What’s involved in a building and pest inspection, is it expensive and how much does it cost, and is it really that important to get a building and pest inspection done when you buy a property?

Buying a home or investment property will be one of the biggest investments most of us will ever make.

And yet, some people are willing to let it all come crumbling down because they feel as though they don’t to get a building and pest inspection done.

Termites are those nasty little pests that can carry on undetected for months or even years, creating havoc with the foundations of your building before you even figure out that they’re even there. The average repair cost for termite damage to a house is roughly $7,000, although we’ve all heard horror stories when homeowners have been charged up to tens of thousands of dollars to rectify a termite problem.

So, when you’re in the market to buy, it makes total sense to have a building and pest inspections by an expert as having piece of mind that the property that you are going to buy little to none defects, if it does it will help you negotiate a better price or give you the opportunity to walk away.

Dennis from PestFree stated “If you’re the buyer, a building and pest inspection can give you some understanding of whether it’s a good buy or whether there are a few risks to the home”

Having a building and pest inspection is an investment of a few hundred dollars – depending on where you are, a combined building and pest inspection will cost roughly $300-$600 ¬– you’ll not only gain peace of mind, but you may also uncover valuable information to help you negotiate the purchase price.

This was precisely the case for first-time property investor Jenny from Balmain, who bought a Three-bedroom house earlier this year.

“I was so happy when I made an offer and it was accepted, but the building and pest inspection revealed evidence of current termite damage in a tree stump, and previous termite damage in the garage ceiling,” Jenny says.

A quick phone conversation with the building and pest inspectors confirmed that the issues weren’t too much of a concern, and were in fact quite common of buildings of that age.

As a result of the reports, however, Jenny was able to negotiate a full termite treatment plan and removal of the infected tree stump.

In total, work to the value of $4,000 was carried out on the property, with the bill picked up by the vendor!

Jenny states “That getting a building and pest inspection was the best decision she has made, as it has save you a couple of thousand dollars”.