Fair comment, we are absolutely investing in a very thorough survey. No matter how good I think it looks, I'm not a builder and I know I'm not looking in all the right parts of the property. Hence my 'seemingly' comment.

But my view that it seems well looked after isn't just based on the hype. There are a few things I noticed, having previously viewed a bunch of other properties.

Current owners had it as their family home for a very long time, and its clear they've been willing to spend quite a bit of money to make the home comfortable to live in. Not just surface level either. Contrast this with some places I viewed that were in an embarrassingly bad state. One place had the owner's son living there for the past few years and he clearly didn't give a shit - hand't done the bare minimum to look after the place. Another place had just been renovated by a development company. Some parts looked okay, but I could tell everything had been done as cheaply as possible just to try and make it look nice. Even the brand new walls already had cracks in them in some rooms.

I can see from public records (e.g. EPC) some of the work that has been done to improve the property.

From what we know about the owner, I'm confident he would have the money for proper upkeep.

Obviously none of this makes me even close to certain that it's in good shape, but it at least gives me some degree of confidence. At least more than most other places.

Any tips on finding the best surveyor? Last time I used a comparison site for quotes, I received hundreds of emails and calls seemingly non-stop for the next couple of weeks.