The Best $25,000 You Never Spent – Thanks to Building Inspection Technology

What might seem like an immaculate property to the untrained eye may contain some serious flaws lurking out of view, which could potentially become serious trouble down the track.

Building inspector Robert Bezemer of Bezemer Home Inspections has over 35 years of building experience here in South Australia, and has recently noticed a surge in popularity of the pre-purchase inspection as buyers become more informed about the risks of purchasing a property without properly doing their homework.

“As people are becoming better informed about the costs of maintenance to repair pre-existing issues in established homes, we’re seeing more formal building inspections than ever before.” Robert Bezemer said in an interview with SA Real Estate News.

And whilst the traditional building inspector might attend a property armed with nothing more than a torch, clipboard and measuring tape, Robert Bezemer says most of the biggest problems can’t be found with the naked eye, even by professionals.

“Moisture meters for example, reveal a lot of problems that may have been “covered up” by a vendor with best-intentions who didn’t realize the extent of the problems themselves. Damp, leaks between tiles may not be immediately obvious, and it’ a really common problem. Once that starts in brick veneer homes you get a lot of wood rot and that gets worst which can lead to even bigger problems such as termite infestation.”

And there’s plenty of stories where purchasers have been saved after inspectors have discovered major problems, turning a few hundred dollars investment into tens of thousands in savings.

“I had one about six months ago, I walked in and it was an older house and the bathroom had been renovated, I turned the shower on and the water ran across the floor in front of the vanity to the floor trap on the other side of the bathroom.

“It was a young couple that were going to buy it, so you can just imagine them moving in and on the first night going to take a shower and finding out you are up ten grand for a new shower.”

This article has been republished with permission from SA Real Estate News.