Build and pest inspection
- Thread starter Robi
- Start date
Rely on your solicitor's recommendation.
... or call some local real estate agents who would have a few names in their speed dial.
Most agents know who to avoid, but building inspectors work for themselves, cover their own backsides with pages of "outs". They are not going to bend the rules or make things sound rosy just because they know the agent. Most agents don't like building inspectors much at all. They make things hard for the agent.
Yes, am impressed with building and pest inspectors.
Being in a town I was a bit suspicious of the connections but agree with Wylie. When I rang the PM to talk about the property before finalising negotiations, she told me that the building inspector I had randomly chosen had averted quite a lot of their sales in the past.
Being in a town I was a bit suspicious of the connections but agree with Wylie. When I rang the PM to talk about the property before finalising negotiations, she told me that the building inspector I had randomly chosen had averted quite a lot of their sales in the past.
Yes Wylie,RE agents and Building inspectors are like cats and dogs.
The RE agent has quite often already tied the buyer down to an offer and acceptance contract heavily slanted in their favour prior to the Building and Pest inspection taking place.
The fundamental thing that ALL buyers should remember is that the RE agent is working for the vendor/seller and ultimately their commission and the Building inspector is working for you......
The RE agent has quite often already tied the buyer down to an offer and acceptance contract heavily slanted in their favour prior to the Building and Pest inspection taking place.
The fundamental thing that ALL buyers should remember is that the RE agent is working for the vendor/seller and ultimately their commission and the Building inspector is working for you......
The building report will be the same whether it is paid for by the vendor or the purchaser. I've never seen a good building report. Sure, you can avoid the ones that are known to be "difficult", who make every house sound like it is about to fall over, and agents know which ones to avoid. They avoid them because they write up reports that don't help a sale, they word things badly, no matter who is paying for the report.
We lost a few thousand once when first home buyers read the building report on a house we were selling, solid as a rock, and he wrote truthfully "evidence of water leak from bathroom". He COULD have added that the timber was bone dry, the leak was clearly from about 30 years ago. This was obvious to everybody, but he didn't bother to say it was a very old leak and very old evidence. They got spooked. Still wanted the house though, for a couple of grand less in case they needed to fix the leak.
I find it amusing that people (especially potential buyers) think a building report done before a sale and paid for by the vendor is somehow going to have a different result than if the potential purchaser pays for it. That is just crazy.
We are having one done tomorrow for a house we will be selling. It gives us a chance to fix anything we may have missed. If the purchasers think we have somehow persuaded a professional to give us a dodgy report, that is their choice, but it is a flawed argument. It is an unknown professional builder (with no reason to lie because I'm paying him).
Some people can find a conspiracy as soon as they get out of bed.
Yes the report should always be the same whether it is paid for by the purchaser or the vendor,however if a building inspection company are getting a multitude of referrals from a real estate agency then keeping the Real estate agency happy may become their priority.
A good building inspector will always contact his client after they receive their report and ensure that they fully understand its content putting defects into perspective but ultimately it is their clients prerogative as to any issues that they may wish to negotiate on.
You state that you"have never seen a good building report",but you are still getting one done tomorrow,why?
We are getting one done because our agent suggested that for an auction we do it. Buyers don't like doing them and paying $500 on the off chance that they might win at auction. I've never had one done on anything I've ever purchased. We can see the underneath of houses we have bought (queenslanders). I've seen enough to know they all sound bad. I've seen the ones we've had used to try to get us to lower our sale price. My mother sold houses and I know a lot of agents. I know all about building inspection reports, the ones that agents try to avoid if possible because they word things badly.
My mum always told me she ensured her buyers came at the end of the inspection because the inspector would often tell them "this is a good house and I would buy it" even though his report reads like it is a big risk.
Our son bought a unit, and that is the only time we arranged a report, because it was not our money we were risking. The report was bad, but he told us "this is a good unit, I'd buy it". If we simply read the report, we may have walked away.
The downside to us getting a report to show prospective purchases is that we will not know who is serious enough about wanting to buy to get one done themselves.
Your experience of Building inspectors does not sound like a rewarding one Wylie!
A good inspector producing a comprehensive report should be making their client aware of every defect,large or small,within that property.This obviously includes the loft space which a prospective purchaser is not permitted to enter in the course of the buying process.
The inspector should also make a comparison with similar properties to ensure that their client is fully aware of the fact that their subject property is typical,or otherwise,of other properties located within that location.
Naturally RE agents may feel that their sale is under threat but good ones will earn their commission by educating themselves to the process,negotiating and problem solving.
If they have nothing to hide then why are so many agents not building inspector friendly?
A good inspector producing a comprehensive report should be making their client aware of every defect,large or small,within that property.This obviously includes the loft space which a prospective purchaser is not permitted to enter in the course of the buying process.
The inspector should also make a comparison with similar properties to ensure that their client is fully aware of the fact that their subject property is typical,or otherwise,of other properties located within that location.
Naturally RE agents may feel that their sale is under threat but good ones will earn their commission by educating themselves to the process,negotiating and problem solving.
If they have nothing to hide then why are so many agents not building inspector friendly?
Agents are not building inspector friendly due to all the things I've posted previously.
Wylie,I am a director of our family run Building inspection company in Perth.
As a member of this forum for a number of years I am planning to reveal this to members and answer their queries accordingly.
At this point in time we are introducing progress inspections for new build homes and so are incredibly busy,so have been putting this on hold until I can do the subject the justice it deserves.
I am incredibly passionate about educating home buyers and providing good advice to enable them to proceed confidently in their transactions.
