Buying a partially completed house

My brother is looking at buying a partially completed house, but neither he nor I know a hell of a lot about houses. I told him he would need a surveyor to look at it, but am I right? Or is it a builder he needs?

The exterior of the house is complete, but the interior is not. Wiring is only partially done, and floors, skirting etc is yet to be done. The stairs has yet to be put in. Plastering hasn't been done.

The house has been left this way for over a year now. He wants to know that the current structure etc is sound, but he also wants to know how much it would cost to finish it.

Would a surveyor be qualified to give this information? Or should be be looking to bring in a builder instead?

Bring in both. It's the biggest investment he'll make, probably, better to spend now than regret later.

I also think it's a terrible idea to buy an unfinished house but that's just me.

Thanks for your advice, VonLinus. Why do you think it's a terrible idea?

with the right professionals this could work out well if the existing structure is sound and the price is right.

The QS can tell u 3 things

value of serviced site: you need to adjust if it is on a big site

the spend to-date by major element

the projected spend to finish

keep an eye on the total spend ( ex-site) divided by area to give u a finish cost per sq foot: this number has to be sensible and will help u figure out if purchase price is too high.
For example say the house is 2000 sq feet and say the surveyor tells u that 125 euro per sq foot is the cost to build
so 250,000 is the ex-site build cost.
Then if he tells you that the build cost so far is 100,000 , so 150,000 to finish

If the site is say worth 20,000 then the cost now should be c 120,000 so if they are looking for 200,000 - walk

You will someone at the end to sign off on planning and regulatory compliance

Is it a concrete floor downstairs with all the sewage pipe-work in place.
Does it need a septic tank?

At a good price there is nothing wrong with this. Just spend the money on the experts first. An engineer to survey and certify that the property is sound, well insulated etc A couple of builder to give an estimate of how much to bring to a liveable standard.

You can value the site by seeing what they are going for in the local area, you can also value the property by checking out what completed properties are selling for in the local area, this is not the same thing as the asking prices on Daft.

The bank will also be requesting a valuation.

Thanks for all your advice here. I'll pass on your advice on getting the right people in to give their opinion. I had been expressing reservations to him, but he has seen the property himself twice and is happy to take this a little further.
I asked him your questions, hastalavista:
Yes, concrete floor and sewage in place
No septic tank.