Buying a home is one of the biggest financial decisions that most people will make in their life. Even if you are happy with the purchase price of your new home, you may be tempted to forgo some of the costs that come with buying a house, such as a building inspection.

The idea of saving a couple of hundred dollars by not getting a building inspection is enticing, but it could cost you thousands down the road if a missed issue does arise.

We spoke to Owner/Operator of Impact Building Inspections Adelaide & Precision Pest Control SA, Alan Balshaw to get his professional take on the building inspection process and why they are important.

“We would definitely recommend getting building inspections for all types of properties, whether it’s a straight forward family home, a three or four-bedroom property or a townhouse or unit,” Alan says.

“A building inspection keeps the client in the know. It's about knowing what they're going into when they purchase the house, what defects are in there and what they have to look out to fix before moving in and moving forward, whether it's major or minor,” he says.

Alan stresses the importance of being organised with a building inspection, as time during the transaction process is an important factor, especially for auction sales. The building inspection process is relatively quick with most companies offering same day turn arounds once booked in, with a standard family home costing around $550 per inspection including termite and pest checks.

“The most common issues that arise are moisture in shower bays and in and around wet areas for the fact that they do get used on a daily basis, this goes for outside as well, rising moisture and levels of footpaths are a common defect found,” says Alan.

We also spoke to one of our Sales Partners Nicole Neil to get her take on building inspections. Nicole encourages researching building inspectors and taking into account their experience and qualifications before commencing the inspection process for your new home.

“It’s really important as a purchaser to align yourself with a building inspector that’s experienced in all aspects of housing, a building inspector needs to be able to take into consideration issues that may arise in a property built in say 1910 verses a newly built property and distinguish between the two,” she says.

“With any issues that do arise post property inspection, it’s important to ask your building inspector, is it common? When does it need to be addressed? What are the costs associated with the issue? It’s also really important to sit down with your building inspector and talk through any issues, as some issues may be completely normal for that particular era of home,” says Nicole.

If you are looking for further information on building inspections to help you with your decision, we suggest visiting the Real Estate Institute of Australia (REISA) website here. You can also find out more about Alan and his business Precision Building & Pest Inspections here.