Building Inspections

angela

angela

Yesterday I received my pest and building inspection, and have to say, I was totally unprepared for what lay within.
The house I am buying is pretty old, but I thought looked in pretty reasonable condition for its age. The report however, is unscrupulous. It describes just about everything as poor to fair condition at best, even the interior paint, which looked ok to me.
I pulled out of a contract a few months ago based on the B&P inspection, I was present when the inspector was there, and he picked everything to bits on that one, even telling me that the whole house would need restumping at a cost of around $15,000 (later found out not all of the stumps needed replacing, the whole job cost $2500). He made me really nervous, and I panicked and pulled out, when it was nowhere near as bad as it was made out to be.
I am getting (dragging) my husband to have a look with me on Saturday to get his opinion, as I think the report is exaggerated.
The report sounds like the house is uninhabitable, here is a link to the house to give you an idea of the age/condition.
http://www.realestate.com.au/cgi-bi...y=&fmt=&header=&c=6140085&s=qld&tm=1181810015

Would like to hear others experiences.:eek:
 
Building Inspectns

Yes, I agree.
Yest the BI almost had me thinking the unit needed repinning for pooling of water and hairline cracks. He even recommended someone to fix it, if it needed it. I think they get a bit carried away, as they are scared of getting sued etc. I rang an owner builder friend of mine, and he said unless the cracks are big 1 cm wide, it is normal cracking. The overflown guttering is going to get fixed, and this should rectify it....
Cheers
 
Hi Angela,

I know what you mean, ..... I have just purchased 2 properties in Elizabeth area of Adelaide, but cancelled two contracts before these two because of the building/pest reports.

When I received the report for the first property which was a really nice home and would tenant easily. I was petrified by the faults the building report listed and then the pest report was worse, so I pulled out. Afterwards when I spoke to the building inspector guy, he said to me "I'm surprised you didn't buy that property it was a really good buy" ... ahhhhhh !! ... why didn't he give me clearer feedback instead of painting a picture of doom.

The second one ... the building inspection report listed a heap of problems which would cost thousands to fix and when I rang him to have a chat the first thing he said was "the property has a lot of problems that will cost big dollars to fix" ... anyway I canceled out of that one. Now he's sulking with me for repeating to the agent that the reason I was canceling was because of the report I received. :confused:

Anyway .... I've signed the contract on two more and the inspections are being done Friday and next Monday ... I've arranged to call him when I receive the report by fax to talk about them in greater detail ... maybe I'll get a clearer picture.

Very frustrating and waste of money. Four building/pest inspections doesn't come cheap.... and he's sulking with me ... I've got quotes from other building inspector's but they are $100 plus more expensive for the same service.

Martin :cool:
 
Thanks for your replies. I am so glad that I'm not the only one who has an overzealous inspector. After spending $400 to find out that the place is a dump and is about to fall down, I wish I had saved the money and taken pot luck. Seems that's all I'm doing anyway with the report.
Can anyone recommend a good, honest company in/around Brisbane?
 
Thank You Jacque,

I have written Bill Britten in my address book and added his site as a favourite.
Thanks again :)
 
I've thought about this before. The way I see it, building inspectors have three prime motivations:

(1) Make money
(2) Avoid being sued
(3) Generate repeat business

(1) is obvious. $400 for an hour's work isn't bad. And their reports are ALWAYS going to be overzealous, nitpicky and scary, because if you do buy the house they are covered for (2). And if you get scared off chances are you'll use them again, and there we have (3).

It really is daunting when you're looking at a couple of pages scrawled with almost unreadable handwriting - oh what's that you say, there's a $60 fee to have the report typed up?

I suppose the best thing you can do is to be there. Let them do their inspection, and afterwards, talk to them. If you get a decent BI they can open up verbally and may even have suggestions. You'll get a much better feel for which are the cosmetic issues and which are the showstoppers.

Another tip could be to throw the BI a bone, to satisfy their number (3) motivation... get an inspection done of your own house, or a relative's. Build up a relationship. Then when you use them the next time, they *might* be a little more straightforward.
 
Angela

If it is a really bad report but you feel reasonable about the extent of repairs, then use it to your advantage.

Pass a copy to the vendor and selling RE Agent and then use it as a base for reducing the contractual price.

In theory if the Agent is then made aware of the faults with this property he would be obliged to pass these details onto any future purchaser .....

