Inspections - A new approach

[Shahin_Afarin]

Building Inspection Reports

Came across this company today via a client which I thought was ingenious since most properties in Sydney are going to Auctions and people are reluctant to pay for a building and pest inspection each time.

http://reporthub.com.au

How it works in a nutshell is that you can run order a building inspection repot via the system - if a report doesn't exist then you pay $499. Anyone else that orders the report will result in you receiving $100 back.

If the report does exist then you can buy it for $250 instead of forking out $499.

Ps im in no way affiliated with this mob but keen to know if others have used their service and the feedback.

 

[Paul@PFI]

I have a client who is involved with a new start up that offers a interesting approach to property pre-purchase inspections. Have you ever found it annoying that each purchaser seems to need their own report ? Or the REA turns the report into a money making venture ?

The approach may suits inspectors and also owner-occupiers and investors. And may be useful for out of state inspections.

www.reporthub.com.au

 

[Big Will]

I would rather see it as a cost to the vendors when selling and see it in the vendors statement.

Like when you purchase a car it comes with a road worthy. It is then up to the person if they want to engage in their own inspection which is their additional cost.

It is a step in the right direction but the easiest part would be just have the report done when listing as apart of the sellers expense.

 

[neK]

Looks interesting, and I very much like the idea. But i think the issue is overcoming the thought the report may be biased.

For example, if the owner of a property knew there were some issues, they could get their friend to request a building inspection report off a person who would be willing to write a more favourable report.

Not saying that happens, but whos to say it doesn't. With that small % it suddenly becomes a risk especially if you're forking out couple hundred thousand.

Maybe if you were able to choose your own inspector instead of certain inspectors getting exclusivity to one area? Then if people re-buy your report, you get some cash back? The fact there are two or more inspection reports available to purchase on public domain might make reduce some dodgy report writing?

 

[lilman]

I have a client who is involved with a new start up that offers a interesting approach to property pre-purchase inspections. Have you ever found it annoying that each purchaser seems to need their own report ? Or the REA turns the report into a money making venture ?

The approach may suits inspectors and also owner-occupiers and investors. And may be useful for out of state inspections.

www.reporthub.com.au

good idea although might want to check the legal side of things. i recently attended a course for building inspection reports and many fail to understand how much liability is on the inspector

check on fair trading website how much a building and pest report should cost if done properly it clearly states $500 for building and $500 for pest, reporthub is doing it at $499 same as many other inspectors let's not forget an average 4 bedroom house takes 1-1.5 hours to inspect,1-1.5 hour travelling and 1-2 hours to write a report properly total of 4-5 hours is needed for an average home.

here is an example of a building and pest inspector who was doing 8 inspections a day which is impossible to do if you are doing the right thing.

Result?

* He was shut down
* Bankrupt
* Home owner left with a 1.2m home that needed $300k in repairs

 

[Paul@PFI]

I would rather see it as a cost to the vendors when selling and see it in the vendors statement.

Like when you purchase a car it comes with a road worthy. It is then up to the person if they want to engage in their own inspection which is their additional cost.

It is a step in the right direction but the easiest part would be just have the report done when listing as apart of the sellers expense.

I would never trust a report provided by a vendor.

 

[Big Will]

I would never trust a report provided by a vendor.

Then you pay for it yourself.

Also the building inspector would have liability to report all or he would need to claim on insurance if the fault was there at time of inspection.

It is the same as the roadworthy you can take it as being okay or take the car for an independent check.

Do you trust road certs? It is commissioned by the owner.

 

[wylie]

I'm with Big Will on this one. Your mate down the road cannot do the inspection for you. The inspector is a professional, this is his livelihood and he has a reputation to uphold. He isn't going to risk that to do a dodgy report for anyone. And if he did, he would not be in the industry for long.

That is crazy talk .

We've just had one done for a house we are selling. He did us no favours and brought up items which we can either fix or can refute (which is what we've done for two items). The seller can see exactly how things are and make a decision. For me, the only downside is that with nobody needing to do their own report (except those who don't trust ours), we won't know how many people are serious about attending the auction.

