The home is brand new and another potential buyer has already done the perquisite inspection. The real estate agent has assured you that the inspection report states that the property is good.
Would all these mean that you can skip the pre-purchase building inspections in Melbourne?
No, unfortunately. It is very difficult to accurately assess the state of the property just by looking at it. Only a qualified building inspector will be able to provide expert information on the property’s condition.
Why a pre-purchase building inspection is needed
The real estate agent’s loyalty is with the seller
The real estate agent is hired by the seller to sell their property for the best possible price. This naturally follows that a building inspection to detect the property’s faults will not work in their favour.
Sale commissions can be jeopardised by a negative building inspection report. Negotiation to lower the price of the property can also happen when the building inspection report shows the various damages of the property.
Real estate agents hire their preferred building and pest inspectors to get around this problem. This will produce a favourable building inspection report to push through the sale. The property will be presented in the best positive light.
This kind of situation makes it doubly important for a buyer to hire the services of an independent inspector to conduct a pre-purchase inspection.
Skipping the pre-purchase inspection may jeopardise your financial transactions and insurance
Finalising your finances may become problematic should you think of skipping the pre-purchase inspection. Application for a new mortgage may not be forthcoming should the bank demand proof of the property’s quality.
The loan process may be delayed or, worse, denied if you cannot produce a pre-purchase inspection report. Insurance companies may also refuse to pay for damages and repairs in the absence of a pre-purchase inspector’s report.
The situations described above set you back thousands of dollars which could have been avoided. Shelling out a few hundred bucks for an inspection service is the better option all around.
The vendor will sell their property at all costs
The property needs to be sold by the vendor come what may. This means that hiding instead of disclosing the faults of the property will the obvious practice. Vendors will go to all kinds of extraordinary lengths for the house to sell.
This includes creatively concealing all kinds of property defects. Some even become desperate enough to falsify building approval reports. Everything that can be thought of has been done by vendors for them to sell the property.
The seller may even present you a pre-purchase building inspection report from another potential buyer if it’s favourable. This is one way to entice you not to spend a few hundred bucks to have an independent pre-purchase building inspection.
There’s only one thing to remember in all this: the vendor will sell their property at all costs. Honesty is often absent in the property game.
The inspection is the best way to protect your investment
Let’s face it. Purchasing a home is the most expensive investment you’ll ever make in your lifetime. Protecting your hard-earned money and savings is a must. If a pre-purchase inspection is a way to protect your investment, by all means, go for it!
Make the home investment count by being smart about it. Hire only the best professionals to conduct a pre-purchase building inspections Melbourne to a potential property.