Why You Need to Have a Property Inspection
By admin on Sep 18, 2010 in Real Estate Guide
Before you sign that contract on your bargain investment property, you must have a professional property inspection. There could be any amount of hidden flaws that you simply cannot be aware of unless you know what to look for.
Property Inspection Check List:
- Termite damage. This is one of the most common problems. You don’t want to pay good money for a property only to find half of it eaten away by termites. The damage caused by these little wretched creatures can even go unnoticed by the owners and can fall into two categories.
(a) Old damage that was never fixed, but there are now no live termites.
(b) Damage with live termites. Since these wood munchers eat from the inside, a cursory inspection is not enough to find the problem. You could be looking at a hollow shell and not realise it. A professional knows the tell tale signs to watch for and will both assess the damage and tell you if the termites are still present. Whenever you apply for a loan, a professional termite search will be instigated.
- Roof. Does it leak? Not easy to tell if the ceiling has been freshly painted. Telltale stains left by leaks won’t show up for a while.
- Electrical wiring. Rats and possums can cause havoc with electrical wiring. Tatty, chewed wiring can cause fires, and you don’t want your investment to go up in smoke.
- Damp. If walls or basements haven’t been properly sealed damp can rise up from the ground, ruining carpet and rotting timber mould and mildew can cause health problems and be difficult and expensive to deal with.
- Structural damage. An earth tremor, a storm or a flood could have caused this. A dishonest person can cover up cracks in the walls, floors or ceilings, but a professional inspection will uncover them.
- Structural unsoundness. Some unscrupulous builders use rubbish to build houses and manage to get away with it, especially if the house was built in the years before property inspections were made mandatory.
- Foundations. Most buyers don’t think to (or don’t want to) crawl under the house with a flashlight to inspect the foundations. Of course some houses are built on a cement slab, but there is still erosion to consider. If the house has been built too close to the edge of a cliff, it may well have great views across the bay, but it’s a long way to fall if the ground gives away.
It’s well worth spending the extra money to pay for a professional Property inspection. It could save you from buying something that will cost you more than you could possible gain in trying to fix the problem.