The home inspection sector is subject to much misunderstanding and hopefully I will be able to address many of forum members issues shortly.
p.s....Ant caps do not stop termites.......
As a member of this forum for a number of years I am planning to reveal this to members and answer their queries accordingly.
At this point in time we are introducing progress inspections for new build homes and so are incredibly busy,so have been putting this on hold until I can do the subject the justice it deserves.
I am incredibly passionate about educating home buyers and providing good advice to enable them to proceed confidently in their transactions.
The home inspection sector is subject to much misunderstanding and hopefully I will be able to address many of forum members issues shortly.
p.s....Ant caps do not stop termites.......
Wylie,I am a director of our family run Building inspection company in Perth.
Now your determination makes perfect sense.
As a member of this forum for a number of years I am planning to reveal this to members and answer their queries accordingly.
Great. That will be a welcome addition IMHO.
The home inspection sector is subject to much misunderstanding and hopefully I will be able to address many of forum members issues shortly.
p.s....Ant caps do not stop termites.......
PS. I did say ant caps are "meant to stop termites". I know full well they don't stop termites. But missing ant caps did in fact crash a contract that we swooped in and grabbed. Their loss, our gain.
Fair enough. I've never seen it, or heard of it, but as I said, I have heard most of the stuff I know about building inspection reports anecdotally. You would also know that unless a vendor specifically puts a clause (in Qld, unless this has changed) saying they require a copy of the building inspection report in full, the buyer's solicitor can cherry pick from that report to crash a contract. The vendor has no legal right to see the report in full unless it is written up in the contract (in Qld).
The contract that we gave up $2K on was one such contract. We were not allowed to see the report, only the relevant sections. That was an error on the part of our agent, not writing up that we required to see the report if it was to be used to take money off the sale price.
You may be amused to know that particular building inspector also put in his report (which was quoted as a reason they wanted a price reduction) that the cubby house "was not up to building standards"
.Our solicitor told us it was not attached to the ground, was in fact a chattel, and we removed it. Owner was pregnant with their first son, so that one backfired badly for them. Instead of a fantastic cubby house, they got to look into the ugly back of the neighbours potting shed
.As I said, it would be good to hear from Peterw or the other agents who post as to whether building inspectors do indeed compare the house they have inspected inside and out with a house next door or next street. I cannot imagine they would be so specific, but happy to hear otherwise.
Whilst I can only comment confidently on W.A,the contract signed by the purchaser should obviously be fully understood and if in any doubt reviewed by their legal representative prior to signing.
In W.A a buyer normally signs a standard R.E.I.W.A contract presented to them by the vendors' agent.This will tie them to the deal unless a major structural fault is uncovered in the building inspection and even then they will find it hard to escape as the vendor has the right to correct this.
Your cubby house story is typical of the lack of communication between interested parties with nobody gaining anything.If it was not secured it could be deemed a safety hazard but a decent building inspector should advise on the ease of securing it and thus helping to provide a win,win situation
In W.A a buyer normally signs a standard R.E.I.W.A contract presented to them by the vendors' agent.This will tie them to the deal unless a major structural fault is uncovered in the building inspection and even then they will find it hard to escape as the vendor has the right to correct this.
Your cubby house story is typical of the lack of communication between interested parties with nobody gaining anything.If it was not secured it could be deemed a safety hazard but a decent building inspector should advise on the ease of securing it and thus helping to provide a win,win situation
I've probably slightly confused you about the cubby. It didn't need securing at all. It was not a safety hazard. It simply was not cemented into the ground, therefore it was not a structure, but a chattel. Our female purchaser's brother was their solicitor and took great delight in getting our solicitor offside with his big city practice verse her home office. I'd never seen her so annoyed before. He thought himself a very big man, but he simply created issues for his own sister as well as us.
Our solicitor advised us that we were within our rights to remove the cubby and as it was a chattel, he could do nothing about it.
It meant their desperation in picking out a random comment about the cubby to support the removal of $2K from the price (which happened to be the amount we countersigned by, and therefore seemed very obvious that they just wanted to get it at their offer price) backfired on the purchasers who I hope blamed their brother.
The building inspector was also a wally, as the other picked out item was two stumps that needed packing. I heard later that there were 12 stumps that needed replacing, so it cost them a lot more than $2K. Either the building inspector missed the rest of the stumps or their stumper took them for a ride.
It also meant the plans we would have left and all the little niceties we would have left were binned. They shot themselves in the foot really.
We had the last laugh when we went to an auction a few months later and watched this wally of a brother miss out on a house he really wanted at auction. That was karma having some fun with him.
When I recommend a pest & builder to buyers I recommend one that will do a full & honest report, & take time to discuss the results in details with the buyers. They still get the full details & the report looks quite negative (they always do), but the inspector can explain further & give an idea of actual cost of repairs & whether they are essential or just optional, so the buyers won't get scared away if it's nothing major.
I've seen other building inspectors that constantly whinge - one said he doesn't make any profit from doing building inspections because of high insurance costs, and the only reason he does them is as a service to the community and to maintain to maintain his good reputation as a builder... haven't recommended him!
I've seen other building inspectors that constantly whinge - one said he doesn't make any profit from doing building inspections because of high insurance costs, and the only reason he does them is as a service to the community and to maintain to maintain his good reputation as a builder... haven't recommended him!
Good on you Beau.We do know some agents in WA like you who act with integrity and transparency in their transactions.
All building inspectors should be utilising their experience to ensure their clients fully understand the content of their reports.
Insurance costs are high but I can think of better ways of serving the community!!