Buying a new home or rental property is a major investment and most people do a fair amount of research before they make their decision.
However we are always quite surprised at how many clients come to us after they have made a purchase, for a wiring inspection and check of the electrical installation.
This seems a little backwards to us. If there were problems in the electrical wiring of a property you were considering buying, surely it would be better to know before you sign the contract, rather than after?
One of our clients purchased a residential investment property and then asked us to do a wiring inspection for them. We had a look and found the wiring was old rubber cable in very poor condition. It was a fire hazard and needed an urgent rewire, at a cost of around $6,000.
This wasn’t in their budget and totally threw out their careful projections on rental returns and costs.
Had they been prepared to spend $150 on a pre-purchase electrical inspection, with a written report, we could have warned them of the problems.
They would have had the choice to keep looking for another property or renegotiate the price based on the cost of repairs required.
This doesn’t just apply to old properties. Even new properties can have cheap, dodgy or downright dangerous electrical installations, due to poor workmanship and cutting corners to save costs.
If you are seriously considering a particular property you should also consider getting an inspection and electrical condition report. Spending a few bucks first could save you thousands later on.
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