Hafan

Hello

Does anyone have any suggestions on what I should check on my final house inspection before settlement?

Ta very much
Hafan

sophia

hi there

Just check absolutely everything you can think of, electrical stuff, gas, have you had a white ant inspection (these are usually done automatically, but check), check the water taps (I say this cos the day after settlement we went into our house and turned the tap on...kitchen flooded and absollutely no comeback at all...the real estate didn't want to know...said we should have checked during final inspection!)

If there is an alarm system, check it actually works, same if it's got electric shutters/car port door, does the aircon work? does the pool equipment work?. Just anything you can think of as you're going around the house.

Good luck!!

love sophia xx

Loopy

Someone I know (ok I'm married to him!) checked all the electric sockets (took a hairdryer along!), the retic, ran baths, tested showers, put the oven on, checked burglar alarm, opened & closed all the doors, rang the doorbell, went up in the loft, turned all the lights on, turned air con on, fans on in the bathrooms, checked the phone points, looked in all the cupboards,........................................ ..........etc. etc.

One thing he didn't do was test all the aerial points for the TV, house had points in about 6 rooms, only one worked well enough, others needed a booster which we argued about & ended up paying halves with the sellers. Also the blue flashing light on burglar alarm didn't work so they fixed that.

Inspection took AGES!

Loopy

Hafan

Hi Sophia and Loopy

Thanks for your replies - I did have a white ant inspections and it was clear - its all happened so fast, I have the final inspection on Wednesday and settlement is on Friday, I'm excited, but worried I am going to miss something big on Wednesday. One of my work colleagues has said she will come with me as two sets of eyes are better than one and she has bought a few houses in the past.
anyway thanks again, I will try to check everything!!.
Best wishes
Hafan

Loopy

Funniest one I heard of was when someone bought a house, moved in and then realised the bath in the second bathroom had no taps!

Another thing to watch out for!

Loopy

JackTheLad

Its also possible to get a professional in to check for you. We checked everything, so we thought . But amazingly within days of moving in everything started breaking down. It was very depressing. Also, we never checked the aerial sockets. As it turned out, we don't care because we got Foxtel installed. But, its a bit annyonig to have a huge big aerial on the roof, but none of the aerial sockets work

JTL

tracey.d

I didn't realise it was all so complicated.
Is it not unusual then to have problems with houses?
Is there professionals you can get to do it and how much do they charge?

Thank God for this forum. I have learnt so much on here that you can never get from a book. I thought I was well clued up

Tracey

jensteve

The real estate guy checked ours out, I was around the same time and he had taps on, switching lights on and off, he didn't however realise that the salt cell on the pool was knackered and it had a load of acid dumped in it to make it look sparkling clean. It wasn't until we had the pool guy out he checked it all and realised, a few hundred bucks later the problem was fixed.

Jenny

Hafan

Hi
Well it was a bit of a disaster as the people where moving out while we where there, so we could not check a lot of it and I have said that I will go back tomorrow for a final check – one thing I did notice was that there was carpet missing where some of the furniture was – they had fitted the carpet around the furniture!! – does anyone think I can do anything about this? – it was obviously like that when I put the offer in, but I did not see it as it was under the furniture. Its also quite dirty – can I expect it to be clean? Thanks for any advice…
Hafan

jensteve

As far as I have been told the carpets should be cleaned, I would think about the missing chunks of carpet you should say something, as they don't really conform to being fit for use...Other than having their furniture on top anyhow.
Ask though, I would ask them to do something.

jenny

Jacqui

Our experiences of house buying/selling has been that the estate agent does the check with you, and considering how much commission they earn over here, it's a pretty poor show if they don't turn up for this very important check. Our brother-in-law came with us both times we bought a house, just in case there was something we didn't think of.

