Builder License No:
512166802
512166802
The house looked beautiful online. It looked beautiful at the open home. Then the building report came back.
A Reddit user in Melbourne’s western suburbs shared a report on a house listed in the $1.25 to $1.3 million range. At auction it went to a heated bidding war and sold for $1.5 million. The report found:
As the poster put it, the common theme was water getting in, movement, and questionable renovation work. Their question: is this an immediate walk-away, or just normal for an old Melbourne house?
Andy from Swell Building Inspections gave his view to host Jordan in our Pro Insights series.
Here’s the short answer: for most buyers, a report like this is walk-away territory. Water getting in, structural movement and signs of termites together can add up to a very large repair bill, and some of the damage may be hidden inside the walls. The exception is a buyer who loves the location and has budgeted for a major renovation.
“It looks like it’s in walk-away territory for sure,” says Andy. But he adds an important qualifier: it depends on how much the buyer loves the location.
Some people buy older houses knowing they need work and have money set aside for repairs. For them, a list like this is the starting point of a renovation rather than a deal-breaker. For most buyers, though, a report like this should make you stop and think.
Of everything on that list, Andy singles out two things: water getting in and signs of termites in the roof space.
Termites in the roof means they had to get there somehow. Depending on how the house is built, they may have travelled up through the walls, and termite damage inside walls often can’t be seen.
“I’ve done renovation works where we’ve opened up walls and it’s just honeycomb inside,” Andy says. “But without pulling the wall apart, you can’t see it.”
Damp makes this worse. Termites are attracted to damp timber, so a house with ongoing moisture problems is more at risk of termite activity.
A note for Tasmanian buyers: Tasmania is a low termite-risk area, and the subterranean termites behind most structural damage on the mainland aren’t established here. Wood borers and fungal decay are the bigger timber risks locally. Our guide to pest inspections in Tasmania explains when a specialist timber pest inspection is worth arranging.
It depends heavily on the size of the house. As a rough guide, Andy uses a standard three-bedroom, one-bathroom, single-storey home in Hobart:
“It can very quickly add up to being a very large number,” he says. And that’s before you deal with the cracking, the damp, or the missing ceiling joist.
The Reddit thread had plenty of opinions. We asked Andy to weigh in on a few.
Possibly. It depends on how the auction is set up. Some auctions don’t allow a building inspection clause after the hammer falls, so bidders need to get their inspection done before auction day. Some sellers do dress up a property to look good on the day. That’s why Andy recommends an inspection whether you’re buying at auction or through a normal private sale.
Maybe, but don’t count on it. It’s hard to judge without seeing the house, and the original post may have overstated things. It’s possible that fixing the roof would solve most of the problems. But the report mentions damp in the walls as well as the roof space, and damp also draws termites. “I wouldn’t be ignoring defects,” Andy says. “That’s not a good idea.”
Not yet, but you can often get a copy. Andy has been approached by people trying to set up a national association of inspectors that would catalogue reports. As far as he knows, nothing like it is fully running yet.
In the meantime, if an inspection has already been done on a property, ask the agent who did it. Many inspectors will re-issue a current report in your name for a fee. That puts the report in your name and makes sure it’s properly insured.
One caution: older reports may no longer be accurate if the property has been changed since.
A house that looks great at an open home can still have serious problems hidden in the roof space, under the floor or inside the walls. Most auction bidders would never have known about these defects without paying for a report.
If you’re buying at auction, get your inspection done before the auction. You may not get a second chance.
When the report shows several major defects, particularly ongoing water problems, structural movement or termite activity, and you don’t have the budget or the will to fix them. If you love the location and you’re ready for a renovation, you may decide to proceed, but go in with your eyes open.
Yes. It means termites have found a way into the building, possibly through the walls, where damage often can’t be seen without opening them up. Get a specialist timber pest inspection and a treatment plan. In Tasmania termites are much less common, but any sign of timber pest activity in a report is worth following up.
Yes, and you often should. Many auction contracts don’t include a building inspection clause, so you need to know about any defects before you bid.
Often, yes. Ask the agent who did the inspection. Many inspectors will re-issue a recent report in your name for a fee. Check how recent it is and whether the property has changed since.
A house that looks great at an open home can still have serious problems in the roof space, under the floor or inside the walls. Most auction bidders would never have known about these defects without paying for a report. If you’re buying at auction, get your inspection done beforehand, because you may not get a second chance. Andy gets into the roof space and subfloor to find what a walk-through misses.
Andy is a licensed builder with over 15 years of hands-on experience. Every Swell inspection comes with a plain-English report, usually within 24 hours, and a follow-up call to walk you through the findings.
Ready to book? Book your pre-purchase inspection or call 0483 935 688.
