Property inspection report now, save later — Avoiding hidden costs
Buying a property is likely one of the most expensive investments you’ll make in your lifetime, so making sure you’ve done your homework before signing the dotted line is essential. The last thing anyone wants is to invest their hard-earned savings into a risky property that has more work to be done than it’s worth. Getting a pre-purchase inspection report from a professional is the easiest way to ensure the house of your dreams is all that it seems, but there are some factors you can look out for yourself.
Everyone knows to consider mortgage costs (and hopefully everyone knows to factor in if interest rates rise) but what about all the other costs involved with owning a home? When looking at a new property, what else should you consider? How do you go about giving your ‘would be home’ a pre-purchase building inspection of your own?
Here are a few key things to look out for to determine whether the home you are interested in buying is at the standard promised, and to help prevent any headaches down the line.
The position of the home
When checking out the home, make a property inspection report of your own (or ask a building inspector to), noting the impacts of the environment where the home is situated.
Is it on a slope? It could be impacted by surface water or flooding when it rains. Is it on the coast where the salty air can rust the joinery? Is the property exposed to too much sun for the type of cladding impacting the paint work and condition of the cladding? Where your home is located can have a big impact on maintenance in the long run.
And that’s not just in terms of location on a site either – where the home is located in relation to where you work is important too. Commuting costs are important to consider when buying a home as these can stack up in the long run – do you have affordable public transport options? What’s the traffic like during peak times?
Changes required
Is the kitchen and bathroom way out of date and in need of an expensive reno? Is there any internal water damage indicating a leak somewhere that may cost you a fortune to fix? How old is the hot water cylinder? What is the condition of the roof, insulation?
Making sure you have factored into your budget any urgent or necessary adjustments you’ll have to make to the home either straight away or later is incredibly important when doing a home inspection.
Take a couple who I did a property inspection report for recently who were first home buyers. They were looking at a weatherboard house from the late 60s. It was listed at a good price, but it had no patio area and everything was original. Great bones but would have required a substantial amount of money to bring the property into the 21st century. This ultimately influenced their decision on whether to purchase and to how much they wanted to pay for the property.
Maintenance
How much it will cost to maintain a property is sometimes the hardest thing to predict. Whether the property has a large garden and extensive landscaping to tend to or other significant upkeep, multi-level homes on steep sections may require scaffolding to maintain, these are things to consider before deciding to invest.
Investing in a property inspection report
Your time and money could be on the line if you invest in a new home without factoring in additional costs. Although these pointers are helpful to consider, having a pre-purchase building inspection is the best way to identify anything hidden that could be an added expense or a pain to fix in the future. Investing in a pre-purchase property inspection report is the most definitive way for any home buyer to make the best investment possible – so get a free quote for yours today.
