Independent Advice for Buyers, Sellers and Property Investors

Buying a property is probably the biggest financial transaction that most people will ever enter into.  But how do you ensure that the property is safe to buy?  A recent example shows what not to do.

Sarah and Andrew had been going to open homes for months.  Finally they found a property which they instantly fell in love with. They had been looking for so long, and were worried that someone else would buy it, so they put in an unconditional offer on the spot. 

Unfortunately the property had been renovated by a prior owner who had not obtained the required building consent for the addition of an en-suite to the master bedroom.  This work involved plumbing, electrical work for the fan and heater and construction of the en-suite itself.

If only Sarah and Andrew had been more careful and had the property thoroughly checked out before signing an unconditional agreement, they would likely have discovered the missing building consent.  That way they may have been able to make their offer conditional on the Seller taking the necessary steps to remedy the situation before being bound to settle.