Home Inspection Perth - Why you should have one!

When buying a home one decision to make is whether or not to have a professional building inspection undertaken as part of your purchasing process. In order to fully benefit from an inspection it is imperative that you have an appropriate building inspection clause as part of your offer and acceptance. Your real estate agent can assist you with this.

For most people, buying a home will be the single largest purchase ever made. It is not only a place to live but also an investment. When you consider that, in most cases, you can get a professional inspection carried out for less than 0.1% of the purchase price – the question should be why would you not get a building inspection carried out?

A professional building inspection can provide you with three key pieces of information in relation to the home which you are purchasing:

Firstly as one of the main outcomes is to provide confirmation that the home is structurally sound. This includes all structural components of the home – foundations, floors, walls, ceilings and roof structure. If you have any concerns you should raise this with your inspector before hand so that it can be included as part of the inspection process.

Secondly are all the electrics, plumbing and fixed appliances in good working condition. This will include the power points, lights and light switches, exhaust fans, hot water systems, taps, internal drains, toilets, air conditioners, ceiling fans, pool pumps, garage door controllers, and built in kitchen appliances.

Thirdly an inspection will outline the general condition of many aspects of the home. This is extremely useful in understanding what maintenance items require attention, timings for this maintenance and whether they are minor or significant issues. This will help you in forward planning and budgeting for future costs. As part of this process you should obtain a better understanding about your property and what it has or has not. For example insulation, drainage provisions, guttering, smoke alarms, and safety switches.

In Western Australia legislation has recently changed which now makes it mandatory to have two safety switches and a hard wired smoke detector installed prior to any residential property changing ownership. Items such as these as well as any new changes which may take place in the future will be identified as part of a professional building inspection. An example of one of these future items is sustainability.

Sustainability issues in residential housing, until recently, was not a consideration for most home buyers. With power and water costs increasing and the issues facing us in relation to climate change this has now become of interest to an ever increasing number of home buyers. It is now relevant and important to take these issues into consideration when purchasing a home today.

There are many changes, in relation to water and power efficiency, coming into play with regards to both new and existing homes. All new homes built from July 2010 will have to achieve a 6 Star efficiency rating. As of May 2011 there will be mandatory disclosure of power efficiency for all existing homes whenever sold. This will be extended to include water and greenhouse gas emissions after this date.

The federal government is currently funding FREE home sustainability assessments so that you can gain a better understanding of how your home functions, learn suggestions for improvements and save money on your operating costs. To encourage house holders to implement some of the suggestions there is a 4 year interest free Green Loan up to the value of $10,000. This is a great opportunity to be ahead of where the market and the legislation is currently going. To find out more about how you can benefit from this visit www.perthhomesustainabilityassessor.com.au

When purchasing a new home the last thing that anyone wants is any unexpected surprises. A professional building inspection provides peace of mind and certainty about the home you are purchasing. As well as details so that you are better informed about your home which can provides valuable input for any future modifications and improvements you may be considering.

As you can see there are many issues and things to consider when purchasing a new home today. Structural condition, safety, electrics, plumbing, condition of appliances, maintenance items and ever changing requirements and legislation. It is for this very reason that getting a professional pre-purchase building inspection undertaken is now more important than ever.