Pre Purchase Building Reports fall under this uncomfortable category of things that everybody knows they should get but half of purchasers still succeed in talking themselves out of it. The excuses are imaginative, the house is alright, the agent said it keeps in a good condition, the previous owners were an elderly couple, how bad can it be? They are the psychological acrobats that individuals engage in whenever excitement overtakes judgment and they can occur at any price, to long-time and first-time consumers. A house that looks good on an open has received just what it is called a presentation. What is under the newly painted wall, the carefully placed rugs and the candles that do the extra time in the main bedroom is an entirely different matter.

Most buyers who have never read a building inspection cover to cover would be surprised to know what a thorough building inspection actually examines. In addition to the more glaring structural inspections, such as roof, wall, sub floor framing, an experienced inspector will go through the property like a detective with a moisture detector and a natural suspicion of anything recently replaced or coated. They also examine drainage patterns and whether or not the water flows away the structure is appropriate. They check the window and door frames to see whether they are moving or sinking. They examine the date and state of exposed electrical sizes and plumbing fittings. They dig about in the roof cavities and crawl spaces that the buyer never bother to inspect on open homes. One of the most renowned inspectors once said that his job was to find out the lies a house tells about itself, and that is a correct way of framing.

This is a skill in reading the report properly before the document finds its way in your inbox. The majority of building reports adopt a degree of segregation of defects – major structural problems are indicated in a different manner to minor maintenance ones, but first-time purchasers tend to misunderstand the document and fall into panic by normal wear and tear findings or, even worse, miss actually serious ones hidden in the technical jargon. In case anything in the report is not understood, then call the inspector directly and make him explain it in simple language. An excellent inspector will be frank with you, either it is a fix-it-this-weekend scenario or it is a re-evaluate-this-purchase-wholes situation. Such first-hand discussion can be more useful than the actual report.

Pre purchase checks also do not go lightly on the negotiation table and this aspect gets underexploited regularly. Customers who are presented with a report showing that there are various flaws have reported, professional reasons to revisit the vendor and either renegotiate the price or demand repairs prior to payment. This is neither aggressive nor odd, it is absolutely normal aspect of property dealings and most vendors anticipate it in cases where defects are involved. The report makes what could have otherwise appeared as a personal complaint into a third-party evaluation. It makes the discussion unemotional and substitutes with facts, and that is precisely the type of change that results in productive processes rather than frozen negotiations and hurt feelings of both parties.