First home buyer considers options after seeing home’s ‘defect list’

A first home buyer in Australia is getting cold feet after a building inspection report revealed a lengthy list of safety and defect concerns.

The prospective buyer revealed in a post online they had recently put an offer in on a 1940s home that has some recent additions to it.

The buyer did not specify where they or the property was located in Australia, but noted they were nervous after reading the building and pest inspection report with 29 points of concern.

“Would this list of hazards and defects make you walk away? If not, what are the most urgent things to fix and how much do you think they’ll cost?” they wrote in a post to Reddit yesterday.

“The report says there might be a leaking roof and that restumping could be needed under two parts of the house (kitchen and living room).”

Safety concerns are listed about the roof cavity, front fascia, carport and shed. Among the major defects are an east retaining wall and yard. 

“I’m a first home buyer going solo. I’ll only have about 15k left in my pocket after I purchase this property. I earn about 115k and my student loan should be fully paid by July,” the prospective buyer wrote.

They also shared that outside any building and repair costs, they need to furnish the home.

“I’m OK with living on ramen for a while and putting most or all of my income towards the house for a few years, but don’t want to buy a lemon,” they wrote.

They then asked for any advice as to whether they are “biting off more than I can chew”.

The response was near immediate, with one social media user not mixing words.

“Yes, the answer is yes,” one person wrote.

“Sorry, this house is uninhabitable,” a second person wrote.

“That’s a lemon, run,” another person shared.

While others took a more practical approach.

“Ask the guy that did the building inspection about the findings of their inspection – they’ve been n seen, we haven’t,” a second person wrote.

“That’s a very long list, I would probably run. You can call the guy who did your building and pest and he should be able to give you a ballpark figure. If you do still go ahead, get a few quotes for the more expensive items and negotiate a large discount,” yet another wrote.

READ MORE: First home buyer guide: everything you need to know about your first house purchase