3 Reasons Why You Should Get A Building and Pest Inspection
No matter how good or bad a property appears to be, we always recommend getting a building and pest inspection.
We have seen perfect looking 5 year old apartments riddled with water leaks, and what you perceive to be dilapidated houses come back with structurally sound concrete stumps and perfect plaster work! All they need are some new weatherboards and a heavy duty paint job!
What we’re saying is, don't judge a book by its cover! Let’s go through some of the reasons why we don’t think a professional building inspection report is something to skimp on pre purchase.
Low cost investment for one of the biggest financial decisions of your life.
Sitting pretty at around $600 for both building and pest inspection reports, it’s a drop in the ocean compared to the cost of the property, or potential issues you may miss and need to deal with within your first year of ownership. It’s simply a part of the cost of buying real estate. It’s pretty rare that a building inspection report will turn us off buying a property, however there have been times we’ve confidently walked away. Major underpinning or rising damp and considerable drainage issues are all reasons we’d reconsider a purchase. Of course these things can be rectified, but you also need to take into consideration effort v’s reward, and dollar in v’s added value.
Consider it a maintenance plan.
It’s good to know if there are things that need addressing immediately, or within the first 5 years of ownership. Getting on top of minor defects while they’re still minor will help you avoid any major defects down the road.
A common problem we see is poor drainage on the property. This means the water from the downpipes is not being taken away from the footings, water is like kryptonite and can cause long term damage to your foundations. Will the house fall over if these things aren’t rectified immediately? No. But this is an example of something that needs to go on the maintenance plan!
They will terrify you, but preparation is important.
Property ownership costs money, in general. This includes maintenance. These reports contain a laundry list of things to do.. If you're not prepared to do the work (or coordinate the work!), it might be an idea to consider a different property type altogether. Don't forget, some of these properties you're considering may be close to 100 years old! These reports magnify even the smallest of things.
It’s important to note what they do and do not include. Building & pest inspectors are not electricians, so they won’t be checking the electrical work for example.. They’re also not going to check if the appliances are working either
It’s a good idea to give your inspector a call before they do the inspection and flag anything you want them to look at in particular.
Interestingly in QLD, the seller needs to provide a building inspection report, but in Victoria that’s up to the buyer. The frustrating thing is, in an auction centric market, you need to spend the money on the inspection before you know if you’ve purchased the property.
In the case of a private sale you may submit your offer subject to a building and pest inspection report. If the report comes back with major defects, you may be able to renegotiate the purchase price. More often than not the seller will disagree saying the property is being sold as is and the price reflects the works needed.
If you are planning to submit an offer subject to building and pest inspection, be aware of the wording used for the clause in the contract. If you’re using the generic clause that’s already stipulated within the contract, you will need evidence of a ‘major structural defect’ in order to rescind the sale.
So we always suggest speaking with your conveyancer to see if they’d suggest re-wording the clause.. our trusted conveyancers almost always do!
As we say every week, if you want the right information and advice, speak to the experts. That goes for building inspections, contract reviews and property professionals alike.
Thanks for reading!