Handy hint - building/pest/electrical inspections

Handy hint

Hi there.

People who have bought IP's before will no doubt, already know this, but for us newbies, it was good to know. If you have to get finance approved, leave your building/pest/electrical inspections to closer to your "subject to ...inspection's date." This way, if the valuation comes in as "not approved" then you haven't wasted money on inspections when your finance application is unsuccessful.
 
Dear guys,

The upside to building/pest inspections is that they bring out faults on a property on which you can then use to negotiate on.

With one property I had signed a contract on, after I pointed out the faults and concerns I had discovered in the inspection report the vendor immediately dropped the already signed price by over 3%.

A price reduction such as this if finance is borderline could just push it over the line.

Cheers,

Sunstone.
 
Electrical inspections

Until my last IP purchase I never bothered much with electrical inspections. In my browsing of the forum I have not seen this raised an issue. But with more investment in older homes in regional areas it should be.

I bought an old home with a huge subdividable block. But to add one power point would cost a fortune as the old board installed in the 50s was past its used by date. And the HWS was connected to the normal supply with no off peak - OK for a little ol' lady but not for a family. New board costs came to about 2% of purchase price, but we do have power points everywhere ( one bedroom did not even have one power point!!!)

So I recommend an electrical inspection in older homes.

Cathy
 
To reinforce Sunstone's point; last week I did an inspection which cost $240 after which the negotiated price was lowered by $5,000.

The subfloor of the property had been excavated by about 600mm exposing the footings and 2 piers had been removed. The bracing to the bearers (after pier removal) was in adequate and the floor 'bounced'. All this to create a workshop with no approvals.

The problem is relatively easily fixed but most buyers don't want the hassle and the seller new it - hence the price reduction.

Regards, Michael Croft
 
From Sunstone:
The upside to building/pest inspections is that they bring out faults on a property on which you can then use to negotiate on.
It's not only to have something to negotiate on... it is sometimes possiblew to get something fixed on the vendor's isnurance.

I had a property in England. It was not in great condition, (thanks to poor PM)- but there had been water damage caused to a textured plaster ceiling by a leak from the bathroom u0pstairs. This was evident without an inspection- but in this case, insurance covered the fixing up.

Recently, I bought a property, and had an inspection. The vendor was quite impressed by the building inspector's work, so arranged for an inspection of the house she was going to buy.

The inspector found a problem where a vehicle had backed into a brick wall at the back of the carport, and had caused damage which was not immediately obvious- but potentially dangerous, especially to the elderly purchaser. The discovery of the damage meant that it could be claimed from the vendor's insurance.

The building inspector concerned has already contributed to this thread.
 
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