 

[Big Will]

Also just thought it would also help with vendor negotiations as they cant say it has these issues and we want a lower price. It was all upfront and you made an offer (or should of) with that as a basis.

 

[Scott No Mates]

Isn't that the requirement in the ACT? Owner provides the report?

When push comes to shove, it'sthe inspection company which takes 8hit on a dodgy report not the vendor - so it's in their interests to keep it clean.

 

[Jacque]

Came across this company today via a client which I thought was ingenious since most properties in Sydney are going to Auctions and people are reluctant to pay for a building and pest inspection each time.

http://reporthub.com.au

How it works in a nutshell is that you can run order a building inspection repot via the system - if a report doesn't exist then you pay $499. Anyone else that orders the report will result in you receiving $100 back.

If the report does exist then you can buy it for $250 instead of forking out $499.

Ps im in no way affiliated with this mob but keen to know if others have used their service and the feedback.

Hi Shahin

It's a concept that certainly has merit however I believe eyeon.com.au started this some years ago...

 

[oracle]

I would never trust a report provided by a vendor.

That is how every property in ACT is sold. Seems to be working just fine.

Cheers,
Oracle.

 

[Logan]

Interesting concept. I recent purchased a house in Sydney, market very hot and needed to make an offer immediately. The vendor had a report available which I could purchase online from the company for $50. Most (but not all) of the reports I have had on purchases in the past have not been worth the paper they have been written on, missing major things like structural damage and water leaks which if I had not found would have resulted in huge expenses later.

While I did purchase the $50 copy of the report I really just flicked through it, I know from inspecting the house that I could personally fix or arrange for any real issues to be fixed myself, I just need to move on the property right then.

So far so good - the worst problems so far are a broken ceiling fan and a spider infestation.

 

[Brian84]

This sounds interesting as I am in the process of getting my inspection business up and running. Nearly there now. Another month or 2 hopefully.

 

[Jamie M]

Isn't that the requirement in the ACT? Owner provides the report?

When push comes to shove, it'sthe inspection company which takes 8hit on a dodgy report not the vendor - so it's in their interests to keep it clean.

Yep - sure is.

The buyer does reimburse the cost at settlement though.

The system seems to work well - I haven't had any clients encounter any issues. Some will also commission their own report (rarely) and/or have a friend/relative that works in building to have a look over the property too.

Cheers

Jamie

 

[jerrybee]

Very clever idea, but I feel it's in the wrong industry. When you're about to spend half a million or a million, are people really going to worry about a $500.00, tax deductible expense? I know I don't...need to look at the bigger picture.

But I feel this has much more merit in other industries / applications...just can't think of what it would be.

 

[neK]

Very clever idea, but I feel it's in the wrong industry. When you're about to spend half a million or a million, are people really going to worry about a $500.00, tax deductible expense? I know I don't...need to look at the bigger picture.

But I feel this has much more merit in other industries / applications...just can't think of what it would be.

The problem is that in this current market (referring to Sydney btw), you could waste so much money getting B&P reports. 10 of them and thats $5k gone. It can be somewhat depressing for those trying to find a home.

 

[mflying]

i know few REA are providing company name who did the B & P report.

prospective buyer can buy the report at circa $100-$200 prior to auction and if he/she wins an auction they can pay full price and get comprehensive report.

all parties involved are in win-win situation.

vendor doesn't have to open house for 5 different B&P inspection ppl.

buyers get full report with out paying full amount upfront

B&P company makes money by selling report upfront ($100-$200 X number of prospective buyers) and then whoever wins auction gets full report and pays full price.

 

[Ed Barton]

if he/she wins an auction they can pay full price and get comprehensive report.

Isn't it bit late to get a comprehensive report after you've won the auction? What's a non comprehensive report consist of?

 

[Big Will]

Isn't it bit late to get a comprehensive report after you've won the auction? What's a non comprehensive report consist of?

I had the same thought as well, I would rather have a full report up front so you know what is happening. If that the full report the vendor pays for I am very happy otherwise I will pay for my own.