This is a Sponsored Post for Action Inspections
I remember when Jacob and I were getting our first house ready to put on sale. I read up on what needed to be done to make sure our house was visually pleasing to prospective buyers.
Magnets had to be taken down from the fridge.
Cushions had to be plumped and placed like so on the couches.
Everything had to be put away and cleaned off the kitchen benches.
Bentley’s poo had to be picked up from the yard.
Lavender oil needed to be diffused by a tea light oil burner to ensure the house would smell lovely instead of possible dog.
The bathroom had to be immaculately clean.
The floors had to be vaccumed and washed.
No washing could be on the line.
Bentley’s water and dog bowls had to be put away in case a buyer didn’t want to buy a house that accommodated a dog.
The list went on.
I wasn’t too worried about whether prospective buyers would have an issue with a dog in the home because I was hopeful that our new buyer would be looking for a home that could accommodate their four-legged family members.
Within three weeks of putting our house on the market our house sold. I was a bit ballsy in refusing the first offer which had our real estate agent shake his head – thinking I was greedy – when in actual fact I knew our house was worth a little more compared to similar houses in the area. I was right. A second larger offer came through – to the surprise of our agent.
But this post isn’t about how we sold our house, it’s about what happens in the coming weeks as the contract is signed and is conditional due to two inspections – a Building Inspection and a Termite Inspection.
Both are as important as each other, and both should be done by separate contractors who are specialized in the area of building or termites.
When we got our building and termite inspections done I was quite nervous. What would happen if the building inspector found something wrong with our house that we hadn’t known before? What if termites had attacked our house despite the fact we had removed the retaining wall sleepers that were infested with them 12 months prior?
Both the building and termite inspectors had positive reviews about our house and we sighed with relief that our sale was going to be unconditional.
It’s important to choose a reputable, reliable and trustworthy building inspector. Many building inspectors are affiliated with real estate agents and this relationship doesn’t always mean a building inspector has done a thorough inspection for the new owners.
Independent Building Inspectors like Action Inspections work to ensure the house you purchase isn’t a dud and won’t have potential issues that will cost you money (and stress because hello mortgage!) to fix in the future. Independent building inspectors are more truthful and won’t gloss over any issues.
Unfortunately, my dad and I have been to homes that young people have purchased and the building inspector hasn’t done a thorough job (or they’ve ‘saved’ money by not getting one done) and bathrooms have had to be ripped out and reinstalled properly or we’ve had to get other plumbers with heavy jet rodders to unblock shower wastes that have been blocked up with tile mortar. A building inspector would have picked this up straight away by simply turning on the shower and watching whether the water pooled at the bottom of the shower tray. And this particular house did because the shower tray filled up quickly like a swimming pool.
Don’t be caught out when you purchase your next home. Action Inspections give potential owners a pre-purchase building report which will give peace of mind and ensure no costly building or plumbing bills in the future. They also have a downloadable inspection checklist you can use yourself to take with you and do some checks of your own around the house you are looking to put an offer on.
Have you ever had issues with a building inspection after you purchased or sold a house? What happened? I’d love to hear your experiences.
This post has been written in accordance with my disclosure policy.