Any Residential Surveyors around?
Discussion
Hi,
Long time lurker here.
I have worked on the periphery of the City my whole working life but now coming up to 50, moving out of London and looking for a change of career.
I am considering taking a course in residential surveying to get qualified to conduct RICS Residential Building surveys. Reasons: I would like to work for myself and have flexibility of choosing how much and when I work. I appreciate that conducting the surveys may not be the most interesting, but I have always been interested in property, like seeing new places and don’t mind driving. It seems that the fees for surveys are pretty good and given my financial situation I would be comfortable running a limited company below VAT limit giving me flexibility on what to charge.
Are there any residential surveyors out there who could give me a view on the industry? I would presume main costs are cost of sale (commissions to Estate Agents / Websites?) and insurance costs. Any pointers on these? How easy is it to get work? Anything else I should be considering?
Thanks!
Long time lurker here.
I have worked on the periphery of the City my whole working life but now coming up to 50, moving out of London and looking for a change of career.
I am considering taking a course in residential surveying to get qualified to conduct RICS Residential Building surveys. Reasons: I would like to work for myself and have flexibility of choosing how much and when I work. I appreciate that conducting the surveys may not be the most interesting, but I have always been interested in property, like seeing new places and don’t mind driving. It seems that the fees for surveys are pretty good and given my financial situation I would be comfortable running a limited company below VAT limit giving me flexibility on what to charge.
Are there any residential surveyors out there who could give me a view on the industry? I would presume main costs are cost of sale (commissions to Estate Agents / Websites?) and insurance costs. Any pointers on these? How easy is it to get work? Anything else I should be considering?
Thanks!
My understanding is that the market is pretty hard to break into as a self-employed surveyor and you are very unlikely to get business direct from the public and even less unlikely to get instructions from an estate agent. Unless of course you already have this network in place.
Most instructions are from mortgage providers who will have contracts with the various big players in the market. There might be exceptions but I've never known them to deal directly with one man bands who have just started out.
Whilst I'm not a surveyor I did work in this field and I would guess your best bet would be to apply to one of the big providers. This would help you build your contacts and gain some experience etc. It can be beneficial for you to pay for the course out of your own pocket, pass and then apply as you won't have any type of handcuff clause in your contract.
The last I heard it was around the fee was around £11k and I'd expect there to be some snake oil sold by some of the providers regarding potential earnings etc.
One final point is that what I saw you can indeed pick your working hours and area, even when working for a large firm. Lots of flexibility was offered.
Most instructions are from mortgage providers who will have contracts with the various big players in the market. There might be exceptions but I've never known them to deal directly with one man bands who have just started out.
Whilst I'm not a surveyor I did work in this field and I would guess your best bet would be to apply to one of the big providers. This would help you build your contacts and gain some experience etc. It can be beneficial for you to pay for the course out of your own pocket, pass and then apply as you won't have any type of handcuff clause in your contract.
The last I heard it was around the fee was around £11k and I'd expect there to be some snake oil sold by some of the providers regarding potential earnings etc.
One final point is that what I saw you can indeed pick your working hours and area, even when working for a large firm. Lots of flexibility was offered.
Becoming a chartered surveyor is not quick and easy. Typically a 3 year degree and 2 years of work experience. There are other routes but they usually rely on experience.
There are also lower qualifications and other bodies but they have I assume poorer opportunities.
Getting work direct from lenders is virtually impossible, so you end up mopping up what the big houses don’t want or working for them as a consultant and taking a cut of the full fee while you build up private referrals.
Professional indemnity insurance for this type of work is not cheap.
Essentially it’s eyes wide open.
There are also lower qualifications and other bodies but they have I assume poorer opportunities.
Getting work direct from lenders is virtually impossible, so you end up mopping up what the big houses don’t want or working for them as a consultant and taking a cut of the full fee while you build up private referrals.
Professional indemnity insurance for this type of work is not cheap.
Essentially it’s eyes wide open.
Many thanks for the replies. Food for thought. I certainly don't think it will be an easy move.
Forgive my naivety but wont most purchasers be commissioning a RICS level 2 / 3 survey individually?
Appreciate that mortgage lenders will refer (and in my experience EA's) but I have always found my own surveyor locally as prefer to deal with an individual you can speak to rather than a massive company,
Will continue with my research.
Thanks again.
Forgive my naivety but wont most purchasers be commissioning a RICS level 2 / 3 survey individually?
Appreciate that mortgage lenders will refer (and in my experience EA's) but I have always found my own surveyor locally as prefer to deal with an individual you can speak to rather than a massive company,
Will continue with my research.
Thanks again.
I’m a Chartered Building Surveyor, but know plenty of resi surveyors and the qualification process is similar.
If you already have a degree you can do a 1 year (full time) Masters in Building Surveying (LSBU or Kingston both offer this). Otherwise its a 3 year degree to start the process.
You’ll then need to get a job while you do your APC, which is essentially a structured on the job training programme which can theoretically be done in 2 years, but more typically will take at least 3 years. A bigger firm will generally you chartered quicker. Firms tend to like older starters (more stable and less green), but I don’t know whether there’s a limit to that.
Once you pass your APC and are chartered you can, theoretically, set up your own firm etc, but I’d suggest that getting some more post APC experience would be sensible before you go out by yourself.
There are other options, such as AssocRICS, but that will be more career limiting and I’m not best placed to advise on that.
You’ll also need to become a registered valuer to do valuations but I don’t know anything about that process.
As I said, I’m not a resi surveyor, but my understanding is that most will work with directly or indirectly for bigger firms (Countryside, e.surv etc). My understating is that these firms will work you pretty hard and it’s a bit of a sausage machine, doing 5 or more mortgage valuations etc a day. I would imagine breaking into that market as a inexperience sole trader would be very difficult and it’s a pretty competitive market.
There are guys out out there doing purely building surveys (as opposed to working for mortgage co’s) but often they’ll do other stuff as well (such as party Wall work) and they do to be of a certain level of experience (I.e. with a few decades of experience…).
In short, it’s a great career and definitely one where some experience will be an advantage.
Let me know if you have any specific questions.
If you already have a degree you can do a 1 year (full time) Masters in Building Surveying (LSBU or Kingston both offer this). Otherwise its a 3 year degree to start the process.
You’ll then need to get a job while you do your APC, which is essentially a structured on the job training programme which can theoretically be done in 2 years, but more typically will take at least 3 years. A bigger firm will generally you chartered quicker. Firms tend to like older starters (more stable and less green), but I don’t know whether there’s a limit to that.
Once you pass your APC and are chartered you can, theoretically, set up your own firm etc, but I’d suggest that getting some more post APC experience would be sensible before you go out by yourself.
There are other options, such as AssocRICS, but that will be more career limiting and I’m not best placed to advise on that.
You’ll also need to become a registered valuer to do valuations but I don’t know anything about that process.
As I said, I’m not a resi surveyor, but my understanding is that most will work with directly or indirectly for bigger firms (Countryside, e.surv etc). My understating is that these firms will work you pretty hard and it’s a bit of a sausage machine, doing 5 or more mortgage valuations etc a day. I would imagine breaking into that market as a inexperience sole trader would be very difficult and it’s a pretty competitive market.
There are guys out out there doing purely building surveys (as opposed to working for mortgage co’s) but often they’ll do other stuff as well (such as party Wall work) and they do to be of a certain level of experience (I.e. with a few decades of experience…).
In short, it’s a great career and definitely one where some experience will be an advantage.
Let me know if you have any specific questions.
Edited by Cow Corner on Thursday 12th September 22:10
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