When buying or selling a house, the goal is always to get your money’s worth, or more. For this to happen you must first determine the overall condition of the property you’re intending to buy or sell. Undertaking a professional pre-purchase building and pest inspection can help you get a better understanding of the property’s worth, and make sure you don’t end up with a complete dud.
The greatest benefit of conducting a building and pest inspection is the assurance of the true value of your desired property. A building inspection will provide potential buyers or sellers a detailed report on the overall condition of a property, highlighting the existing minor and major issues that a house may have or be conducive to in the future.
How to Identify Minor and Major Structural Defects at Your Property
Moreover, a building and pest inspection will determine the quality of the property and help buyers or sellers negotiate an acceptable price.
Finding an Inspector and Getting a Quote
When looking for an inspector, there are a few factors that you need to consider: experience, price, availability, and turnaround time.
Ask yourself this: does the inspector you are eyeing have enough experience to conduct a proper and efficient inspection on your property? Do they come with the necessary license and qualifications? Are their prices in line with their competition in your area and will they be able to schedule you for an immediate inspection? Lastly, how long does it take for them to conduct their inspection and submit their findings?
You won’t know these things if you don’t contact an inspector and get a quote. As much as possible, don’t just settle on a few inspectors and instead look around and do your research. Quotes provided by inspectors depend on the size and the type of property to be inspected.
The Technology Used in the Inspection Process
The technology and instruments used by inspectors should adhere to industry standards and usually consist of, but not limited to, the following:
- Moisture meters
- Infrared cameras
- Sounding devices
Some inspection companies also use drones to gain access to higher areas of a property that are otherwise unreachable.
The Inspection Process
Upon arrival, the first thing that an inspector does is to assess the overall state of the building’s landscape as well as its surroundings. Experienced inspectors would usually know what to expect from a building’s interior but the state of its exterior and would look for clues from the landscape or building materials to determine potential problems inside the property.
The Building Code of Australia dictates that a Durable Notice be installed on a property after treatment of a termite infestation. For this reason, searching for this notice and checking for damages and other related conditions is one of the first undertakings of an inspector to determine the presence of termites as well as the likelihood of an infestation to recur.
Afterwards, the inspector will begin examining all accessible areas, climbing or crawling to find defects and assess several different aspects of a building such as:
- Cracks
- General dilapidation
- Joint breakdown
- Moisture build-up
- Rising damp
- Roof integrity
- Ventilation
- Waterproofing and more.
Experienced inspectors would be able to identify different kinds of problems, what causes them, and how they’re related to other problems.
The length of an inspection depends on the size of the property and its condition. Most of the time, a building and pest inspection could last from one to two hours. In most cases you are welcome to be present during the inspection, however, it is recommended that you ask questions first after the inspection is completed, to give the inspector room to focus on the task at hand.
The Inspection Report
Once the building and pest inspection has concluded and you have been carefully guided through the issues found in the property, the inspector will start working on a detailed report to be submitted to you within 48 hours. However, most clients receive the report on the same day as the inspection.
You can expect to receive the report via email and it will include every defect, no matter how minor or superficial, and suggestions on where you can find services to fix these defects.
Get your building inspected now!
Are you thinking of selling or buying a property? Conducting a pre-purchase inspection can go a long way. At Inspect My Home we send out only highly-trained professionals to provide an extensive and all-inclusive building inspection. We assure all clients a friendly service that adheres to the highest standards and levels of professionalism.
It is important that you truly know a property’s worth, not just in its current state but also how its current conditions could affect its value in the long run. Call Inspect My Home at 1300 337 447 or book online to get your home inspected.
