First home buyer- how many issues in builders report to expect

[JennG]

Hi there

First time home buyer, thrown right in the deep end, so please forgive any ignorance.

We found a house we liked in Wellington and made an offer. The builders report came back with quite a few medium size external issues- a bit on the roof, a bit on the sub floor, a few weathertight issues (but no real moisture issues yet). All in all these total nearly 30k - so says the builders report.

We have asked for a discount on the sale price and have worked out a way to have some cash on settlement day with the broker.
Our house buying friends mostly tell us to run. Builder friends are more confident. And real estate agents have told me that builders reports are much too detailed now as they are at risk of being sued and every house will have sizable issues like that.

We're not quite sure who to believe. We are first home buyers with no real DIY skills, but I feel capable we could arrange tradies etc.

I guess I want to know if having these types of issues are normal and if builders reports really are too nit-picky these days?

Cheers

[Bob Kane]

How old is the house?
If it's brand new with these issues - not good.
If it's 100 years old - quite normal to have a few issues.
Try getting a $30k discount if you can.

[Aston]

Well I agree that some building inspection companies can be a little OTT at times. This is understandable, they need to protect themselves. How old is the house? What type of exterior cladding is on the house? If the house is one of those 90's style "leaky homes" with monolithic/plaster cladding, my personal opinion would be to run. There may be "no real moisture issues yet" but there will be and it is likely to cost a lot more than $30,000 to remedy.

[kiwibean]

Who is the inspector, there is one well known inspector in wgtn that is very very harsh when it comes to reports

[Stevegoodey]

You also have to look at if the repairs add any aditional actual value to the property.

Sometimes they constitute a like for like repair but often the repairs are required maintenance that could help bump up the valuation too.

[JennG]

Whoops it would have helped to say the age. A 1960's home. Inspector was check homes.
Agent has now said there are multiple other parties interested ie we better accept their proposed 10k discount. I can't help but feel he's playing on our naiveté

This is an interesting process. Thanks for your replies

[Maccachic]

Whoops it would have helped to say the age. A 1960's home. Inspector was check homes.
Agent has now said there are multiple other parties interested ie we better accept their proposed 10k discount. I can't help but feel he's playing on our naiveté

This is an interesting process. Thanks for your replies

Interested could just mean they had a few extra views on trademe Pay what its worth to you don't be tricked into jumping the gun and regretting later because the RE is trying to pressure you.

Are the issues comparing it to current new build standards?

[alienara]

Hey mate,

Welcome to home buying, it's an exciting process no doubt. We've bought a couple of places ourselves so I know exactly where you're at.

With a builder's report, the most important things to look out for is whether or not there are major issues. If something can be fixed easily and not going to cost you an arm and a leg (eg: recladding the whole house / demolishing the house and rebuilding it again) you should be okay. My main concern would your mindset right now. Are you prepared to walk? I would go for the 30k reduction because that's going to come out of my own pocket to repair the house and if the vendors are unwilling to budge, I will tell them that I'm prepared to walk.

Don't fall into the trap of being a heart buyer.

Without actually seeing what the report says, it's a little hard to judge what these issues are but if you've shown them to builder mates and they know what's involved and what the worst case scenarios are, then I would listen to them but always bear in mind the worst case scenario if they have to peel back the walls.