Inspecting properties
Inspect systematically before emotion and urgency take over
Prepare for open homes, record what you observe, understand when a professional inspection is needed, and carry unresolved questions into due diligence before making an unconditional offer.
Three different processes
This hub keeps them separate rather than blending them into one undifferentiated "inspection".
1. Your own inspection
What you observe at an open home or private viewing — systematic, but not a substitute for professional expertise.
2. Professional inspections
Building, pest and specialist inspections by a qualified, insured practitioner, engaged before you sign unconditionally.
3. Pre-settlement inspection
The final walkthrough you're entitled to in the week before settlement — see the settlement guide.
The eight-stage inspection pathway
Prepare, observe, record, question, escalate, verify — in eight concrete stages, each opening its own guide.
Guides
The complete guide to inspecting a property
The buyer's own inspection, the professional building and pest report, and the final pre-settlement check — three different processes, one systematic approach.
Preparing for an inspection
What to bring, when to visit, and why more than one visit at different times reveals more than one look.
Exterior and site
Drainage, roofline, cracking, retaining walls and fencing — what a visible condition can and can't tell you.
Interior and wet areas
Layout, ventilation, signs of recent repairs, and the limits of a visual check in bathrooms and kitchens.
Choosing a building inspector
Registration, insurance, scope and exclusions — what to confirm before you engage one.
Reading a building and pest inspection report
An eleven-point framework for reading a professional report properly, not just skimming the summary.
When to obtain a specialist property inspection
Asbestos and electrical in depth, plus a full referral table for structural, plumbing, surveying, pool and cladding specialists.
Apartments and common property
Inspecting your own lot is only part of it — what to check in the building and the owners corporation's own records.
Recording evidence and questions to ask the agent
A contemporaneous record beats memory — and why an agent's answer isn't independent confirmation of a fact.
From inspection to due diligence
The specific document or authority record each common physical observation should trigger.
When to walk away after a property inspection
Five real decisions, and when walking away is genuinely reasonable, not just cautious.
Already published, linked not duplicated
These already exist as their own real, sourced pages rather than being rebuilt here.
Building & pest inspections: what they check
What a professional building and pest inspection covers against the Australian Standards, and what it doesn't.
GuideSettlement
The pre-settlement inspection you're entitled to, and what "same condition as sold" means.