Drawing on over 30 years experience as a builder and property inspector I have no doubt that failing to have the property professionally inspected before you buy is the most expensive mistake I have seen smart people make when buying property. This something I still see happening daily, conservative estimates show that more than 70% of people buying property fail the get a professional independent inspection done. Whether this is due to lack of knowledge that this service is available, submitting to undue sales pressure to sign a contract without a building inspection clause just to make it a more attractive offer. I just don't know.

• If you do any basic research into buying property. Getting the house professionally inspected before you buy is always in the top two or three of the absolutely must do's on every list. Simply because the consequences of failing to get one can mean financial devastation not for you but for your family and you will suffer for years to come, as it has for so many already who made this mistake. "This is another one of those ones that nobody admits to because of the embarrassment of having to admit to such a fundamental mistake".

• If you consider the minimal cost of the inspection. The modest cost far outweighs the consequences. And the property report also delivers "Peace of Mind" and eliminates "Buyers Remorse". Even the top of the range Rolls Royce inspection reports normally work out to be less than 00.1% (that's zero zero point one percent) of your contract price

• If you consider the inconvenience of arranging an inspection, it only takes one phone call and three minutes. Or you can go online and arrange it without even talking to someone. Your independent inspector will take care of it all for you

• If you consider the value of the professional inspection report it is regarded by those that use them regularly as absolutely invaluable. You'll never see a real estate agent or a lawyer buying a property without one because they have seen the disasters first hand.

As professional inspectors we often get called in to look at a property a couple of months after the settlement when the buyer has moved in and starts to notice strange things happening. No I'm not referring to ghost sighting. But these jobs often make up another chapter in my "Book of Horror Stories"

The first question we ask is "what did your inspection report say?"

We regularly hear comments like

• "I didn' think I need an inspection because it's not very old" However when we inspected the home we found the tap penetrations in all the showers had never been sealed and all showers had leaked and caused over $3,800 in repair cost, The external doors had not been correctly painted and now needed replacing, another $1,200 and the site drainage had never been installed as per the plans and now caused flooding of the rumpus room another $7,300 for new carpets and painting after the clean up and $6,000 to install the site drainage and replace the garden and paving.

• "I didn't get an inspection because its been standing for 60 years now, I thought it must be ok" Upon close inspection we found inadequate under floor ventilation, no rising damp protection, and poor drainage had combined to cause rot and fungal attack in timber floor framing, subsidence of numerous internal piers that also caused the uneven floors and plaster cracking throughout the walls, leaving a total repair bill of $18,270

• Or, and this is one of my favourites "I got my dad's mate who is a painter to check it out and he said it looked ok to him" As it turned out dad's mate was also the brother in-law of the person selling the house, sure the painting was ok, but he failed to tell them the wiring was old, damaged and needed replacing, and the roofing was rusted out and will need replacing (a new coat of paint on top doesn't hide the rust on the inside) New wiring $7,800 and New Roof $8,370

• And Another Classic Is...

• "I didn't think I need an inspection because I couldn't see anything wrong when I look at it" Sure it presented very well, but our professional eye for detail noted the back bedroom window was jammed shut and cracked, plaster and brick cracking under the window confirmed the foundations had failed and repairs cost $15,200

• "I didn't get an inspection because the agent said they wouldn't accept a contract with a building clause in it" This should have rang alarm bells but on inspection of the under floor area we found signs of past flooding, rising damp throughout the lower room walls and rotten carpets. Cost of repair $9,770

• "I didn't get an inspection because I was told the vendor had one done when they brought it" As it turns out the vendor brought the property 7 years ago and had ignored the advice of the previous building report to get a timber pest inspection. The house was condemned due to termite damage and had to be demolished at a total loss of $385,000.

I could easily go on and fill pages with more excuses but that doesn't change the fact that these people got caught and are now up for the repair costs when one simple phone call could have avoided all the grief and expense

It Only Takes One Phone Call And Three Minutes, And Can Save You Thousands of Dollars.