It has to be simple because I recall having considered my Surveying Degree Economics lectures as almost communists doctrine and, as such, patently incorrect, after the simple concept of the Law of Supply and Demand.

Buyer activity or, to put it another way, the number of people out there in the market who are really looking to buy a house, is at an all time low. 

So, there are very few people wanting to buy a house, of any type, and we now look at supply. 

Oh dear, an awful lot of houses for sale at the moment, many having been on the market for 6/9/12 months. 

That's over supply then. 

That simple economic rule of Supply and Demand means that when there are too few people available wanting to buy a item and too many of those items being offered for sale, the only people who will sell the item will be those who reduce the price to make it more attractive to the purchaser. 

This is what has happened to the housing market. The only people who are selling are those individuals prepared to 'bite the bullet' and reduce the price to make the property more attractive to purchasers and represent a 'Good Buy'. 

Never having fished, other than using a bamboo cane with net attached in public park ponds/lakes or rock pools as a child, I have no particular experience of tempting a slightly reluctant trout/chubb/bream or whatever onto bait at the end of a line attached to a fishing rod. 

However, I know the theory. 

If any of you out there have taken a tentative bite at the bait of your next home, currently offered to the market at a price less than would have been achieved last year or, in a number of cases, the year before, you will be sensibly looking at the long term view on the basis that house prices may have dropped at the moment but they will go up in the future, because that is what has always happened in housing market history. 

If the seller wants to continue reeling you in, he has to play his line very carefully and the last thing that he wants you to do is let go of the hook and swim off elsewhere. 

Rather like fisherman sitting on the riverbank in the pouring rain (goodness only knows why they do that!), spending hours waiting for a bite and then, when the clouds eventually part and a little ray of sunshine pokes through the clouds and he feels his line tighten as the fish nibbles the bait, he is, without doubt, very much happier than he was an hour ago.

The person that been wanting to sell his house for 6/9/12 months, or perhaps longer, is altogether a much more cheerful person to deal with as you have made him an offer that he has accepted, perhaps reluctantly because it is less than he wanted originally. 

Given that you, the buyer, have lots of attractive options out there, the last thing that he wants to do is lose you. 

You may have been hard nosed when you made your offer, doing your best to take advantage of the situation (i.e. the current housing market), but you can maybe go a little further! 

Try this thought for size! 

Over the years, I was taught how to buy eggs when sent out to the supermarket. Before you put a box of eggs in the basket, you open it up and see if any are broken. You don't buy broken eggs! 

Losing a few pence by discovering that you've bought damaged goods by not opening the egg box is not such a big deal. 

Spending £150,000, £200,000, £250,000 and more on a house is a different animal. 

If you've committed to buying, you're committed to a Mortgage Application fee, which will include a simple Valuation Report, you're committed to not insubstantial Solicitors fees and, if you are selling, you will have committed to not insubstantial Estate Agents fees. 

Let's say you were selling something for £200,000.  

Your total outlay on sale and purchase costs will probably be around £3,000, that made up as follows: 

Estate Agents                £2,000 + VAT = £2,350.

Legal costs (sale & purchase)                    £900.

Mortgage Application Fee                          £450.

The HIP that Government forced you to pay for when you put your house on the market and that no-one has been interested in and the local Searches certainly aren't going to be looked at by your buyers  Solicitor! :        £350. 

And that's before you start thinking about the Stamp Duty that you have to hand over to the Government when you buy your new house.

Don't forget, the illustration is for you selling something at £200,000 and if it is more than that your Estate Agents costs will be substantially higher. 

How about spending another £500, but this time handing it over to someone who will give you something back that is really useful! 

This is not a hard sell, simply an explanation of fact. 

Commission a Surveyor, like myself, to have a very good look at the property and tell you all about its condition and state of repair. 

The Surveyor's Report will make depressing reading, because that's what the Report is all about - it is negative in its intent and not designed to describe your lovely new home in glowing terms. 

You could take the other view and think, "I'll save myself a few hundred quid", hiding in the very darkest recesses of your mind the thought that you might be taking a bit of a gamble, but you don't really want to know if there's anything wrong because you are already now mentally committed to the purchase!  

You also might think that you've got a decent deal, anyway, bearing in mind the hard negotiating that you did when you got the price reduced from the figure the Estate Agent was asking. 

Take a moment to look at it another way. 

The people you are buying from are so absolutely thrilled that they have finally found a buyer and they can move on with their own lives means that they have probably, by now, forgotten their first thought, which would have been that they were "giving it away"! 

They've had a few weeks to think about it and they are now committed to you and the price that you are prepared to pay. 

With a Survey Report, highlighting possible problems and certainly future expense for you to deal with repairs, you could possibly negotiate further and make allowance for those future costs by virtue of a further reduction in the bid price. 

Take a look at another page on this website which is titled 'Estate Agents -v- Surveyors'. 

There is another way that that you can look at my suggestion. 

Your Solicitor checks property Title and Local Authority Searches which ensures that nothing untoward is going to happen on the legal side, but this is very much a paper shuffling exercise and hasn't got much practical use to you. 

The Mortgage Application fee will cover a very basic valuation which you have to have because the Building Society want to make sure that if you default on your mortgage they can sell the house and get their money back! They are charging you for this service even though the amount that you borrow will probably be multiplied by at least 2½ to make up the amount that you will eventually pay them back, over the years! 

The Estate Agent will be charging the most of all, but he has, at least, found you a buyer for your own house, so there is something useful and productive there. 

Your Surveyor can 'save you money' in the respect that you could have the opportunity to re-negotiate the price after bid has been made but, more importantly, he will tell you what you need to do to rectify defects, how to keep the building good repair, warn you of what future expenditure will be needed to deal with deterioration of the fabric of the building, which will inevitably occur, etc. 

From my point of view, as a Surveyor, this all makes perfect sense and survey fees, when compared to all of the other costs of selling and buying, are very reasonable and, most certainly, worthwhile. 

To finish off, here's what happened to me a while back. 

I was standing in the Kitchen of a modern house, chatting with the Vendor who wanted to "pick my brains" before I started my survey.

He told me that he and his wife were buying an old semi in Gosforth, Brunton Park actually, that was built in the 1930's and that they were paying cash. 

On that basis, as he was a cash purchaser, he said that he didn't think that he needed a survey because "there wasn't a mortgage involved" (????). 

I went back against the Kitchen worktop, crossed my arms, looked him in the eye and, in all honesty, said to him "If you're buying an older house for cash and you aren't having a survey, you are a complete bloody idiot". They were my exact words. 

I then explained to him, in simple terms, what could go wrong using the simple examples of deteriorating roof tiles, cavity wall tie corrosion, lack of lintels to window openings if replacement double glazing has been fitted, damp proof course issues, wiring issues, plumbing issues, drainage system issues, etc. 

Perhaps telling him that he was a "complete bloody idiot" may not have been my best choice of phrase, but it was truthful and accurate. 

I sincerely hope that he had some semblance of sense and has commissioned a survey on that house.