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There is a common mistake made by many a homebuyer that once they have registered their details with an estate agent, that estate agent will act in the buyer’s interests to find them their new home. This is a fallacy perpetuated by estate agents, as having a large database of potential buyers attracts sellers to list their properties with them. And there is the rub: estate agents are retained by the seller and they act exclusively in the best interests of sellers. In fact, they are legally obliged to do so. Whilst an estate agent will happily register your details on their database and may even send you emails containing property details, they are not acting in your (the buyer) best interests. They are merely trying to generate interest in the properties of their retained clients (the seller) in order to achieve the highest price possible for those clients – acting in the seller’s best interest, as required under their agency agreement. So who looks after the buyer’s best interests? Well, that would be a buying agent. Buying agents act exclusively for buyers and use their network of contacts to find properties that match their client’s criteria. They do not rely on a single estate agent but a whole network of contacts involved in the property industry. This means that only the properties that best suit the buyer’s criteria are considered. It also means that a buying agent will have access to view properties before the majority of other buyers and often before a property even appears on the market. This gives their clients an advantage over those attending later viewings with hoards of other hopefuls. A good buying agent will only work for a handful of clients at any given time and will never have two clients with identical requirements. This avoids competition and helps the buying agent avoid a bidding war between its clients – this is in complete contrast to the goals of the estate agent to whom a bidding war is manna from heaven. A reputable buying agent will charge fixed fees so there is no advantage to them in keeping the purchase price high. In fact, from a reputational point of view, it is much better for a buying agent to obtain the lowest possible prices for their clients. Despite the name, buying agents do much more than find properties for clients. They manage and liaise with all parties throughout the acquisition process to make buying a property as smooth and stress free as possible for their client. They can recommend solicitors, surveyors, insurers and finance brokers and, after you have bought the property, can help you find interior designers, stagers, decorators, architects and other professionals to make your property perfect. Buying agents, or property finders as they are also known, were, for a long time, believed to be the preserve of the wealthy, celebrities or only for those people prepared to appear on TV. However, as more and more buyers are finding out, this is simply no longer the case. What to expect from a buying agent? · Saving time and money · Professional and personal approach · Property market knowledge · Transparency · Flexibility · Impartial support Buying a property is a major life decision; the most expensive life decision you are likely to make. It is also stressful and time consuming. So, it is quite remarkable that some buyers are prepared to gamble such large sums of money without professional help, guidance and advice; whilst the seller has access to the guidance and advice of their estate agent. For buyers, the best way to level the playing field is for them to have their own representatives on their team. Property buyers: don’t make a costly mistake. Use a buying agent! Domus Holmes Property Finder (www.domusholmes.co.uk) is a Bristol-based independent property buying agent dedicated to sourcing, negotiating and securing various residential and commercial properties for a diverse range of clients. With an extensive network of industry contacts, they act exclusively for buyers to source and purchase on and off market properties, whether it is to be a home or an investment.

Hi Catherine. So....... happy to help/advice. My situation- I'm leaseholder of ground floor flat with share of freehold. Owner of 1st floor flat is leaseholder of his flat and share of freehold. A license to alter is between the leasaeholder doing the work (me) and the freeholder (me and him) - so it's quite an unusual situation whihc noone seems to compeltely understand. Theoretically it should be a simple but I made a few naive errors It's also seperate from the party wall agreement. My upstairs neighbour declined the PWA and so instructed his own chartered surveyor. Andrew Cornick. I naively agreed that he could do the report for th license to alter which was a massive mistake as he was totally bias towards the upstairs neighbour. So depends on your situaion. But there should be a chartered surveyor who is working on behalf of the freeholders and writes a report that has certain terms and conditions for you as leaseholder doing the work. The role of the chartered surveyor for the freeholders is: " to report on the proposed application to alter in order that the Landlord(freeholder) could consider its obligation not to unreasonably withhold consent.If you have decent set of drawings/structural calculations as well as building regulations before you start you should be in good stead. it should not be an issue. I used Alan Riley for my party wall agreement -I would recommend him. BVP was upstairs party wall surveyor and joint freeholder surveyor who did the license to alter report ( would not recommend them) - this then gets submitted to the joint solicitor ( solicitor for freeholder) and is signed by both freeholder ( you and him) and you leaseholder I sought advice from George PAtros and Sandra Rankine who were excellent public access barristers but this was because the freeholder chartered surveryor was extremely difficult and I needed help. You shouldnt need this I also used http://www.congrevehorner.com/ Andrew Dewhurst to do a schedule of condition for adjacent neighbours who had agreed to the party wall agreement. I also got advice from this guy who was extemely helpful - also a chartered surveyor.... Christopher Magowans from Magowans in TWickenham. Hope that helps. Jane

Many years ago I had a job where I saw plenty of reports. These particular observations were not standard comments on every report (some comments for example about drains used to be as they can’t inspect). My understanding is homebuyers is quite limited and is really only an extended look over a house. Basic valuation is a very quick look round to establish the price. Structural report involves pulling back carpet, maybe drilling in walls and a lot more involved. Not every seller will be happy for your surveyor to do these things to their home. By you choosing the homebuyers report makes me think you wanted more detailed information about the property condition. This is likely to be your most expensive purchase. If the surveyor has recommended strongly a structural engineer inspects the property I personally wouldn’t ignore this. Yes you could have surveyor go round and all be fine potentially wasting their fee or it could identify a problem potentially saving you thousands. In either case it would give you peace of mind about what you are actually buying.