In ye olden days (pre internet!) surveyors held knowledge that was not available to folks who did not have hands on experience and therefore many could hide behind selling woo as part of a black art........perhaps it is time to start using surveyors in a different way?
1) start with a self
survey (enough on the
internet to guide you)
2) for those items for which simply no idea! the answers (Inc ballpark costs and things to consider) are available online, written and from people.
3) for those things identified by you as serious concerns (whether real or not) then you either get a
surveyor to look specifically at these things only or a boatyard / tradesman (accepting that they may want paying for their opinion / estimate).......personally I would be happier getting the view of someone who has worked hands on fixing similar problems and may be called in later to fix the problem because there
advice would be full of caveats / arse covering! to reflect the reality that for some jobs you really wont know the extent of the problem until yer get started.
4) if needed for
insurance purposes can use a
surveyor for their usual and cheaper
survey lite.
Perhaps the only useful addition would be using a surveyor at the outset if the
boat is at a distance to give a basic report on condition and obvious problems and whether in the ballpark
price wise......so worth travelling to see.
Of course the above approach requires some effort by self - but you will be doing a survey of the
boat that is far better than anyone else and more time consuming after
purchase (even if only reactively when things thought good break!) ...imo better to do so before being married to a boat. The other con is that dont have someone say everything is fine - some folks need that reassurance from others, whether true or not.
The world moves on, including with boats.