Should you purchase a property subject to a building and pest inspection?

Have you considered the question “Should I purchase a property subject to a building and pest inspection?”

Our advice when buying a residence that is not new is no.

Instead, we recommend that you have your building and pest inspection performed before you make any offer to purchase a property.  You will then have all of the information to decide whether or not your offered price needs to be reduced to cover the cost of any necessary remediation.  It’s a bit like buying a used car but not taking it for a test drive.

The standard clauses in sale contracts that relate to building and pest inspections only allow a purchaser to end the contract if the building inspection reveals a major structural defect or the pest inspection finds a significant active pest infestation.

The problem is that many inspections reveal multiple minor building defects or perhaps evidence of past pest infestations, neither of these relatively common findings will allow you as a purchaser to end or renegotiate your contract.

We hope that this post will encourage you to have your building and pest inspection performed before submitting your offer for a property.

If you need property conveyancing services, contact Glenferrie Conveyancing at Northcote area on 03 9815 2351 for more information.