Inspecting a property

What do I need to look out for when conducting an initial inspection of a potention IP? That is, before I pay for a building inspection. Are there things that can be spotted quite easily that would make you not bother to get a building inspection?

Thanks guys,
Happy
 
It's things that you can't see that will be a problem.

salt damp and termite infestations are obvious if they are cronic but invisible to a non-expert at begining stages.
 
is the floor, roof, walls straight to the feel/eye.

can you see any termite damage around the window frames corners.
 
Things to check for:

1) Safety switch in meter box
2) Gardens covering building weep holes (termite access points)
3) Integrity of guttering
4) Missing roof tiles / roof sheeting
5) Fence placement on boundary

If you can spot major areas that wouldn't warrant a building inspection, then it's time to strike that property of your list! :D
 
Just continuing on this,


When do you think a property inspection should be done?

At all times? Only in certain instances? I know this has been metioned, but are there signs in the house which mean that a building inspection is not required?



And does a building inspection cover a pest inspection?
 
Look for obvious problems: cracks in floors and walls, silicone slapped around shower recesses, evidence that moisture has damaged finishes, rusting gutters and downpipes, shoddy workmanship, flaking or bubbled paint, poor drainage outside.


Have a close look at the condition of the kitchen and bathrooms – these are the most expensive rooms to renovate.
Look under the kitchen sink for water damage to cupboards. Open all cupboard doors and turn on all taps and stove elements.

Check the sewerage plans and make sure all the connections in the dwelling are on the diagram. If they're missing, they may be illegal additions.
Make sure no add ons such as carpots , verandahs are illegal and all been past by council.
And does a building inspection cover a pest inspection?

Pest is done by another
You can often purchase these together but of course an extra for the pest.
 
Muffinman,

In your experience, would it be necessary to have an inspector in for every property or only in some cases? Could you give examples?

Any other thoughts people?
 
keroppi_gims it's hard for me to say what others should do as I'm a builder and have experience in such areas.

I've had inpectors check over my work for investors interested in property that I have sold and they returned with some BS feed back to justify their work I felt.

One inspector came back stating the electrical was a mess in the roof, when in actual fact it was a two storey with all connections leading to roof on a 8 bedroom house. Of course it's going to be a mess with phone, network,tv,electrical and plumbing all in one small area ( idiot!)
And to make it even better the electrical work was done by Ergon subs and approved by Ergon as my original sparky pulled out.

The BS inpection list was endless with cosmetic issue stating such things as the render had pin holes and could lead to ants when in fact the entire house was Precast concrete.
No termite protection on block walls when it was precast again.

As you can tell from my rant I dislike inspectors..lol

As for every property if it's new I highly doubt it's required , they provide treatment details and the builder is liable for many years for the construction,
 
Hi Happy

I use a standard list for inspections and also have another more detailed one (you can download it from my House Search website- see below) that ensures you recall all the details as, after a number of inspections, it's easy to become confused with which property had what features :D

I'd second what Muffinman and others have already said about looking for water damage and leakage defects, as these can have further ramifications and run into large repair bills, if they're not picked up. Telltale signs of coverups include new silicon, grout (or grout pen- looks like liquid paper in between tiles) paint and, of course, furniture and rugs hiding imperfections. It does become difficult in a furnished property, naturally, as you can't really begin to lift mats and move sideboards to ensure there's no holes or chips etc but watch out for oddly positioned objects and several rugs on carpeted areas. I recall one house had a heater over a hole in the floor, which wasn't discovered until the new owners moved in and the previous ones took the freestanding heater with them!

I also like to check the complete exterior of the house, as, though it sounds obvious, many buyers neglect to do this, and only discover later than one side of the house was actually cladded or 1/4 of the guttering was left unpainted (owners prettied up three sides of the house only).

It's virtually impossible to check out everything properly after one inspection and I would recommend at least another before making a decision on the state of the property. Engaging a building and pest inspector is an absolute must, in my opinion, and be prepared with a list of concerns beforehand, if there's anything you're particularly worried about.

Also remember to pop your head over the neighbouring fences and check them out as well- if you see dead car bodies or disassembled Harleys in the backyard (no offence to any Hells Angels on the forum ;)) then you might want to reconsider your buying position!!

Council can tell you what's been approved (in terms of building certificates) but get your conveyancer or solicitor to follow up if unsure. Sometimes all that's needed is a final occupation certificate and this can always be requested from the vendor prior to settlement.

Above all, be prepared, be diligent with your list, take photos if you can and go back for a second (and even third) inspection if you're concerned.
 
Besides the general appearance of the property, the things you will want to check for are the things that are not easily seen. If you feel that this is a good investment.
 
