When purchasing a property, it can get very exciting as well as extremely overwhelming, you have inspection after inspection, meeting different agents and talking to banks. With so much to keep track of sometimes you can overlook things during inspections. This is why you will need a pre purchase building inspection, but why? What is the difference between my personal inspection and an inspection done by a qualified building inspector?
Personal Inspection
A personal inspection is when you get to have a first glance over the property during an open house viewing. Open inspections are great because potential buyers can view the property and see what they like about the home. You can see the overall quality and feel for the home. It is always best to take someone else with you during the inspection to have another set of eyes looking over the property to pick up on faults or issues you may overlook.
A personal inspection involves wondering through the property with several other potential buyers, you get to see what you do and don’t like about the property.
As you are wandering through the property you can take a closer look at these things:
- Check the windows, are they in good condition, sealed properly, cracked, stuck on hinges?
- Look for any signs of dampness, mould or bubbling in the ceiling and near any type of water source especially the bathroom.
- Check taps, see if they run properly
- Look under sinks for quality of plumbing
- Look for anything rotting or buckling hidden under carpets, hallway runners and couches.
- Look for sagging gutters or imperfections on the roof and ceiling.
- Use all of your senses, is there a bad smell or is it noisy from roads nearby?
Pre Purchase Building Inspection
A personal inspection can tell you a lot about the property, if you are happy with what you have seen, you will now need to book in a pre purchase building inspection to assess the property in its entirety.
A professional building inspection can be completed by a licensed builder, surveyor or an architect. The building inspector will inspect the property for any structural defects or other issues such as pest and water damage that might go missed by the untrained eye. An experienced building inspector will look past the cosmetic touch ups and fixes and be able to see what the residing issue is and what needs to be done to fix it.
These inspections are carried out before any exchanging of contracts allowing you to identify any issues that need to be taken care of and if they will be expensive issues down the track.
A professional building inspection involves a visual inspection of the property checking for signs of structural damage or issues. The inspector will look over every part of the home they can get access to, including:
- Building interior: Cracks in the walls and roofs to exposed wiring and faulty lights, doors that aren’t mounted or working properly and broken windows. Anything that can be seen from the indoors of the home.
- Building exterior: Look over the construction of the home, is it level? Any damaged verandahs etc
- Building roof: any roof repairs, tiles, guttering, downpipes that will cause water damage.
- Roof and Basement: If the inspector can get access to these areas, they will be inspected for structural damage.
- The whole property site: This includes, carports, sheds, lean-tos, fences driveways and paths.
There are many comparisons to a personal inspection and a building inspection. As you only get limited access and time during a personal inspection a building inspection allows your inspector to really get into the nitty gritty of the property and give you a full report of issues and potential structural problems the house may have that you couldn’t have seen from doing a personal inspection.
Get your pre purchase building inspection done today. Contact House Inspect Australia to organise an inspection on your dream property.