Not sure what to do about a Building and pest inspection?
New to buying a house? Making an offer on a property? Selling your home?
Well, let's take you through the process quickly. If there's too much info here for one sitting, then at least make sure you are familiar with the Basic Steps listed at the top, then come back later if you need the details.
Basic steps to organise a building & pest inspection
Here are the basic steps you need to take to organise a building & pest inspection
- Choose an appropriate building & inspection business
- Call them up and ask them to organise an inspection on the property
- Allow them time to book in a suitable time with the vendors real estate agency
- Wait to be called back with confirmation of inspection date and time
- Attend inspection if you like
- Recieve & read report
- Review your decision to purchase the property
Choose an appropriate building & inspection business
Choosing someone to carry out your inspection is not easy. As much as it is tempting to take the recommendation from the real estate agent or simply picking the first company listed in the Google results, it's worth considering what is important to you. You should probably consider the following:
- How do their prices compare? It's a competitive market so you should be able to get a great price
- Are they really qualified? Give QBCC a call to check their licence
- Do any of your trusted friends recommend anyone?
- Local? Can they re-visit if there are any issues? How far away is the company from the property?
- How well do they communicate? When you book are you speaking to the inspector or a receptionist? Will you have the inspectors personal number later to discuss the report?
- Are they a big franchise? Many larger companies take your call and subcontract the work so they do not know their own inspectors well
- Phone them! Feel free to call many companies and ask them questions. A genuine company will be happy to answer a few quick questions and wait to be called back later to make a booking. If they don't have time now then they will struggle later if there are issues.
You're probably only concerned with some of these points, but it's worth choosing the correct inspection company for you at the beginning rather than relying on pt luck
Essentially the correct company for you will identify all the major structural issues with the property before you make a decision to purchase so you can make a well informed decision.
Call them up and ask them to organise an inspection on the property
Once you've chosen your inspector, give them a call. Whilst it's tempting to use the online booking systems, the truth is a human to human conversation is always going to get everyone's needs and concerns communicated more efficiently. Especially at this early stage, and if you are new to buying property, it's better to give them a call if you haven't done so already. When you call them you will need to tell them the following information, so try to have it handy:
- Your contact details
- Your choice of building inspection, pest inspection or both
- The real estate contact details
- The number of bedrooms in the property
- The address of the property
Allow them time to book in a suitable time with the vendors real estate agency
After you have called up and asked them to organise an inspection, the inspection company will call the vendors agent to organise a time to get access to the property. The agent will have the keys so finding a time is dependent on their availability
Wait to be called back with confirmation of inspection date and time
After organising a time you will be called back with confirmation and invited to attend.
This is normally where you will be asked to pay as well.
Attend inspection if you like
It is normally best to attend your inspection if you can. Not only do you get your own personal time to look at the property again, but you also get to ask the inspector any questions you like. They will be more than happy to explain any issues or concerns you have. Again, face to face is a great way to discuss these issues and it will help you understand the report when you get to read it.
If you can not attend the inspection it is not a problem. The report will contain all the information you need to know, and if you have any concerns or issues when reading it, your inspector should be more than happy to discuss it with you.
Recieve & read report
These days your report will be emailed to you within hours of the inspection! Most companies guarantee you'll get it with 24 hours. Look out for an email, and always double-check your junk mail folder. Call them up if you haven't received it!
Review your decision to purchase the property
The building & inspection report will highlight structural issues and concerns. When you put an offer on the property you almost certainly didn't have this information. Do you still want to buy the property? In Queensland, as long as you signed a you will have the option to terminate the contract. The report acts as Proof.
You can of course renegotiate. Perhaps the vendor was unaware of the issues too and will agree to reduce the price to compensate for the repairs. This happens more often than you might think.
It is also important not to overreact. The report will list everything! Depending on the age of the property it will always have some issues, if not quite a few. So don't panic, just call up your inspector and get their opinion on the issues, it will help you make the correct decision
So did you realise there is so much activity and importance to getting a building and pest inspection? As I hope you can see, it is a vital step when purchasing a property.
My job is primarily to make sure you get the best report possible with all the details you need to know. However, it is also to make this process as simple as possible for you. So please allow me to be your inspector and I promise you will be well looked after.