Explore our FAQs to find out why you should use Eastern Surveyors and what to expect
Excellent customer service across every stage of your booking
Prompt bookings and report turnaround times for all our services
Professional, clear, and highly detailed reports for your property
Competitive pricing across our wide range of surveying services
It is said many times, but buying a property is probably the largest purchase of anyone’s life. Unless the property has a survey, how do you know about the potential defects? Will you know the materials and the condition of each part of the property? Do you look in the loft during a short property viewing with the estate agent? Do you know the dates of when the extension was built, the toilet was fitted in the under stairs cupboard, or the garage converted into an office? In that sense, a survey is often compared to a car having an MOT, however the property is 10/20/30 plus times the value of a car, yet the survey cost is not relative to this ratio in regards to when compared to a car MOT. Logic therefore says that having a survey is a no-brainer, yet as it is not compulsory compared to an MOT, many homebuyers take the risk of not commissioning one.
The survey could result in you being able to renegotiate the purchase price, due to expensive issues found that are considered urgent to have rectified.
The survey may simply provide you with peace-of-mind, that your dream home is as you’d hoped for.
The survey may however save you the expense of buying the property altogether, if issues found resulted in vast expenditure being required, that in turn makes the purchase price just the tip of the iceberg.
The common misconception is that because a valuation surveyor that is acting on behalf of the mortgage lender has been round, you do not require a Level 2 or 3 survey. This could not be further from the truth!
You are not the client in this scenario, nor is this a survey such as a Level 2 or 3 Home Survey. The purpose of this is for the lender to be advised that the property matches their own knowledge of it, such as number of bedrooms and detachment type, as well as being valued correctly. They want to ensure that should they need to repossess the property, they can quickly have it sold without significant issue.
This valuation is often carried out in less than half an hour, whereby unfortunately we have identified significant defects many times that later results in the lender deeming the property as not suitable for secured lending.
The surveys we carry out take several hours, and many more to produce the reports. Comments on each element of the property is made, with photographs and advice provided. A key difference this time is that you are in fact the client, not the lender. You will be as informed as possible as to the construction and condition of the property, enabling you to budget for immediate or future repairs/remedial works. Such costs can be significant however, whereby the only reasonable way to proceed with the purchase is to negotiate a lower price based upon the information you now know. Without commissioning a survey, you could face unexpected costs that you may not be able to afford or had budgeted for.
Much about our company is commented within our website. Therefore, to add, we are a family run business and have put our heart and soul into creating a surveying business that leads by example. We were founded from the desire to do better, be better, and produce better.
We are an independent firm, therefore have no contracts with other parties such as estate agents that we pay referral fees to.
Within our first year, we have been shortlisted for Best New Small Business, & Best Professional Services Business awards.
We also proudly sponsor Peterborough United F.C. where we are advertised within the stadium and their directory of local services (we are the only surveying business).
We are confident that you will receive an excellent service from start to finish.
As our slogan says, ’ Your Property, Our Priority’, and you will feel confident that this is the case when using Eastern Surveyors as your trusted RICS Regulated Firm.
The survey report is produced for you, the client, as agreed within our terms and conditions that you would sign prior to the instruction being carried out. Advice within the report will always be given in a clear manner, whether that is particular work that is required to be carried out now or in the near future, ways to maintain certain materials, or suitably recommended further investigations by certain specialist contractors prior to purchase.
Some clients use the survey report to renegotiate the purchase price if suitable, such as where a roof covering urgently needs replacing. Some clients will use the survey report as a way of managing the property going forward, such as being aware of the importance of not using impervious masonry paint or concealing air bricks. Some clients will regard the survey report as simply providing reassurance, to feel confident in their purchase where life savings may be involved. Whatever your reasoning for wanting a survey, you will be able to make an informed choice with your property purchase by the end of it.
Absolutely! Talking about residential property is what we do after all!
We understand that the reports can be lengthy and sometimes people feel overwhelmed with the amount of information provided, as well as battling to separate head and heart when it comes to your dream home. The reports have condition ratings throughout, which essentially scores each element of the property in relation to its overall condition. Human nature is to focus on the more serious issues, and we are happy to help go through these and explain why they are rated as such. Sometimes a part of the property may be flagged as requiring urgent attention due to the health and safety risks posed, whilst others considered as urgent due to their poor condition. We find that discussing these further, as well as the less important issues are crucial for clarification and reassurance.
We specialise in new-build snagging! We have experience within the company of carrying out over 1,200 new-build snagging inspections for customers and developers alike. What many customers and surveyors do not appreciate is the sheer difference between carrying out a snagging survey and an RICS Home Survey. Snagging survey reports are produced by identifying the snags room-by-room, which makes it easier for the developer to understand and action each issue. The developer will delegate relevant trades to each snag, and therefore the ability to locate the issue is paramount. We are experienced in carrying out what is a meticulous inspection of what should be as close to a perfect property as possible. Our reports include photographs for every individual snag, whilst some companies do not offer this. We feel this helps to understand and locate the issue, along with the written description and location of the snag. We offer both pre-completion and post-completion snagging inspections, whereby the guidance and regulation has changed in recent years. We have found many surveying firms in particular that offer snagging on the side are not aware of the differences, and the requirements for the inspection and reporting. Please feel free to contact us regarding our new-build inspections!