Home Inspections

While helping a friend to source for a reliable building inspector for a house she wants to purchase, I came across this service provider.

I liked the site's professional layout and how the company uses the latest technology (thermal imaging and...dogs!) to detect termites.

Especially handy are the downloadable sample reports and the video of trained beagles sniffing out termite nests.

A bit of background info for those thinking of buying property in Australia...

When you want to buy a house in Australia, one of the conditions of the contract that you would try to include is "Subject to satisfactory pest and building inspection".

This is because termites are a common problem here, affecting as many as one in three houses.

A clause like this protects you, the buyer, and gives you a chance to exit the contract legally.

Most people are not trained to detect structural or other defects in a building. This is a skill only a qualified building inspector has.

So it pays to hire experts to physically inspect the house you want to buy and to submit a written report with their findings and recommendations.

When you compare the cost (about $400 for an inspection) to the hundreds of thousands of dollars at stake, it's really not too much to pay for peace of mind.

You can then use the findings to decide whether you want to proceed with the purchase and if so, whether any of the adverse findings can be turned into a negotiating chip in your favour.