Using an unqualified house assessor is like putting your life savings on the roulette wheel at a Casino.
Property buyers can gamble their life savings without even knowing, through the use of unqualified house inspectors for pre-purchase property assessments. Other than in Queensland, house inspectors in Australia are not legally required to be qualified, registered or insured which can expose home buyers to significant financial risks.
Purchasing a home based on poor advice can be as bad as receiving no advice and can have a major financial impact and badly affect the buyer’s standard of living, their business or the funding of their retirement.
The median house price around the country is in the order of half a million dollars and many cost far more than this so it’s critical to get an assessment report prepared by an appropriately qualified person – an architect.
People being offered a low-cost building assessment should be very wary…….do they have legal protection if they discover major building faults that the inspector did not pick up?……
Questions to be asked before engaging anyone to carry out a pre-purchase property assessment should include:
- What are the qualifications of the person undertaking the report?
- Are they appropriately registered?
- Do they carry professional indemnity insurance?
- How much is the insurance cover? (Ask to see the policy document).
- Is the assessment compliant with Australian Standards? (Vital for any legal disputes).
- Are they associated with the vendor, vendor’s agent or solicitor?
- What will the report cover? (Get a copy of a written report).
- It is also important to check out property assessment companies to ensure they are reputable and have specialist experience in the property assessment field before getting a quote ……. or you can have the piece of mind by calling Archicentre Australia.