How much is this inspection doing it with a pro? Also when must this whole thing be done?

Usually about $300 for a building guy and about $300 for a pest one. You can sign an offer with these inspections as a term in the contract.

Here is a copy of the “standard” REIV building inspection condition:

Conditional Upon Building Inspection
12. This sale is subject to the Purchaser obtaining a building report within seven days of the
Purchaser signing this Contract Note. If the report shows a major structural defect the
Purchaser may end this contract but only if the Purchaser serves written notice on the Vendor
together with a copy of the report within 7 days of the Purchaser signing this contract. All
monies must be immediately refunded to the Purchaser if the contract is ended.


The standard inspection clause in the contract may not be 'strong' enough to suit your requirements. I'd suggest one like this;

“This Contract is subject to the Purchaser obtaining a building inspection report and/or a pest
inspection report. The Purchaser must obtain the said report(s) no later than 7 days after the
Day of Sale and in the event that either or both of the said inspection reports are not to the
Purchaser’s satisfaction, then:

(1) the Purchaser may end this Contract but only if the Purchaser serves written notice on the
Vendor or the Vendor’s agent no later than 3 clear business days after the date of the said
report; and

(2) all moneys shall be immediately refunded to the Purchaser if the Contract is so ended.”

This gives you more room to 'get out' of the contract if there's anything in the reports you don't like.
 
PLEASE HELP ME!

After reading this a few times, I am still undecided about whether to have a building and a pest inspection. I know a building and pest inspection is fine for a private sale but I feel that since I am attending a lot of auctions, I may waste thousands of dollars conducting these inspections (since there is no cooling off period for auctions).

What do you think of conducting an inspection AFTER you have purchased the property? This way you can fix any flaws following the purchase.

Someone please help!
 
Yep it is a difficult one especially when you decide that you really want a certain property you fork out the money before auction and then you find that the real estate agent/vendor has set a reserve a whole lot higher than the sale range you were quoted.

We have always had the inspections done if we were seriously considering buying and at a guess over the last few years we have paid for 15-20 of these and ended up with 8 properties.

One that comes to mind was in Cremorne Sydney. The report indicated significant concrete cancer. The property was setup as 2 units on 1 title in a converted old house with the possibility to turn back into 1 large terrace, which at the time were selling over $1.7mill ( now over $2mill). The builders told us to resecure the side of the house to the original supports would cost about $70k-$100k due to it being 2 stories high. We reduced our max price by this amount and went to auction, others had not done any building checks - according to the agent The property went for the anticiapted $1.05mill. We drove past last weekend and the wall had never been fixed and there had been no renovations done - which may or may not have been due to the structural issues. In my mind the $300 was well spent. We would never of picked that up, termite damage and rising damp and bad supports can usually be seen or found however I would rather get a building report if seriously considering a property.

If you think you might get a few you can always try and negotiate a discount or finding out from an agent if someone else has done a report and ask them to offer half the cost for a copy. You should be there at the inspection and preferrably the agent should not be - loose lipped inspectors may give away some of your negotiation power.

Another quick one - the building report for the last place we bought told us there had been a fire in the roof (make sure your inspector does climb through all nooks and crannies) - we called in an electrician to check it out and found out the wiring was the cause so we factored the cost of rewiring into the reno and reduced our offer by that, they accepted.

Hope this helps.

Jane

As a general guide to what to look for this may assist. http://www.investorschoice.com.au/resources05.htm
 
Thanks Buzz.

Any comments on:

What do you think of conducting an inspection AFTER you have purchased the property? This way you can fix any flaws following the purchase.
 
I am not sure I understand - are you saying purchase the property and hope that if you do an inspection afterwards that it does not come back with significant issues and if it does just deal with it?

It comes down to Buyer Beware, for $300 for the inspection it might buy you peace of mind - the alternative maybe $30,000 worth of work due to termites.
Depends on your level of competence in doing the initial inspection yourself.

Jane
 
will the 300$ building inpection (not the pest one) will check for termite damage etc ? can u recommend someone cheap ?
 
Bah, I didn't get this much advice when I asked what to look for in an inspection last week! (although it turned out someone else had already done the building and pest inspection and there was a detailed report of flaws on hand)

The other house I looked at didn't need a building inspection. It was described as a renovator's delight, but it had really really extensive and very obvious damp damage that made it a knockdown. The cornices were mouldy and falling off, they had a curtain over a wall that was badly falling apart from salt damp, the tiles were popping off the floors in the kitchen and bathroom, the floorboards were waterstained or wet to touch and the pressed metal ceilings were rusted. Bit of a no-brainer there.
 
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