The whole point of these inspections are to make sure that you are happy that you are getting what you are expecting, and if any faults are found, they can be rectified BEFORE you sign the contract. Once you've signed the contract and moved in, if you discover something is not working or not as you expected, too bad, the onus is on you to make sure to check everything in your expection. Be very thorough, the estate agent should help you here and not rush you. Switch on all lights, switch on appliances to make sure the sockets are working, switch on the oven and wait for it to heat up, run the taps everywhere and wait for the hot water to come through, flush the toilets, open and shut blinds, have the retic (sprinkler system) put on for a test run, look at the pool pump and ask to see recent water test results, just go through the house room by room and be thorough checking everything. If you have an Aussie friend or relative, take them along.

When we sold our last house, I knew the salt cell in the pool pump was duff, but they only have a lifespan of 3 to 5 years anyway, depending how much the pool is used. Sod's law ours conked out just as the house went on the market. So I replaced it. Chances are it would have been noticed at the inspection and I would have been asked to replace it, so I just did the right thing and replaced it anyway.

Just a couple of weeks into our new house, we could smell gas. The engineer reckoned it must have been leaking some time. The electric oven also has a faulty thermostat and takes forever to warm up. The previous owners were quite likely aware of these problems, but we didn't notice anything was wrong on our inspection, so we've had to fork out for repairs and will need to buy new appliances.

So if you spot something doesn't work, or you feel something needs a second opinion and you want to look again with someone else, or you want something fixed before you move in, say so at the time. A clause will be added to your contract, saying that the house is sold "subject to gas leak on hob being fixed" for example, or you can ask for a reasonable sum to be deducted from the house price eg $500 to cover your costs for buying a new gas hob. You can't complain once you've moved in, it's too late!

The estate agent should give you a yellow booklet detailing the legal terms and conditions for buying and selling property. It looks incredibly boring and full of legal jargon, well it is, but it pays to read through the relevant sections and be aware of your rights/possible pitfalls. Any decent estate agent will take the time to go through these points with you. For anyone looking at houses in Mandurah, I would recommend Annie McShane of Elders, and Linda Knight of Century 21. They were both knowledgeable, friendly and helpful, patient, and took time to go over things new to us as Poms. Linda is a Pom herself, and I wouldn't hestitate to use her services again. (I get no commission for this, by the way )

Hafan

Thanks for your responses, its turned out to be a bit of a nightmare - there are windows broken, bits of carpet missing, the fly screens fall out if you open the window, the pool pump leaks, dents in the garage door, and its really dirty - the sellers agent claims that it was like that when I put the offer in to buy it, so its tough, but I am sure it was not in that state - I would have defiantly noticed the broken window, but what can I do?. They even took there horrible curtains - not that I wanted them, but they where part of the deal!!. On top of all that the estate agent (who I would defiantly not recommend) cannot get hold of the sellers - they are not answering the phone and it did not settle on Friday because there bank had double booked and could not make it - what a nightmare!!! Hopefully they will get in touch tomorrow and it will go through on Thursday, but I'm not sure I really want it now - I know I don't have a choice as I have signed a contract....
Thanks for all your help anyway, and listening to me whinge...
Hafan

Siren & Brian

Dont let it go. Curtains are part of the house as the are fixed to the walls/windows. Alot does depend on your Offer and Acceptance form of what has been written down. Usually with pools it would include all pool equipment and in working order. I would speak to the real estate agent and tell him that areas need to be rectified or you will contact your settlement agent and will halt settlement until they are done or get the settlement agent to with hold a certain amount of money until they are fixed to your satisfaction.

Dont be bullied. Yes the Real Estate agent wants his commission but this does not get paid until settlement goes through, so backing of settlement might just mean he will get his finger out of hir arse.



Also to other people who buy houses when doing a final inspection take someone along that has no emotional tie to the house. They are more likely to find faults with it, but better still would to have this done prior to writing up and offer and acceptance.

Siren & Brian

OR.. what my charming other half forgot to mention....

Have a professional inspection done by a registered architect or structural engineer!
Make sure that your offer is "subject to" a decent inspection report giving you the option to back out of a "money pit" or renegotiate price to compensate for repairs that must be done.

(For more info PM me... this is what I do for a living!)

Siren

Siren & Brian

No you dont, you sit there filing your nails, chatting on MSN, on the phone and thats all at the same time.