Purchasing a house is a commercial transaction that involves transferring huge amounts of money between parties. For home buyers, it's vitally important to exercise due diligence before financially committing to any offer. 

Having a pre-purchase building inspection carried out on a house you're considering buying can help you make an informed purchase decision on that property. Here's why. 

Pinpointing Major Defects in a House

It's perfectly normal for defects to occur in existing homes over time. These defects are generally classified as either minor or major defects. Minor defects refer to building imperfections, such as paint deterioration on exterior walls, which may be unpleasant to look at but don't affect the structural integrity of the home. 

Major defects, on the other hand, are structural defects to a house that make the property a safety hazard. Some examples of structural damage to a house include:

• Rotting timber
• Rising damp
• Cracks in walls
• Uneven floors
• Sagging roof

Building inspectors can disclose these defects to help you make an informed purchase decision on a property.

Revealing the Extent of Repair Work Required

If you're still interested in buying a house after knowing the building defects that it has, it's a clever move to find out how much it would cost to fix those defects. House repair costs can run into several thousand or millions of dollars, depending on the size and value of the property you're buying.

Having a house inspection done before financially committing yourself to an offer will help you know the extra money you'll need to spend fixing the property.

Boosting Your Power in Negotiations

Price negotiations are a critical part of the home purchase process. As a prospective home buyer, you need to put your best foot forward because you're the one who'll be parting with their cash.

A building inspection report is an important tool for your price negotiations. If your inspection report reveals some serious structural defects that the seller of a house didn't disclose, you can use this information to haggle over the asking price of the property.

Whether the seller agrees to fix the issues themselves or to reduce their asking price by an amount equivalent to the cost of building repair, you'll come out of the negotiation table a winner.

Don't let the thrill of owning a home ultimately cost you dollars. Get a pre-purchase inspection done to ensure you make a good financial decision on the home you want to purchase. Reach out to a building inspection service for more information.