it will give you confidence and peace of mind about your intended purchase. Building construction (including water supply, electricity services and, above all, drainage) in France differs from that in the UK and you should therefore choose a surveyor with proven experience and a good track record of surveying French property

Surveyors in France: Frequently asked questions

Don't just take my word for it ...

I've lost count of the number of times I have heard it said: "Oh, people don't have surveys in France."

Well they certainly do, and anyone telling you otherwise should probably know better. It is true the French themselves hardly ever commission a pre-purchase survey, partly for historic reasons and partly because there are still very few French building surveyors. But many English-speaking buyers wouldn't dream of buying a house in France without first obtaining a proper survey.

For more information I think you'll find this independent WikiHow article of interest:

Find a Surveyor in France - wikiHow