The Importance of Pest and Building Inspections

There are quite a few costs associated with buying a property. Shopping around can save you money, however it’s important not to skip on doing building and pest inspections.

Some buyers who are concerned with the amount of costs involved in buying a property choose to skip on building and pest inspections, thinking these are unnecessary costs (especially if the property is fairly new). I can think of a few instances where buyers took the risk and didn’t get the inspections done, and were left significantly out-of-pocket from issues not detected.

Reports cost a few hundred dollars; however can save a buyer thousands, even tens of thousands of dollars if the damage turns out to be extensive. Not all issues are obvious, even for those who are experienced buyers. Some sellers also expertly cover up any issues before selling.

Buyers should make sure they use licenced trades people who hold professional indemnity insurance to conduct the building and pest inspections. Then if these professionals fail to identify problems, the insurance will cover costs and the buyer will not be out-of-pocket.

If building and pest inspections do uncover problems, it doesn’t mean a buyer should immediately pull out of the sale as there are many ways to approach the issues that may arise.

Even termite infestation doesn’t necessarily mean the buyer should pull out of the sale – a surprising number of homes have had termites at some stage. It’s a case of stopping further damage, evaluating the damage done, and sorting out the price of repairs or reduction on sale price.

Building and pest reports are entirely up to the buyer, and are an important tool for buyers to know exactly what they are getting!

At the very least, pest and building inspections give buyers peace-of-mind knowing that they’ve purchased a good property.