BETWEEN carefully concealed termite infestations, dodgy wiring and rotten foundations, buying a home can be an expensive minefield.
With interest rates and the cost of living soaring, the last thing buyers need is to have to come up with the sort of cash needed to fix a lemon.After all, things such as restumping, repairing termite damage and rewiring generally come in $5000 and $10,000 lots and unbudgeted repair bills can bring financial ruin to buyers already stretched to their limit.

BUYER BEWARE

Compounding the problem is the fact that vendors are often all too familiar with the various defects and, rather than fix them, some decide to simply patch up the symptoms and sell the properties without addressing the problem.

Despite the risks, about 80 per cent of property transactions in Australia take place without buyers first paying for structural or pest inspections, according to property services group Archicentre

"Buying a property is complex and if people purchased a lemon, or a property they could not afford or which had major faults, it could lead to a major personal and financial crisis,"

Archicentre state manager David Hallett said.

Brunswick resident Chris Lee and his partner stretched themselves financially to buy a single-fronted solid brick Victorian home in 2008.

After falling in love with the area and the property's quaint period charms and modern kitchen renovation, the couple overshot their predetermined buying limit by almost $50,000 to pay close to $600,000.

"We had been looking for six months and we thought we had found what we were after so we jumped at it," Mr Lee said.

However, their dream soon turned sour when big cracks appeared on internal walls, revealing the previous owners' attempts to conceal serious structural problems."Before you know it we were up for $25,000 worth of underpinning and the entire house needed restumping, which nearly cost another $10,000,"

Mr Lee said.

ONE IN THREE

According to Archicentre, health and safety risks exist in about one quarter of older Australian homes and expensive hidden defects exist in about one in three properties.

Detecting many defects requires a professional eye and hundreds of building inspection services operate in Victoria, with inspections ranging from $200 to $1000.

Pest inspections generally start at $250.

RESTUMPING

The sound of glasses rattling in the sideboard when you walk through a house is a telltale sign that it needs restumping.

But without a proper inspection of the sub-floor area it is impossible to obtain a clear indication of the state of the stumps.

"Archicentre inspectors have found a range of approaches to try to cover up shonky stumps, including wedging pieces of scrap wood between stumps and bearers, temporary props wedged under bearers sitting on bricks, and stacks of bricks under bearers,"

Mr Hallett said.

Restumping generally costs about $100 a stump in Melbourne, which can set back owners of the typical 150sq m house almost $10,000 if they all need replacing.

ROOFS

The roof is one the most important parts of the home, but it generally receives little attention from house hunters.

With heavy rain, a leaking roof or poorly fitted guttering can have a big impact on the interior of a home.

"Our inspectors have encountered a variety of roof cover-up jobs, the most common being a quick fix for the rusty roof with the roof painted to cover up the rust,"

Mr Hallett said.

He said an inspection of the roof cavity was a must to ensure structural soundness.Costs for fixing and replacing roofs vary greatly depending on the type of roof, but a simple Colourbond roof on a 150sq m house would cost between $6500 and $10,000 to replace.

WIRING

Blackened areas on power points are one of the first signs of faulty wiring. Wiring must be installed by registered electricians to ensure safety.

"Unfortunately some home owners carry out illegal wiring in the belief they can cut costs,"

Mr Hallett said.

"Often the work is carried out in roof spaces or under the floor areas where home buyers, who do not have an inspection, are not able to assess the issue."

Allow between $34 and $52 per sq m for a complete house rewire.

TERMITES

Mr Hallett said vendors hiding termite problems often used the following tricks: strategically placing heavy items to conceal damage; nailing access hatches to the sub-floor and ceiling cavity shut to prevent inspections; placing carpet over affected floorboards; and, skirtings and architraves patched and painted to conceal damage.

"I know of cases where rooms are locked during inspection times apparently because it contained valuables. In fact, the floor had been totally destroyed."

PLUMBING

Plumbing can cause major headaches for buyers of older homes, which sometimes require the total replacement of old, rusted pipes.

People inspecting homes should test the water pressure by turning on a couple of taps at once to see what the pressure is like.

Mr Hallett said inspectors had uncovered makeshift drains, or leaking pipes under homes, that have resulted in damp areas forming a magnet for termites.

For all termite inspection inquiries, call Bruce Gow on 0417 251 911 or email him at bruce@a1pestcontrol.com.au See our termite inspections website for more information