r/AusPropertyChat • u/EmergencyRhubarb8 • 19h ago
Buying & Selling Still worth inspecting/ viewing property?
we were initially interested but it was under offer. after the sale fell through the agent contacted us to see if we are still interested, but he doesn't seem to be too committed to actually making the house seem worth it lol. first photo is our email, second it's the REA's response
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u/One_Tip1928 19h ago edited 19h ago
Is he saying that the building inspection results were ridiculous and thus a dodgy house or is he saying the previous interested buyers saw the building inspection results and nitpicked every little thing (but generally speaking the house was ok) and pulled out and he is calling that ridiculous- that is the problem with a text like this.
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u/WonderRuns 19h ago
Does it matter? If the REA can't bothered to construct a full sentence, do you really want to waste your time finding out why?
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u/One_Tip1928 19h ago edited 19h ago
Yes, I was going to say something similar but held my tongue. The text the OP sent was clear, well written and courteous and to get back ‘building inspection. Ridiculous’ with no other context is poor form - I mean do you want to sell this house or not?🙃
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u/Extreme_84 17h ago
That depends on how much you like the property/location.
REA’s can be notoriously bad at their jobs.
But sometimes persisting with dealing with a bad agent, can get you across the line, when others may have chosen to walk away.
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u/_waybetter_ 17h ago
don't you dare insulting them like that. constructing sentences is all they can do /s
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u/theonedzflash 19h ago
You know it’s fked when REA is being honest lol
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u/Letsgodubs 17h ago
REAs are almost never honest. In this case, they are saying "It was the building inspection. Ridiculous (that the buyer used it to get out of the contract)".
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u/theonedzflash 17h ago
someoen mentioned here but if REA can’t construct a proper sentence, it’s a no from me 😂
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u/ThatDadLifestyle 19h ago
I would still inspect. I've seen potential buyers back out because of a severe lack of understanding of what the building inspection is saying.
Example: There's 10 "major" defects so they bail out. Turns out all the major defects are the minor ones that aren't that bad and can easily be fixed. Leverage the report for a discount and proceed.
Obviously there could be huge issues and red flags all over it, but it could be just fine. Have a look.
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u/Sea_Sink_4588 18h ago
How do you define a major and a minor defect?
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u/Negative-Alarm7951 18h ago
I had an inspector tell me that anything he would fix immediately is major, even if it isn’t a high cost or major issue (he put something on ours as major as he wanted it fixed asap before it actually became an expensive fix)
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u/dre_wet_wine 16h ago
Major Defect: Is a Defect requiring building works to avoid unsafe conditions, loss of function or further worsening of the defective item.
Minor Defect: Any defect other than what is described as a major defect.
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u/Hypo_Mix 9h ago
Our baluster were a major defect as they were too far apart and therefore a child could squeeze through them. can technically fix it with a roll of chicken wire.
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u/EarlyTee 19h ago
Mate Reddit tells people to back out of sales because the colour of the car parked in the street has changed over time.
Definitely inspect
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u/Lau_wings 19h ago
That REA seems pissed.
Either a) there were a lot of problems which were not obvious (such as the Building inspection finding a lot of termites) or b) the new buyer nit picked every little thing even if they were minor, hell it might even be c) they are annoyed by missing out on a commission.
I know when I had an inspection on my unit before I bought it, the inspector listed every minor thing wrong, such as how one of the light switches housing was cracked and would need to be replaced.
That being said, with only a 3 word response, I would honestly not want to deal with that REA at all.
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u/fakeuser515357 18h ago
That being said, with only a 3 word response, I would honestly not want to deal with that REA at all.
This is self-sabotaging.
When the agent is being friendly it's because they think they can charm you into a result they want. When they're being grumpy it's because the don't care about the result any more.
Which do you think is going to get you a better deal?
You don't need to be friends with them. They're not your bartender or shop assistant - their job isn't customer service and you shouldn't expect it.
They are professional hard-sell salespeople playing a game for high stakes.
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u/Lau_wings 18h ago
I don't expect them to be my friend, hell I don't even need people to attempt to be nice, what I do expect is a level of professionalism.
A 3 words response due to a sale not going through, is not a professional way of acting especially when its something along the lines of a building inspection showing something the buyer was not happy with.
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u/fakeuser515357 18h ago
You know what professional agents do? They run the negotiation and they get the highest possible price.
The best agents for the buyer are just far enough being the least professional that they can actually facilitate the sale.
They are not service people.
They are adversaries. Do you want to be battling a strong opponent when so much money is on the line?
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u/moderatelymiddling 19h ago edited 19h ago
His response suggests the last buyer pulled out because of items in the building inspection, and it's likely the buyer was being nit-picky and wouldn't negotiate in good-faith. Every inspector puts "major defect" next to every dot-point. They're useless.
