Surveying: A Profession Built on People, Not Just Properties.
This guest article was written by Alan Milstein, Director at Skyline Surveyors Ltd and former Chairman of the Residential Property Surveyors Association (RPSA). Alan is trained as a specialist surveyor of listed and historic buildings. As a long-time advocate of higher standards, Alan participates in many industry forums and initiatives associated with surveying and property.
Surveying, to me, is the simplest job in the world…and it’s the best! Getting paid for walking around somebody’s house, being given cups of tea, and having people hang on your every word has got to be pretty good, hasn’t it?
Well, the answer is…yes. It certainly can be a pretty perfect occupation. Okay, every job has its downsides, but when all is said and done, residential surveying has got to be up there with rockstar, Formula 1 racing driver, or YouTuber.
I know what you’re thinking. ‘Really, Alan? Is it that amazing?’ Well, it can be.
There are, of course, many different types of surveyor, and as many different ‘days in the life of’ scenarios. The corporate surveyor doing 6 or 7 valuations a day will have a very different day to the independent practitioner doing 3 or 4 surveys a week. But, surprisingly, in the end we can all describe our working day in exactly the same way. Even though I didn’t come into the world of surveying until later in my working career, my approach is no different to when I was a margarine salesman in my previous life. I wanted to do the best job I could do and be recognised as someone who went the extra mile.
So now we’re starting to understand just what ‘a day in the life of a residential surveyor’ is all about. Walk around a house and do the best job you can. It’s still sounding simple, isn’t it?
Just like when I went out to secure orders for case-loads of Flora or Stork, my day as a surveyor starts with knowledge. I need to make absolutely sure that I know more about my chosen subject than the person I’m talking to, whoever they are. And, believe me, grocery store managers always think they know how ‘your’ world works much better than you do. It’s no different to the way homeowners, estate agents, conveyancers and builders are all completely conversant with the investigation of damp, dodgy electrics and dilapidated rafters.
But knowledge isn’t just understanding the intricacies of mundic walls, osmotic damp proofing and pozzolans. As surveyors we need to be able to talk, with confidence, about the latest news affecting the working practices of the other professionals we come into contact with, the impact of government policy, or anticipated fiscal decisions, on the mortgage our client needs to get to buy their house, or the detail of the different industry standards used by our colleagues and competitors.
Surveyors don’t work in silos. We are (a very important) part of an intricate machine that enables the home moving process. Whether we’re doing a valuation or a condition survey, our output will inevitably affect the decisions and actions taken by sellers, buyers and other professionals.
So, our day is starting to get busier. Walking round a house, drinking tea…and now reading and learning about the other things affecting our business environment. But it still isn’t too challenging, is it? Walking, drinking and reading…we should be able to manage that.
My earlier career didn’t stop at the gates of the margarine factory. I was made for greater things, and that came in the shape of my role as international Barbie watch salesman. Travelling round Europe and the Middle East securing orders for container-loads of pink (and often furry!) watches drew on all my previous ‘edible fat’ skills.
That may sound a million miles away from being a surveyor, but it’s closer than you think. Buyers of Barbie watches can be surprisingly challenging. They can be very demanding of your time and attention. They can try to catch you out or claim you promised or told them something that you didn’t. Hang on! That sounds exactly like people who buy surveys ( or at least some of them). So, are there more similarities here? The answer to these challenges, of course, is ‘jaw, jaw, not war, war’. Talking to people and, more importantly, listening to their fears, concerns and worries, will, in the majority of cases, overcome any issues they have in mind.
So, now we can add talking and listening to the daily activities of the residential surveyor. Walking, drinking, reading, talking, listening. Hopefully most of us can knock that out of the park? But I think there’s one more thing that surveyors need to add to their list of daily activities.
After I’d exhausted my potential for placing Barbie and Ken timepieces in all corners of the globe, life took a bit of a downturn. I needed a job and I needed money. The next stop in my career was to become a double-glazing salesman. Like all the jobs I’ve ever had, I put everything I had into it. Even when it came to making the call to my boss to see if I could offer this very special customer an incredible deal ‘for one day only’, I did my absolute best. And I was successful. I won prizes, trips abroad and earned plenty of money.
Then it all started going horribly wrong. Suddenly I wasn’t getting the sales closed down. I was struggling. I was leaving peoples’ houses with a blank and unsigned order pad. And when I look back on that time, I can see exactly why it all went so pear-shaped. I had committed the ultimate double-glazing salesman sin. I’d started caring. I started to question whether the people that I was convincing to buy new windows were actually getting a good deal. Were they getting value for money? Would they be happy with the financial commitment they were making? And despite the fact that my conversion rates tumbled and my income plummeted, I felt satisfied that I was only taking orders where I could clearly see that the client was gaining a benefit by giving me an order for some shiny new windows.
Unless we care about the job we are doing then, certainly in my world, we can’t do a good job. We can’t do the right job. We can’t do the best job.
So, with that in mind, I think our description of ‘a day in the life of a residential surveyor’ is complete.
Walking
Drinking
Reading
Talking
Listening
…and…
Caring
And it doesn’t matter whether you are working for the largest corporate firm, or running your own one-surveyor business, doing those 6 simple ‘golden activities’ every day will help you deliver a great result for your employer, client, or professional colleagues. It will empower you to feel that you have delivered value for money and can be proud of what you have created – be it a valuation or survey report.
So, surveying really is very simple. It’s not just about wall-ties and wet rot. Surveying is about people. The impact of what we do, and what we say, can be life-changing. Most days we just get up, go out, do our inspections, write them up, and move on, but let’s make sure that every day includes the 6 golden activities and that, every day, it finishes with that last one. If we care about what we do then, inevitably, we do a great job. It’s as simple as that.
Oh, and I got the sack from the double-glazing company…and they went bust a short while later! They didn’t care.
Alan Milstein
Director – Skyline Surveyors Ltd
If you’re interested in becoming a residential surveyor, discover Sava’s industry-recognised surveyor training programme, the part-time Diploma in Residential Surveying and Valuation.