First home buyers often say “I’ve never done this before.”
Buying your first home, no matter how old you are can be intimidating for home buyers. So, when it comes to getting a pre purchase building inspection on a home don’t get your builder friend to go through his home checklist to identify problems or damage, you need to make sure you get a house inspection done by a building inspector who can give you a thorough report and advice to help make the buying process as smooth as possible by taking some of the stress away and provide peace of mind.
Remember, if the bank or insurance company has not told you to get a pre purchase builders report or inspection by a qualified Inspector, you need to ensure that the sale and purchase agreement is conditional upon a building inspection before settlement and purchase. Your due diligence should also apply to buying a new home to ensure it’s in the condition one would expect. Then call one of our local Building Inspectors to complete a house inspection and book the house in for a Jim’s House Inspection.
Once your inspector is booked in, then we apply the following to all our clients so it’s business as usual from here.
- Our inspectors will get you to accept a pre inspection agreement and then arrange access directly with the real estate agent or vendor.
- Once the house and property inspection is complete the inspector draft a property report and will communicate with the stakeholders. There is nothing worse than having the left hand not talking to the right hand.
- Dealing with any significant defects identified in the report early can only come with quick and informative conversations.
- This will benefit all the parties involved which will hopefully make for a smooth as possible purchase of the house and property.
Vendors and landlords in New Zealand are often surprised when their property has significant issues in the report, that are brought to light by property inspections and often, they are receptive of the inspectors’ findings. The difference with our inspectors is we want a successful outcome for all the parties involved and we will share possible solutions around getting a defect addressed and we can refer you to our trade or professional networks.
Usually, your lawyer will formally exercise the conditions and communicate the findings in the report and leverage it to ask the vendor to either address the identified defects or negotiate a price drop so you can address them later. Getting repairs done yourself is usually better than relying on the vendor, as their tradespeople might not carry out the work or maintenance to an acceptable standard. If this does occur, it’s a good idea to insist on getting invoices, receipts and a completion of work statement to make sure the building work is up to standard.
Remember, with any structure or home, regular maintenance is required and deferring cleaning or minor repair tasks can accelerate deterioration of any building element.
If required we can be called upon after you buy to reinspect any defects completed by contractors. Even if it’s six months down the line we are available to talk. We know that what makes sense to us may not make sense to you, so when you call us on 0800454654 we are only more than happy to share in our expert knowledge.
