Beware the building inspector

Buying a house is terrifying. House hunting is difficult in any market but in the current market it’s basically the quick and the dead.

Once you find the right property, you have to perform your due diligence with lightning speed. We all know of stories of people being 99% the way there, another buyer swoops at the very last minute and the property is lost.

The one part of the process that often scuttles a sale is the building and pest inspection. The elation of finding the right home is often met with the horror of a written fault report on your dream home. Inspection reports even on the best homes never read well.

 Building inspectors have a pretty tough gig and the legal exposure for them is frightening. In approximately one hour they have to determine whether a building is structurally sound, if termites are present and if there are going to be any major issues in the future. If you read a report these days, it is basically one very big disclaimer with a few comments thrown in. In many cases the reports are useless. Recently my wife and I bought a house and we didn’t even read the report; I rang the inspector (who I know and trust) and asked ‘if you were me, would you buy it?’ he said ‘yes’. SOLD!

Every house in the country has faults that a building inspector will find. Common things we see are rising damp in walls, inadequate sub-floor ventilation, past termite damage, settlement cracks etc. Often people attempt to re-negotiate an agreed sale price because of these findings, which in my opinion is simply unreasonable.

My advice would be that the things you really need to look out for are major issues like structural problems, live pests and safety hazards. These are the things that can cost a small fortune to address and by addressing them you are not adding value you are simply restoring it. This needs to be factored into the price and I believe it’s reasonable to expect that.

If you are looking for the perfect home, you won’t find it. The best thing you can do is get a good inspector that you can trust and one that will talk to you. We are happy to recommend some – and we do not receive any kickbacks from any of them.

David Murphy owns an independent real estate agency in Sydney’s lower north shore – feel free to call ON 02 9968 2088 or email with questionsdavid@davidmurphy.com.au