You’ve found your dream property. To the untrained eye, your new home seems perfect. It’s on the right street in your ideal suburb; with a yard you’ve always imagined and that fits your family to a tee. However, there are many factors to consider when buying a home, and safety is one of them. Pre-purchase building and pest inspections are essential. They can uncover a property’s true condition. Sometimes, your dream property might not be so perfect. Avoid a potentially dangerous and expensive mistake by inspecting before you buy.
What you may not know, if you’ve never bought in a booming market before, is that not all real estate agents are ethical – it’s shocking right? As Queensland’s boom extends further and further up the coastline and across the western downs, buying an investment not a lemon is not as straightforward as you may expect. As Queensland experiences continued high demand and high competition for properties, you may be bumped in favour of cash buyers, or pressured to skip building and pest inspections. Don’t do it. There’s only one reason you’d be asked to skip the inspection process – the seller and estate agent have something to hide.
By Andrew Mackintosh, Builder and Building Inspector
How to find a building inspector you can trust
When the time comes to seek out the services of a building inspector for your property, would you know what to look out for and what questions to ask?
Qualified and independent: Experience counts. Inspectors must be qualified builders, qualified building inspectors, and members of the Queensland Master Builders Association and the Institute of Building Consultants. As a licensed inspector, they are mandated to keep abreast of building codes and legislation. Furthermore, building and pest inspection companies must remain completely independent from agents to ensure the written reports are unbiased and a true reflection of the condition of the property inspected.
Specialised inspection equipment: It takes more than a pen and paper to inspect a property. A professional inspector will arrive with various tools to get the best results. These include a camera, moisture detectors, thermal image cameras, internal wall scope cameras, and ladders.
Word of mouth: By going local and hiring a company in Brisbane, you’ll be able to ask around and rely on word of mouth. It won’t take long to hear about complaints, if there are any, but you’ll also soon find out exactly who you can trust. Contact the licensing board if you want to delve deeper.
Jargon-free report: At the conclusion of an inspection, it is imperative that you are given a detailed report prepared in easy-to-understand language, and one that is prepared in accordance with the mandatory standards (AS 4349.1). Make sure it documents every issue identified from both inside and outside of the property, and also an idea of the defects’ severity and an indication of repair cost and timeframes. This sample report gives you an indication of the level of detail you should expect to see in any building inspection report you receive.
Reasons you need building and pest inspections
Buying a home or an investment property is one of the biggest investments most of us will ever make. To be sure that the house of your dreams lives up to your expectations, book a building and pest inspection, even if you’re purchasing a property that is less than 5 years old. Think of it as the real estate version of a test drive. When you get a professional inspection, you’re protecting your funds and gaining clarity on your purchase. You’ll catch issues before they become a problem, and you’ll be equipped to make better home-buying decisions.
Repair, renegotiate or run: Upon completion of the inspection, the detailed report presented to you will equip you with facts allowing you to make an informed decision about whether or not to go ahead with the purchase. Depending on the severity of findings, you could use this information to walk away from a sale, renegotiate the price, or negotiate for works to be undertaken prior to the contract signing.
Illegal alterations: An inspection may identify illegally constructed additions to a home, such as a garage or a shed, which may have been built without appropriate council or building approvals.
Safety and structure: No one wants to purchase a home and find out later that it is not structurally sound. A building inspection will be able to identify defects and major issues of concern, which could very well save your life.
Unwanted visitors: Common pests and termites can secretly be living within walls and be comfortably nestled in the foundations without anyone knowing. An inspection will not only be able to identify if pests have invaded the home but also establish the right treatment program for your specific infestation.
If your real estate agent denies your request for a building and pest inspection, Brisbane property buyers should know that this is never a good sign. It may mean that there are issues with the property they don’t want you to uncover. Brisbane’s real estate squeeze has been felt for several years now, with buyers under pressure to buy to “avoid missing out” and buyers suffering after waiving pre-purchase building and pest inspections, having felt pressured to do so. Resist signing a contract waiving your legal right to building and pest inspections – it could save you thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of dollars in the long run.
Potential problems building and pest inspections check
It’s more than what meets the eye when performing an inspection; it’s having the experience and knowledge to understand what you’re looking at.
What a building inspector looks for:
Roof damage: Assessments of gutters, roof cladding and ceiling linings are undertaken for signs of decay and water damage. Cracks in tiles, holes in the ceiling, and poor or unsafe insulation are not overlooked.
Interior damage: Anything from loose handrails, shaky fans, uneven floorboards and windows that don’t shut are covered in an interior inspection. These are signs of underlying issues or disasters waiting to happen.
Exterior damage: Avoiding external areas like decks, pergolas, and verandas can put your safety at risk, even if a small area of deterioration is not detected. The condition of downpipes is also checked because if they are not functioning, the risk of water inundation during heavy rains is increased.
Underfloor issues: Whilst access can be challenging, omitting an underfloor inspection of supports, tie downs, concrete slabs, bearers and joists, and flooring, can be serious and expensive; rot, structural cracking, drainage issues, and sinking could not only cost you thousands, but could put you or your tenant’s safety at risk.
What a pest inspector looks for:
Living in Queensland’s climate means that no property is free from termites, so it pays to be proactive. A pest inspector will offer treatment solutions for termites, mice, cockroaches, silverfish, spiders, and other pests. Like building inspectors, pest inspectors look at the integrity of your home and conduct visual and physical inspections of your home, both internally and externally, searching for signs of borers and decay.
Does a property pass or fail a building inspection?
A building inspection report is not prepared with the aim of passing or failing a property. The details it includes are for your consideration. Believe it or not, most homes will have problems of some kind, but it is those with major structural problems that will actually fail an inspection.
When a property shows signs of disrepair, this could be a sign of structural movement. Small movement in homes happens all the time, but when the safety of the structure is compromised, a property will fail an inspection. Such indicators would be cracks in the brickwork and paving, or bulging walls inside a property. Inadequate drainage, clogged guttering and leaking pipes can lead to the long-term viability of a property’s structure being compromised. Aside from major structural damage caused by corrosion, major water penetration in masonry increases mould and fungal activity, which then attracts termite activity. Due to the silent nature of these tiny pests, serious damage can occur before termite activity is noted. In worst-case scenarios, a property can be deemed unsafe to live in due to termite activity, leaving the house structurally unsound.
Buying a house or building in Brisbane or across Queensland is a huge investment. Get it wrong and it could prove to be very costly. Obtain the building and pest inspection service that is working for you. Action Property Inspections is in your corner and working in your best interests. Buying in Brisbane? Contact our team today to arrange your pre-purchase building and pest inspection. The results of an independent building inspection will help you make an informed decision about your prospective property purchase.
