Inspections & Auctions

[greedy saffa]

I write this as a new arrival to Australia off the boat, so please excuse my ignorance.

I've recently attended several auctions in Melbourne as an observer and I have read through some of the contracts that are presented at these auctions.

I've noticed that there is nothing in the contracts that makes the sale subject to building / pest inspections. This leads me to assume that somewhere between the date the property was listed to the date of the auction, an independent inspection has been performed?

Are all you prospective bidders out there arranging these prior to auction? Or do people rely upon a report that is presented by the vendor (independence!) ?

Again - excuse my ignorance - your thoughts would be appreciated.

Regards
Saffa

 

[Soren Lorenson]

Saffa,

in inner and middle melbourne most decent places are sold by auction,

auction means you buy it on the day and there is no cooling off period, if you are the winning bidder you must pay, of course you could decide not to sign and i expect the agent and vendor couldn't physically make you do it. As soon as you and the vendor sign the contract of sale your set.

When places are sold via auction you don't normally get the oppurtunity to put conditions in, i.e. subject to finance, subject to building/pest. The vendor agent might entertain but i seriously doubt it, worth asking maybe,

if you are serious about a property and have a good idea what it might sell for, it would normally be recommended to get your own building/pest inspection done prior to the auction. People may or maynot do this, but your taking more a risk if you dont, saves you buying a lemon or something with a serious fault that may need fixing down the road later.

The section 32 document is something to get a look at and send to your solicitor/conveyancer etc and this gives you more of a detailed information about the property in question so look through this.

you will still find plenty of private sales in melbourne but not buying at auction seriously affects your ability to get inner/middle properties in this city.

again in summary you would be advised to do your own due diligence which means arranging your own building/pest inspections. A vendor inspection report is of limited use to you and not very common, how can you be sure it's impartial etc

hope that helps a bit, good luck with house/ip hunting in 2008, i reckon melbourne still has plenty of legs left

 

[greedy saffa]

Thanks Soren - that does help. I appreciate your considered response