Recently heard of a situation where the buyer was willing to accept a lesser price for a property by going unconditional (building best and also, financial). The question is more about building and pests. What is Ozbargainer's opinion? Would you pay less and skip building inspection, or are you happy to put a conditional offer with a higher price?
Building and Pest Inspection before Buying a House Vs Paying Less to Skip It
chrismatt on 20/09/2022 - 20:00
Comments
difference of around 5K
Yeah that's not enough of a discount. I would get a building a pest report. If it was 50k cheaper that could be a different story.
Get the inspection and then use whatever trivial issues they find to negotiate another $10k off. The seller will be sick of the tedious process and your offer is still probably the highest anyway. Even if someone else had offered within $10k of you they have probably found somewhere else by now and the seller will be faced with accepting your offer or trying to advertise again.
I worked with someone bought a house that had termites - after all the sprays, replacing all the structural damage, she was out 15k+ and by the time I left that job, she still had them.
You might be lucky, but if you're not - the cost and the stress is not pretty..
Always skip, what could possibly go wrong? /s
You save an additional $500 not having to pay for the service, win win!
What about the structural issues?
You’ve saved money not doing your due diligence, so you can use that money to fix any potential issues
Yes, Penny wise, pound foolish is the way. /s
Context on what kind of property is important here. An apartment on floor 50 or a brand new build in a newly developed area then likely not too fussed. A 100 year old house bordering woodland or waterway? Of course you should get an inspection done.
Property is probably 40 year old house. It looks good from outside though :-)
Outside can be dressed up. You need to crawl in under the floor (if it isn't on a slab) and into the roof to see.
Have you seen the way they are building houses & apartments these days? house has stood for 100 years probably has less chance of having issues (obviously generalising here) compared to that apartment. The inspection reports are worth every cent.
In all seriousness, in houses we are serious about going for we ask the agent to call other serious buyers and ask if they want to split the cost of an inspection. Surprisingly easier than what people think it is to do this.My partner works in a department that takes in building and construction complaints.
My advice would be if you are considering a brand new apartment you are better off taking your money and using it to build a fire.
The fire would be crap and the fumes off the plastic may be toxic, but you'd still probably be better off.At the very least always get the inspection report.
My advice would be if you are considering a brand new apartment you are better off taking your money and using it to build a fire.
Good advice!
The inspection reports are worth every cent.
Sometimes. Depends on what you are looking for. Can tell you about general maintenance required. Only stuff they can see.
I bought a place in London UK once. The inspect report said there is rising damp (basically moisture from the soil is coming up through the concrete foundations along the bricks). Big industry in the UK to do chemical injections and other stuff to stop it. I sent a photo to the stone mason and he said it isn't. It is just the cement rendering has blown out for some reason. Chipped it all out and re did it and 7 years later no problem.
Definitely, I think the inspections are a good starting point. I had a similar experience recently, inspector said its just a bit of damp and the wonky floor was just because its old. Rang an engineer, he looked at some pics I had and said there is a water leak down the driveway causing the house to heave and floor to be slanted. Rang a damp person and he actually drove past the house on the way home and pointed out that it was more serious than a 'bit of damp'. Both didn't charge us. Surprising how nice some people are and just want to help. I always try to offer up wine/beer as a thankyou for things like that, hopefully they help out another person in the same way.
In SA, even if you sign unconditional there is still a 2 day cooling off period to get your inspection done. Unless sold at auction or under auction conditions.
It's no longer a seller's market in most places so no need to get FOMO and make bad decisions.
I put an unconditional finance offer but condition attached for pest / building inspection in Brisbane nice house. It was structurally sound from inside also tenanted as well. Live termite nest was found at the property during inspection. I pulled out immediately from the house as repairs will be more.
You will need to weigh your risk. 5K will not be enough to compensate the inspection.
I would never buy a house without an inspection. Recently dodged a bullet when a house I was interested in turned out to have bad rising damp and a probable failed waterproofing in the bathroom.
watch that ticktock building inspector bloke and then have another think about it.
Who would ever do this. Ever.
I’m that idiot and I worked for lawyers! My theory at the time was the unit I was buying (built 2003) was owned by a lovely retired couple. They had money and I THOUGHT they would have looked after the place. Once in, the dishwasher died which electrician told me would have been evident before I purchased. Then the hot water was only Luke warm. Luckily it just needed a new thermostat at $250 and not a new one at $2000. I could have used these appliances to get money off the price to pay for new ones. Learn from my mistake.
I had the same problem with dishwasher. It was found on pre hand over. Money retained but the vendors ghosted me. Wouldn't reply to emails. Conveyancer said you have to take them to court.
Probably will negotiate in future like that stuff is worthless. Unless owners can show still in warranty papers.
Skip if you know what to look for and are okay to suck up the issues, but if not then you need to get an inspection.
If you're paying land value then you can go ahead and skip the inspection.
