A survey is a necessary document and a limited one. It is written to a scope, it is hedged by a professional who is managing liability, and it will not tell you the things that make an old house tiring to own.

What we look for ourselves

Where the water goes. Whether the ground falls towards the house or away from it. Whether the last three interventions were done by the same hand or by three different ones. What the roof looks like from the neighbouring field rather than from the drive.

The questions to put to the owner

What have you repaired twice? Which room do you not use in winter, and why? Who did the work, and are they still local? Owners answer these honestly far more often than people expect, because they are questions about living in the house rather than about its value.

Commission the survey. Then walk the house again with the survey in your hand and ask what it did not cover.