A lovely lady engaged me to do a pre purchase inspection on a home she intended to buy. She had been through it and it looked all fine but she wanted a second opinion. She also explained that in the past she had to do significant repairs and maintenance to her home and that is what she wanted to avoid this time.
I had inspected the home and this is what I had to say:
“This older home has not aged well and significant movement to walls and floors due to ground movement has resulted in uneven floors, walls out of plumb and generally a condition that cannot be economically fixed. Although the home is sound and safe for occupation it will always remain “not quite right”. Mature trees have probably contributed to house damage as has excessive watering of the garden bed (resulting in efflorescence salts eroding mortar and causing stains). that has probably caused stump foundation softness resulting in internal wall subsidence in the lounge room/kitchen.
Recommended significant works: (as preventative maintenance)
- 1. Remove mature trees and garden bed in front of the lounge room.
- 2. Renew stormwater drainage.
- 3. Install drainage pit at the front entry in the low spot.
- 4. Demolish and remove cracked and uneven paving and driveways.
- 5. Restump sunken wall in the lounge room.
- 6. Underpin front corner of the bedroom.
- 7. Repair brickwork where cracked or out of vertical.
Refer to general maintenance list in this report.”
Faced with repairs and maintenance that she definitely did not want, she walked away. About two weeks later she called me because she found another property. I reported:
“Additional Comments: This dwelling has no significant reportable defects.
Minor defects:
- Patchy and partly missing ceiling insulation.
- Two slipped roof tiles.
- Damaged sliding door head to the rear.
- Check that the pergola has been constructed with a Building Permit.”
That was good enough and she purchased a much better home.
There you go, some stories do have happy endings!
