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Your Property Inspection Checklist

Published on December 7th, 2020
  Written by 
Bill Tsouvalas
Bill Tsouvalas is the managing director and a key company spokesperson at Savvy. As a personal finance expert, he often shares his insights on a range of topics, being featured on leading news outlets including News Corp publications such as the Daily Telegraph and Herald Sun, Fairfax Media publications such as the Australian Financial Review, the Seven Network and more. Bill has over 15 years of experience working in the finance industry and founded Savvy in 2010 with a vision to provide affordable and accessible finance options to all Australians. He has built Savvy from a small asset finance brokerage into a financial comparison website which now attracts close to 2 million Aussies per year and was included in the BRW’s Fast 100 in 2015 as one of the fastest-growing companies in the country. He’s passionate about helping Australians make financially savvy decisions and reviews content across the brand to ensure its accuracy. You can follow Bill on LinkedIn.
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Buying a home is a significant financial investment. A well thought-out property inspection checklist might be ideal to help you to avoid making possible mistakes. Every homeowner will present the property as having the best features, having no flaws whatsoever. In this view, the property’s positive characteristics are more likely to be marked, while the flaws are disguised.

Thus, you need to consider inspecting the place correspondingly. If you acknowledge some flaws that come with the property, you may use that in your favour, for lowering the asking price of the property. Still, if the negative features are major, the best thing you can do is move on with your search and eliminate that particular property from your list.

Analyse the contract of sale thoroughly

For starters, you need to consider getting acquainted with the basic information that the contract of sale incorporates, including regular costs, rates or strata levies. While these expenses cannot be restricted or altered, they need to be taken into account in establishing your budget.

Other information regarding fixtures and fittings should also be included in the contract of sale. In this view, home appliances such as the stove or air conditioning should be thoroughly checked to notice whether they function perfectly or not.

Equally important is checking the reliability of the security system of the property. Alarms, deadlocks and window locks – they can contribute to decreasing the contents’ insurance. Examine the property’s security functions to establish whether they work or not.

Pay attention to damp or plumbing problems

As you analyse the property, you should also pay attention to damp or plumbing problems, as they are incredibly common. As such, our advice is to pay attention to signs including bubbly wall paint, or signs of mould in the corners of the rooms, in particular. While these problems might be fixed, for persons dealing with allergies, they can create an overall unhealthy living environment, especially for growing families with children.

Additionally, do check the taps in the kitchen, all bathrooms and laundry. You don’t want to deal with low water pressure, as that can be utterly frustrating. If you notice a peculiar vibrating sound in the pipes, that might pinpoint the presence of trapped air. Still, that is a fixable problem.

Don’t overlook the importance of having a professional inspection

While all the enumerated practical pieces of advice are important factors you should take into account, asking for a professional’s opinion is something you shouldn’t overlook. This investment is major, and you should make your decision only if you’re sure that the house meets your family’s safety and comfort requirements.

A professional expectation will aid you to obtain an equally more objective and critical second opinion that will help you make a wiser decision. Equally important is considering a professional pest and building inspection. A wide range of modern houses may present masked flaws in the most inaccessible locations including footings and roof cavities. These are hidden places that can hold serious problems that are often overlooked because they are increasingly more difficult to access.

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This guide provides general information and does not consider your individual needs, finances or objectives. We do not make any recommendation or suggestion about which product is best for you based on your specific situation and we do not compare all companies in the market, or all products offered by all companies. It’s always important to consider whether professional financial, legal or taxation advice is appropriate for you before choosing or purchasing a financial product.

The content on our website is produced by experts in the field of finance and reviewed as part of our editorial guidelines. We endeavour to keep all information across our site updated with accurate information.

Approval for home loans is always subject to our lender’s terms, conditions and qualification criteria. Lenders will undertake a credit check in line with responsible lending obligations to help determine whether you’re in a position to take on the loan you’re applying for.

The interest rate, comparison rate, fees and monthly repayments will depend on factors specific to your profile, such as your financial situation, as well as others, such as the loan’s size and your chosen repayment term. Costs such as broker fees, redraw fees or early repayment fees, and cost savings such as fee waivers, aren’t included in the comparison rate but may influence the cost of the loan. Different terms, fees or other loan amounts may result in a different comparison rate.

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