Book a pre-settlement building and pest inspection

A building and pest inspection is one of the few chances you get to find expensive problems -- structural defects, termites, moisture -- before you're financially committed to the property, not after.

How to do it

1. Book a licensed building inspector and a separate (or combined) pest inspection -- termite damage in particular is common enough in Australia that it's treated as a standard check, not an optional extra, in most states.
2. Time it within your cooling-off period or building/pest inspection condition, where your contract has one -- some states (and some auction sales) have little or no cooling-off period, so check this with your conveyancer or solicitor before you're committed.
3. Get a written report, and read the full document rather than just the summary -- specific, itemised findings matter more than an overall headline rating.
4. Ask your conveyancer or solicitor to review anything flagged before you proceed, and understand your options (renegotiate, request repairs, or withdraw) if something significant turns up.
5. Factor an older property's age and construction type into your decision to inspect -- timber-framed and older homes carry a materially higher termite and structural risk profile than newer builds.

Common mistakes

• Skipping the inspection on a property bought at auction, where there's often no cooling-off period to fall back on.
• Only reading the inspection summary and missing itemised issues in the body of the report.
• Not accounting for pest inspection as a separate booking from the building inspection.

Related tasks

Pairs with confirming your new home is insured from settlement -- an inspection finding can also affect what an insurer is willing to cover or at what price.