A good building inspector is worth his weight in gold. Had a townhouse I was all in for until the inspection. He found an airconditioner that was draining into a wall, improperly mounted kitchen cabinets that would probably fall off if loaded up, rising damp along one back wall, holes drilled through the firewall between units (would void fire insurance) & failed waterproofing in the bathroom.
Worth every cent.
A Building and Pest inspection is important.
But basic Building and Pest inspections are also a kind of scam in my experience. They use the same form, and practically the same wording for nearly every report. They walk around for about half an hour taking photos with their phone, then charge you $600 for it.
Any area that is not easily accessible is completely ignored. They put a note saying: "area was not accessible".
They don't do a proper termite inspection unless you pay significantly extra. And then you'd have to wait until they've got the time to do it.
Even if there is no obvious sign of termites, they leave all these notes in saying: risk of undetected termites is "high", etc. to cover themselves.
"Risk of undetected water damage is: "high"". etc.
Nearly every inspection report I've seen is the same.
I couldn't believe it when I attended my building and pest inspection. He was there for about 20 minutes. Identified an area with potential water damage, but did not do any kind of investigation to determine where the water was coming from. $600.
What was the point of the inspection then?
If I'd known a basic inspection was so incomplete beforehand, I would have skipped it entirely. I could have done that myself.
A recent inspection report I've seen stated that the inspector was unsure whether a problem was a minor or major concern. What was the point of the inspection then?
I hear you. I asked the question around integrity of the Pest and build inspection in my previous post, and pretty much the response was in line with your thoughts. It is easy way to make $ I guess. They don't take any responsibility
There's a wide variance in terms of quality, I guess the same as any industry. Personal recommendations or even better seeing a report for a property (I found a great inspector after initially purchasing a report they had done for someone else for a property I was interested in) is probably the best way to go.
One word: termites.
You'd be insane to skip a report, sorry.
Asbestos for anything pre-1990, can also be significantly costly to remove & replace as well
Besides termites there are many other hidden faults that can be found.
Like:
Leaking roofs with ceilings conveniently repainted.
Non compliant electrical and fire regulations (risks and a problem when re-selling/renting out).
Venting pipes not compliant.
Rising damp conveniently repainted/cleaned.Nope. Dwellings are far too expensive to gamble.
Unless, of course, it will be demolished/wiped off ;-)
Good plan - if you are buying for the land value and plan to redevelop…
That is a very strange offer. Sounds like they know something you don't.
I was surprised as well. Why would someone take a lower offer?
Never skip building & pest
Bought my current house without a pest or building report but that is because I turned up at the auction without intending to buy, and ended up winning. The pest and building reports were consistent with what I was expecting.
Sounds to me like the seller had some secrets to keep/issues with the property and wanted to palm off the problem to a naive buyer, full of FOMO and thought they were getting a good deal in a difficult market.
I would NEVER forgo a B&P inspection but would also make sure that I'm there to see what the inspector did during the inspection.
A note on B&P inspections, they can still miss things. A few years back, I got one done on a townhouse where the termite inspector didn't pick up on two studs that were completely eaten up by termites. Being a tri-level townhouse, it wasn't a cheap fix when it was finally picked up. Luckily for me, it was a body corp cost. Digging into the root cause of the issue further, the body corp found out that the previous owner (who was Chair, Secretary and Treasurer when he sold up) had gotten a termite inspection of the issue and never informed the body corp… he just kept quiet.
Back to my B&P inspection, the section of the wall with the issue had a corner of the wall with the fascade broken off. I suspect the previous owner's termite inspector made this in order to get a borescope inside the wall to inspect the damage. Just a little learning for anyone going to a B&P inspection… take a look at areas where you see damage as it may not have been an accident… possibly someone trying to get access to the wall cavity to inspect for further damage.
Great share. Thank you.
A good property inspector is worth it - I found a good one through the inspection he did when I sold a property - saw the forensic detail of the report and kept a note for future use. Came to buying a property and he found all sorts of issues that would have been costly to remediate. Saved me from buying a dud and then gave me confidence when I found a good one (still a few issues to sort out over time but no deal breakers - good to know). He also had contacts for asbestos removal, termite inspection etc.
So I would never buy a property without one having had the experience.
You need to be a builder or engineer to confidently buy unconditionally.
Ask the seller/seller agent if the owner has had there own reports done. Some are happy to share these, especially if it been on the market for awhile.
Sellers are often recommended by agents to get their own reports to find the extent of damage/repairs needed allowing them to better estimate a sell price, and the best tactic for selling.The seller agent will always push for the best price, so saying you get a discount for an unconditional purchase is a red flag.
The seller can only sell for what the properties worth, sounds like there's damage a report would uncover.
Get your report, then make your offer. The risk of not getting one can be $100k+.
How much more (less) was it?
The biggest thing for me with the building and pest inspection (aside from the building being structurally unsound) is termites. But if the house is built on a slab and not on wood then the risk of termites is significantly lower so maybe worth the risk to pay a bit less.