Building and pest inspection for Auction properties

Hi, I fully believe in getting the building and pest inspection done on a property but what do people do when it is an auction? We are looking in the western suburbs of Brisbane (5km to city) and a lot of properties are being auctioned. We hvae looked at a number of properties lately and I would say half of them hvae had the inspections done by the vendor prior to the property being put on the market. They are then available to anyone who wants them, via the REA.

We are really interested in a property which is being auctioned in 2 weeks. We spoke to the REA and were told we had to do our own inspections. I guess we just ahve to wear it and pay out the money but it seems crazy that a number of people will just be doing the same thing twice.

I guess I was just wondering if there was anythign we could do to encourage REAs to get vendors to pay out for this. Otherwise we are just doing things repeatedly. Does anyone else feel the same?

Thanks Shona
 
It would be a good system if vendors had to make a building report available, but the issue is always how could you be certain it was impartial and accurate, its probably worth the effort of getting the inspection because of the potential issues that may need resolving later, buying a house is a big investment and you dont want to get it wrong.

if you want to be covered you would need the security of building/pest reports, and worth spending on even if you dont have the sucess at the auction
 
It would be a good system if vendors had to make a building report available, but the issue is always how could you be certain it was impartial and accurate, its probably worth the effort of getting the inspection because of the potential issues that may need resolving later, buying a house is a big investment and you dont want to get it wrong.

if you want to be covered you would need the security of building/pest reports, and worth spending on even if you dont have the sucess at the auction


Agree with all this and would get my own inspections. Although I assume a buildings inspector hired by the vendor would still be liable to be sued if he issued a report that missed out something fundamentally wrong with the property.

If I was selling at auction I would pay for inspections just because having them there on auction day might persuade the undecided to register to bid. As it is the auction reports in our local rag frequently run stories on people who put in the winning bid at auction having only seen the property 5 minutes before the auction started...
 
If I was selling at auction I would pay for inspections just because having them there on auction day might persuade the undecided to register to bid. As it is the auction reports in our local rag frequently run stories on people who put in the winning bid at auction having only seen the property 5 minutes before the auction started...

Never thought of that, its a good idea leaving a copy of inspection reports - regarding the inspector's liability, you'll probably find the contract you enter when you employ them is worded so they are never liable at the end of the day you could take them to court and make they liable, always a question of professionalism and reasonableness in the end, could be very expensive though
 
Yes I think you are right and we definitely intend to get inspections done. I am amazed that people go to an auction and buy without the reports...

I also know that if we ever auctioned a property then we would get the inspections done and have them available to anyone.

THanks, Shona
 
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