building inspection report has come back and...

[richmond]

it says the roof is quite rusted and needs attention... not right away, but soon (next 9-12 months) I have paid $66k for this place in Rockhampton and it rents for $120pw... Now, I know when you buy a house for $66k there's going to be some problems here and there... but should I use this to go back to the vendor and try and shave some off the price? Roof repairs will cost around $5-8k... perhaps I should just wait until next June and do it, then claim it as a tax deduction... hmmmm... any thoughts?

Cheers
r

 

[suggo]

I always go back to the vendor with the building report and ask them to drop the price! Seems to work every time, I think it has something to do with the psychology of selling a house. When the contract is signed alot of people think thats it, not realising that after the building inspection is done it can fall through. When you go back and say you don't want to continue and state the problems they think that if they let this deal fall through then the next will happen exactly the same way!!
Of course this is all IMHO!!

It has worked for us though, we saved $5500, got new fusebox moved to proper position and a new stove in one deal, and $7500 off another just by pulling out of the contract because of things on the building inspection!! This all may sound a little harsh on the seller, but hey, I'm trying to run a business not a charity!

 

[Jimmyjamjars]

Haven't quite saved the amount that Suggo has but a building inspection I had done on an IP in Nambour last year came back with the comment that there should have been that silver sheeting laid underneath the roof when built. (not even a defect). Anyway, I rang the agent and told him I wanted a grand off the price. He said, "You've got to be joking, I'm not going to ring them with a request like that". I just said, well you've lost a sale, coz for me, it's a way out of the deal. Needless to say, he rang them and I got my grand off at settlement. Always use the building inspection as a tool in your favour if at all possible.
JIM

 

[suggo]

I should say that there have been a couple where it didnt work, and a couple where we didnt end up buying the house as well. Must be willing to walk away if the figures don't stack up to your liking!

 

[Aceyducey]

Richmond,

Let's assume you show the building inspection to the owner & ask for $10K off the price....

Best case - you pay $10K less.
Average case - you pay a few thousand less.
Worst case - the owner says no - you reconsider if the deal works & if it does take the deduction when you want to use it

Where's the downside?

You may also wish to ask for access after exchange so you can get it fixed BEFORE settling - will save you money as the place will be ready to rent out from settlement.

We took this approach with our last reno purchase, saved $K on the purchase, negotiated a lower deposit & longer settlement with access.

Cheers,

Aceyducey

 

[Tom]

Suggo,

You mentioned you got the fuse box moved to the proper position. Does a building inspection normally cover wiring etc or are structual matters the main focus?
A report on a recent purchase of ours failed to pick up the wiring is shot and the main switch in the fuse box does meet council standards and needs to be replaced.

Not sure if I have any comback agaisnt the inspector.

cheer,
Tom

 

[Jas]

I doubt you have much legal come back Tom, in general, building inspector's legalise says they had a quick visual look and anything they didn't see you can't hold against them.

However, bring it up with the building inspector. They might so something out of the goodness of their heart. Bast case, who knows? Worse case, you are in the boat you're in right now.

Jas

 

[whitt]

i had a buliding inspection miss telling me power was not on at property.

seemed it had been off for 6 months and i had to get an inspector to sign off on it so power company could reconnect.

anyhow he did give me a list of minor faults which i had presented to vendors and they knocked $1000 off deal and gave me another $100 to cover inspectors costs.

I say bring it up with agent and be prepared for a suprise. Just mention the report stated roof requires XXX and will cost $XX,XXX to repair plus other faults and see what comes back with . They may only come back and say we will knock off $2,000. In the big picture thats $2,000 for a 5 minute phone call. , not bad is it.

 

[richmond]

firstly, thanks for all the advice...

I took it up with the agent, and raised the issue of knocking down the price by a few k... he rang me back and said there's no way the vendors will come down...

the value of this property is mainly in the land... i could easily put another place on the back if i cut the back yard in half (there's access via a laneway out the back...)

other properties in similar condition that I looked at while there were on half the land size and selling for 70k in the same street...

the house is perfectly fine to rent out now as is (already has a tenant who I met while there, loves the house and reckons she isn't going anywhere)...

some of the houses in rocky are now being sold around the 65k-70k mark that are well and truly in flood zones... mine's not...

also, spoke to another person up there who knows the house, and reckons it's not like the roof is akin to a piece of swiss cheese (which concurs with the inspector said)... he reckons rust is a problem with a lot of houses in rocky to some degree... he said there's a special treatment that can be done, sort of like painting, that'll cost about $600... he had it done to one of his IPs there and said it came up a treat (no, this guy isn't a REA), so that's the path I'll take...

thanks again,
r

 

[suggo]

Tom,

Don't think that you would any comeback on the building inspector. It is something I have always looked at (fuses etc) and I got the inspector to mention it in his building report. Normally they state that you should get a qualified electrician to inspect for further info.

When I went back to the agent I mentioned this and also said I had been in touch with a sparky (which I really had done) and been told that if I was to replace the fuses (they were the old wire fuses)etc then the fuse box would also have to be moved.

 

[Jimmyjamjars]

Don't go thinking that a building inspector is above the law. A friend of mine is currently in litigation with a building inspector and the building inspection authority is liaising with him about it. The building inspector has already refunded him his fee and is fair sh*ting himself about it. Won't go into details but will say that the way in which the BI conducted himself was a disgrace.
JIM

PS. Will divulge details in time, just not at the mo'.

 

[Olly]

While on the subject of building inspections then, is there a specific or general checklist they are supposed to follow? Isn't the person getting the inspection justified in thinking that everything, including things not specifically building is getting checked/inspected. Otherwise we would have to get an electrical inspection and all sorts of other inspections as well!
How are we supposed to know then just what was looked at, might have been overlooked or not looked at at all?

Cheers
Olly

 

[Olly]

I think I just answered my own earlier post - sorry guys!

I've just sussed out the Dept of Fair Trading site on Building Inspections and there is heaps they don't cover!

For anyone interested here it is -
http://www.fairtrading.nsw.gov.au/consumerhelp/rentingbuyingsellinghome/propertyinspections.html

Quote:
A building inspection report usually won't include:
parts of the property that weren't or couldn't be inspected
matters outside the consultant's expertise
an estimate of repair costs
minor defects
termite detection.

Seems it's a good idea to ask their area of expertise before hiring them too. And "parts of the property that weren't inspected" ????

Here's a few more things they don't inspect -

hazards ?????
every opening window ?????? what tha?
television reception

I'm a bit non plussed

Cheers
Olly