Brisbane Pre Purchase Inspection

Hi guys,

Long time reader, first time poster.

I'm interested in purchasing a property in Chermside in Brisbane. I'm based in Sydney however and I'm unable to get up to Brissy to take a look.

I'm not after a full building and pest report at this stage just after someone to take a few photos and give me some feedback on the overall condition.

if anyone is bored and on holidays and has a spare half an hour or knows of any companies who will go out and take a look for me it would be greatly appreciated if you could pass on their details.

Thanks and happy new year!

 

FH Welcome.

Is it open for inspection?

PS don't give out the address to the vultures!

 

Best option is to contact a local property manager in the area - most are happy to help and give some good impartial advice. A good property manager who is willing to do this usually gets my business for managing the property

 

Can't make a mini holiday out of it? flights and hire cars are cheap, some excellent restaurants in Brisvegas, I have had a great time with 4 visits over the last 6 months in the lead up to my last purchase. I have way too much fun.

On a pest and building report, I used the last one ($265 per house cost) to pull $5k out as an allowance for deficits, and special conditions to have thousands of dollars work done, and pulled out another $2k on settlement for the vendor failing to meet the special conditions.... Pretty good return on the report. I skipped them for 9 purchases after having a terrible experience with my first purchase at 21 years.... Now I see their value! For the fee, get them to send images and a pest and building report....

For this last one, I used a property manager who has been my person on the ground, coordinating trades, uploading images and video to drop box, getting me good deals too....so from the time it went unconditional 85% -90% of the effort to get the dwellings ready has been done by the property manager, before a dollar of rent was earned. I would use the agent again for this reason alone!

It sounds like you are still deciding if you should buy. For the money, if you can manage a couple of days away, I would go to the property every time.

 

This is a common request and although a lot of PMs will oblige (by virtue of their own lack of knowledge of why and what a pre-settlement inspection is), it's not a good idea.

Investors often forget that a pre-settlement inspection is to ensure any terms and special conditions of the contract have been satisfied and that it's still in the same condition it was when first inspected (if it was inspected). Most PMs won't have previously seen the property for any comparison, will have no idea of your buying process, what is in the contract and even if they have, they are not qualified to provide contract advice, nor should they be putting themselves in the precarious position of fulfilling a role they are not qualified to fulfill. Unfortunately, many will unknowingly put themselves into a risky position by doing so.

There are professional companies you can pay to do this for you and they will ask for a copy of the contract to ensure the appropriate items are checked. You will then have recourse if anything is subsequently found to not be in order post-settlement.

Just having someone stroll around the property to make sure the door hasn't fallen off or there are no holes in the walls is fine, but it's not really a pre-settlement inspection in the true sense.

 

Morning. We have a premium conveyancing offering that is usually used for buyers of high end property in the $2m plus range. One of our solicitors can go to the initial inspection, organise and attend the building and pest inspection, the pre-settlement inspection, organise a property manager, connect utilities (if PPOR) etc. This is a high end service though so it would be cheaper to fly up yourself. (You are looking at $4,825 including the above, searches and the conveyance itself.)

 

I think the OP was only after an initial inspection in which event having a property manager go through is a great way to screen properties and gain an understanding of the improvements needed to maximise rental return. However, you make some great points about pre-settlement inspections that certainly need a different level of due dilligence to protect your investment by ensuring you are getting what you paid for.

 

@Whitecat inspected for me when I was looking. Reach out to him also a great guy.

 

Yes, you’re right. For some reason I read it as pre-settlement. Have a PM inspect away! Although I personally wouldn’t trust most PMs to do any sort of purchase inspection upon which I might be making large financial decisions use a buyer’s agent...