Buying or Selling Your Home, You need an Independent
Property Inspection

 

Whether you’re in the market to purchase a new home or investment property or are about to place your property on the market, the benefits of undertaking a property Inspection are substantial.

 

When Buying a Property

 

When was the last time you bought a used car without looking under hood or taking it for a test drive. In some states you can't sell a used car without a roadworthy check but you can still sell a home without having it inspected.

While it is law that some-one selling a property must disclose any major defects that they are aware of, not all property sellers are completely trustworthy.

 

Caveat Emptor is Latin for ‘Let the Buyer Beware.’ This puts the burden onto the buyer to be satisfied with the item before purchasing a property.   For this reason alone you should never buy a property without at least getting a basic pre purchase property inspection done before handing over your life savings and committing to a 20 to 30 year mortgage.

 

 A conservative estimate is only 30% of purchasers get pre purchase inspection done leaving 70% playing Russian roulette with financial devastation. Unfortunately, many of these are carried out by a well meaning relative or a mate of a mate and have no regard for the minimum requirements of the Australian Standards for pre purchase inspections and can overlook significant defects resulting in costly repair bills.  

 

When you consider the average pre purchase inspection cost is about 0.1% (that's zero point one percent) of the purchase price, most fair minded people would consider that is an insignificant cost to safe guard your financial future. Even if an inspection uncovers some costly defects it doesn’t have to spell the end to your dream home. You can always use the Inspection Report to renegotiate the purchase price or have the vendor undertake to complete the relevant repairs prior to settlement.

 

When Selling a Property

 

The advantages of having a standard residential property inspection completed on your home before you sell are many. The pre sale inspection is fast becoming the inspection of choice for astute vendors. Full disclosure to any potential purchaser not only helps speed up their decision making and due diligence, but it also takes any existing defects off the negotiating table. With full disclosure you are saying to the purchaser "Here's the house, warts and all, that's what's wrong with it so that's why it's now at that price".

 

Until recently having a pre purchase inspection carried out by the purchaser after their offer has been accepted was the norm. However due to the continued frustration of property owners tired of the re-negotiation process where they're often being asked to reduce the agreed selling price due to defects found in a pre purchase inspection and quoting unsubstantiated and over inflated repairs costs. By having an independent pre sale inspection done, the property owner is taking back the control of the sales process.

Having an independent pre sale inspection report available to all potential purchasers is invaluable as a selling tool and astute vendors can gain an unfair advantage over their competitors when marketing and selling their property. With full disclosure to all potential purchasers the selling price can only go up. Full disclosure enhances the vendor’s reputation and helps speed up the sale process as a pre inspected property will always be more attractive to a purchaser than gambling on a property without a building condition report.

www.ipi.net.au  Independent Property Inspections specialise in Pre Purchase and Pre Sale Property Inspections. 

October 2010