There is no doubt that the upfront cost of purchasing a property can be expensive, especially taking into account the additional legal costs and taxes that are often involved. What many people don't realise however is that the various repairs that a property could require may make a purchase quite expensive in the future.
According to Archicentre, the building advisory service of the Australian Institute of Architects, up to 75 per cent of the thousands of people buying a property each week in Australia are flying blind on their financial future. Ian Agnew, Architecture State Manager Queensland, said that the vast majority of properties are purchased without any independent inspection.
"The financial reality of having purchased a LEMON can kick in dramatically when people move in and discover a range of issues in their new home which can include the need to restump the property, deal with termites, structural faults or expensive plumbing or wiring replacement as an urgent safety issue," commented Mr Agnew.
Mr Agnew continued on to say that the usual approach to funding repairs is to extend a mortgage, which can add tens of thousands of dollars to the cost of repairs when interest is added.
When you've found a property that you love, it can be quite hard to step away from it even if you know that it has issues that could prove to be costly in the future. Having said this, it is incredibly important to have a property inspection conducted well before the auction date and signing of contracts to arm yourself with all of the available information needed to make an educated decision.
These investigations have the potential to save you from having to make significant further outlays by ensuring you are aware of major faults in properties of interest that could prove expensive to fix.
In addition, it is important to ensure you choose a properly qualified and experienced professional to carry out such pre-purchase inspections. If you require guidance as to an appropriate company to hire, it can often be of value to ask your real estate agent to recommend a company they (or other clients) have previously worked with successfully.
For any further information about conducting a pre-purchase inspection on a property of interest, please don't hesitate to contact one of the hundreds of Century 21 agencies around Australia.