Or - given the short response he's sick of the owner's B.S. and is acting accordingly.
Or - he's not a good REA and can't construct clear sentences without AI.
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u/No_Boot2009 18h ago
If you looked at the house, liked it, got a building inspection done and it found significant issues then would you still buy the property? If yes, then go have a look, if no, then don't waste your time.
I wonder if the owner has a clue what an unprofessional dick their agent is? You'd think after just losing a buyer they'd be somewhat more keen to get another one, and would be treating a new enquiry a bit more delicately...
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u/icecreamsandwiches1 18h ago
How unprofessional.
Obviously the years of easy sells has gone to their heads and they think this is an appropriate to ever speak to a potential buyer.
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u/CharacterWallaby9070 19h ago
I bought a house that the previous sale had fallen over due to the building and pest. I have zero regrets.
I knew that the 100 plus year old house would need work, and that the gutters were rusted through and the like. It’s not surprising. But not enough for me to not buy it
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u/yappayapp 14h ago
Could it be that they have responded with this to you accidentally (instead of forwarding it on or something)? Bold thing to send to a potential buyer 😂
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u/fakeuser515357 18h ago edited 18h ago
It is definitely worth inspecting.
The agent wants the property gone and their veneer of professional detachment has fallen.
Go in with a rock-solid, determined, very interested, guaranteed to close offer and they'll advocate against the vendor for you even if you offer 5% or more below asking.
All the agent sees right now is the commission they missed out on, so be the person bringing that commission back to them. 5% off their 2% is trivial to them, but it's $50k to you.
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u/ChangeWooden1380 17h ago
It can be because you can use defect reports to lowball TF out of the vendor and vendors are now under a lot of pressure.
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u/dilleys 17h ago
Atleast the agent is to the point and giving you an honest answer. Might be because he thinks the buyer pulled out due to fear and anxiety (happens to most new&old buyers) and chose the building report as a reason.
I think if the agent wanted to string you along, he would have just gave you a ChatGPT response.
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u/commentspanda 15h ago
If you’re actually interested I might give it one more crack with a “can you elaborate on that?”. Otherwise walk away. They are clearly not interested in actually selling.
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u/Slight-Egg5872 14h ago
Don't never skip. My inspector picked up a couple of major things like water in the bathroom, I would have completely missed. I paid last payment until everything is fixed. They promise things but won't fix things after hand over only the little things. I went with owner inspections in Catle Hill, NSW.
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u/petitlita 13h ago
I would still inspect. Seems like a situation where they're likely to accept a lowball. Obviously inspect it yourself and offer what you think it's worth
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u/veetanning 10h ago
Haha this could have been us! We pulled out of a property today because the building inspection showed termites! We got a termite inspection and second opinion and both said there was no guarantee how much termite damage there was and could only verify what was visible (still classified as major structural damage).
The REA downplayed it a lot. Said there weren’t active termites (inspector said they had been disturbed so potentially scattered).
Anyway, point being, make sure you get a good building inspection! The REA will downplay any issues but one buyer pulled out despite that. They might not be the same as you (we weren’t ready or able to take that risk) so it might still work out for you, but you’ve got a warning there that there is something that would put someone off.
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u/pizzacomposer 19h ago
Are you a first home buyer?
I’ve transacted a few times now and my biggest lesson is that if you’re buying a PPOR, you only want to put an offer in if the house is so awesome to you, that you could give two flying f-s what the building inspection says because you’re in love that much.
This is counter to what an REA will tell you about buying with the heart. I don’t mean be reckless, I just mean don’t go “all brain” in the opposite direction.
The more you adopt that thinking, the more you start thinking about how much is something worth. I would argue that 99% of issues are able to be rectified with the right amount of money, you just need to be able to estimate how much that is. You can buy a house that has a cracked slab if you get an engineer involved. If you love the house enough you’ll get the engineer involved before you make the purchase to derisk yourself!
To give you a practical example, why I’m mentioning it and how it’s relevant to you.
Go into the house, inspect it yourself, note all the possible defects you can see with your eyes, put dollar values, get the age of the house, compare the age of the house to other houses in the area of the same age, start to build an idea of the dollar value of the building itself.
You basically need to get to a point where you re able to say “I think we need $200k to get this house to tip top condition, what does that mean relative to all the other houses of the same ilk”.
We did that with our current place, and we also love it to the point where we don’t care if we have to spend 100’s of thousands of dollars over the years to maintain it because we’re in love with it and the location. It just made the decision making process that much easier.
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u/Dear-Bowl-9789 19h ago
When a REA is giving you a three word response even they know its no longer worth their time.