Hi Guys, I bought a 1977 built house which was last sold for $390k in 2019 and I paid $650k. After moving in we found the cabinet drawers were broken and the house had plumbing issues which will cost up to $2k to fix. Surely I am not the only one who had these issues. Anyone else want to share their story ?
In our previous house, we discovered that a component of the roof guttering was a tomato sauce bottle with a hole it. It was doing the job, so we just laughed and left it where it was.
Pfft a Bbq sauce bottle is what the pros use
I think that’s fairly common for older places.
My experience is similar. Some things were overlooked when we bought. Others just were up for fixing after a few years.
Finding a decent plumber has proved difficult. I’ve at least found good AC and electrical trades.
O’shea aren’t the cheapest, but they do good work if you’re melbs. We’re collecting a list of trades as well ('61 house)
$2k is a relatively cheap fix.
You can possibly sue your inspector for missing both of those things.
my inspector had a disclaimer that said essentially they can’t be held responsible for things like that. made me wonder what they actually get paid for
Good way to spend $200k fighting to save $2k.
That’s why you get an inspection. Go in eyes open.
Cabinet drawers are nothing, hit up youtube or instructables and fix 'em up or replace. 2k for plumbing isn’t that bad.
Mate you cannot find issues in 5min inspection. I think the whole process needs to be changed but the power is in the hand of real estate agents, not sellers and not buyers. They make and dictate the rules.
…dude, you either got fucking ripped or went cheap.
Our house inspection report is literally 179 pages. It certainly isn’t a ‘five minute’ job.
We just moved into our first house this month, a 1960s asbestos ridden place for 727k. The conveyancer noticed a missing piece of documentation in the section 32 which meant it could be nullified by us right up to settlement if we wanted, which was nice to have in the back pocket.
I wasn’t aware that there’s no legal obligation for the seller to leave the property clean upon sale, so there was a bit of muck to remove.
Otherwise the building inspector did a good job, so we knew what to expect when going in. No hidden surprises yet.
So far no suprises, aside from the cost. $11k to replace the guttering and fascia, $120 to redo the verandah posts that had rotted (DIY with a saw, stirrups and 3 masonry blocks) $1.5 k to replace broken shed frame, $6k for insulation $1.5 k to fell a massive pine 5m from the house, $3k for some rewiring work, and lots and lots of DIY stuff.
Would like solar but that’s a massive job, considering we’re super frugal with power not really a thing high on the list (needs to be on the near by shed which has no power as the house roof gets no sun, accept some minor southern sun as it’s tree shaded.
Bought a 90s build just as the post-covid market explosion was starting.
Missed a rotting wall and carpet from badly installed taps. It was surprisingly straightforward to remedy, cost us under $1k in repairs and new carpet and I suspect saved us tens of thousands on the asking price given the market at the time.
In your purchase agreement, did you agree to buy “as is” or did the seller make a warranty as to the condition of the house? In other words, read your purchase contract. It will say who is responsible for missed issues and reasonable repairs.
We bought our first home a few years ago, the entire shed was clad in asbestos. It’s costing a bit to fix but doing most of it ourselves (not the asbestos removal I hasten to add).
Unfortunately it’s just part of house buying, things get missed.