Bottom line is that vendor can only say no, in which case you are no worse off.
 
I thought about doing that Joe D, but the vendors were firm on the price and I reckon that even adding the cost of (mostly imaginary) repairs, I still got it for a very good price.
 
dcarr said:
I've thought about this before. The way I see it, building inspectors have three prime motivations:

(1) Make money
(2) Avoid being sued
(3) Generate repeat business

(1) is obvious. $400 for an hour's work isn't bad. And their reports are ALWAYS going to be overzealous, nitpicky and scary, because if you do buy the house they are covered for (2). And if you get scared off chances are you'll use them again, and there we have (3).

It really is daunting when you're looking at a couple of pages scrawled with almost unreadable handwriting - oh what's that you say, there's a $60 fee to have the report typed up?

I suppose the best thing you can do is to be there. Let them do their inspection, and afterwards, talk to them. If you get a decent BI they can open up verbally and may even have suggestions. You'll get a much better feel for which are the cosmetic issues and which are the showstoppers.

Another tip could be to throw the BI a bone, to satisfy their number (3) motivation... get an inspection done of your own house, or a relative's. Build up a relationship. Then when you use them the next time, they *might* be a little more straightforward.
Click to expand...

Well done...great truthful realistic analysis of the industry.:)
 
haha, the same company did the pest inspection, which was actually very good. The only termite activity was found in the garden beds, and the ant caps on top of the concrete stumps are all in good nick.
I feel much better about the building inspection after hearing that my situation is pretty much the norm :)
 
I agree with all the above comments. We have twice lost money because we reduced a house price due to the BI scaring the first time buyers witless by mentioning evidence of water leaks.

One report stated evidence of water leaks. There were water leaks - about 30 years ago, long since fixed but the floor boards underneath were stained. The floor sander told us the boards were dry as a bone and no water problems, but to keep the buyers we dropped a couple of thousand. We could have said no, but wanted to be done with it.

Ex-real estate agent relative could not give me the name of ONE BI who could be recommended. They are covering their behinds, of course.

The one comment I would make is that in the photo the roof looks a bit sunk or something. It could well be the angle of the photo. Having said that, old houses are never straight and as long as his report is read with a grain of salt and you have a chat to him to get his real feelings (as opposed to the scary stuff written in his report) you should be right.

I think building inspectors fall just below used car salesmen and real estate agents and lawyers in the popularity stakes :D

Wylie
 
Angela,it's always been a 2 way street in building inspections and
sometimes it can be very hard to tell unless you rip the wall off
or climb into the small sections of the roof and have a look to
find the problems and paint and paper hides everything..
There are a number of exceptions to the rule that people who are
negotiating are not obliged to disclose the material facts,and you
would like to know upfront the whole truth instead of just half/truths
that's what you have on paper in front of you a building report in the
eyes of someone???
Who must also cover her/his butt,it's always the same story just because
a person is bound to tell the truth,does not always mean that they will
answer truthfully,but then again what is misrepresentation in a common
building report..good luck willair..
 
I took my reluctant husband along this morning to have a more in depth look at the house.
He was a bit surprised that it wasn't falling down, and is in much better nick than he expected. One thing we noted was that the inspector wrote that he couldn't check under the house properly as access was restricted. The lowest point would have been at least 4 foot high :confused:
Got to meet the current tenant,and asked him if he has had any problems that need fixing. Said he was very happy with the house, only problem was flood light wasn't working, so I have arranged for that to be repaired prior to settlement. He also mentioned that the house is very close to where he works and would love to stay. (lease is up in 2 weeks). He has been there six months with no rent dramas, and the house was clean, so I am very happy to inherit a good tenant as well.
Anyway I am now satisfied with the condition of the house, and am reassured that my husband is as well. (we will eventually have to have some extra bracing put in the roof, but according the inspection it is non-urgent, so that can wait til the end of next tax year - Wylie noticed this in the photo)
And our finance was approved today,YaY!:D
 
G'day Angela,
Can anyone recommend a good, honest company in/around Brisbane?
Click to expand...
I've been very happy with Ben Poulsen over several inspections. And he also does Pest Inspections if required.

Regards,
 
On a different note - any thoughts on whether building and pest is necessary on units? My solicitors suggested a body corporate record search would probably reveal more than a building and pest inspection. Sounded reasonable to me - I figure anything needing fixing would be reported through the body corp...???
 
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