Pest guide · Buying a home

Pre-Purchase Pest Inspections on the Central Coast

If you're about to spend a heap of money on a house, you want to know what you're actually buying.

A fresh coat of paint, new flooring and a tidy backyard can make a place look great at an open home.

What you can't see so easily is what's happening underneath the house, inside accessible roof areas, around wet areas or behind that nice renovation.

That's where a pre-purchase pest inspection earns its keep.

If you're already working towards exchange or another deadline, get the inspection organised early enough that you've actually got time to deal with anything that comes up.

Building Inspection and Pest Inspection Aren't the Same Thing

This catches plenty of buyers out.

A building inspection looks at the overall condition of the building.

A timber pest inspection is focused on termites and other timber pests, visible damage and the conditions around the property that could lead to trouble.

They're different inspections.

Before assuming everything has been checked, make sure you know exactly what you've booked.

What Gets Checked?

A proper timber pest inspection looks beyond the rooms you walked through at the open home.

Depending on access, areas checked can include:

• underneath the house
• roof space
• inside the home
• exterior walls
• gardens around the building
• retaining walls
• timber structures around the property

The inspection is looking for active or previous termite activity, damaged timber and things that can make a property more attractive to termites.

That includes moisture, leaking plumbing, poor drainage, bad ventilation and timber sitting against the ground.

Sometimes those little clues tell you just as much as finding a live termite.

The Stuff Buyers Often Don't Notice

This is where actually looking around the property properly matters.

A house can be beautifully renovated inside and still have an old damp subfloor underneath it.

New flooring can look perfect while access below the house is extremely tight.

A landscaped backyard might look great but have garden beds or soil built high against the house.

An old timber retaining wall five metres away might look like part of the garden until you realise there's termite activity in it.

None of those things automatically mean the house has a major problem.

But they're exactly the sort of things worth knowing about before you own it.

It's also why a pest inspection shouldn't just be somebody walking around inside for ten minutes ticking boxes.

Can Every Part of the House Be Checked?

No.

And if somebody tells you they can see absolutely everything in a finished house, take that with a grain of salt.

A pre-purchase inspection is non-destructive.

Nobody is ripping walls apart, lifting floorboards or pulling somebody else's kitchen out before you buy the place.

Some areas can also be physically inaccessible.

Central Coast homes can have extremely low subfloors, enclosed sections, extensions built over older parts of the house and plenty of awkward spots.

If an area can't be properly inspected, that should be made clear.

Knowing what couldn't be checked is just as important as knowing what could.

Where Robuck Comes In

Ultra Pest & Termites also works with Robuck, the only termite detection dog on the Central Coast.

He can be particularly useful on pre-purchase inspections because plenty of homes aren't straightforward to check visually.

Slab-on-ground homes, tight subfloors, acreage properties and heavily treed blocks can all present different challenges.

Robuck doesn't replace a proper inspection.

He provides another way of investigating for termite activity where sight alone may not tell the whole story.

What If Termites Are Found?

Finding termites doesn't automatically mean you should walk away from the house.

It also doesn't mean you should ignore it.

You first need to understand:

• whether the activity is current
• where it has been found
• how much visible damage there is
• whether further investigation is needed
• what treatment or repairs may be involved

Once you know that, you've got something useful to work with.

Some buyers proceed.

Some renegotiate.

Some decide they don't want the headache and move on.

There's no one answer for every house.

The whole point of doing the inspection before you buy is to make that decision with your eyes open.

What About Brick Homes?

Brick doesn't mean termite-proof.

A brick home can still have timber framing, roof timbers, skirting boards, door frames, cabinetry and plenty of other material termites will happily get into.

The same applies to slab homes.

Termites don't need your whole house to be made out of timber.

They just need a way in.

What Should Be in the Report?

You shouldn't need to be a pest technician to understand it.

A useful report should tell you:

• what was inspected
• what couldn't be accessed
• what was found
• where it was found
• whether there are conditions increasing the risk
• what should happen next

Photos are useful where they help explain the issue.

The important part is that you can actually understand what the findings mean for the house you're thinking about buying.

Central Coast Homes Aren't All the Same

A place near Terrigal can have a completely different set of issues to a house around Ourimbah or Wyong.

You've got coastal moisture, bushland blocks, older homes, slab houses, raised houses, steep blocks and old retaining walls all across the Coast.

That's why the whole property matters.

Not just the bit that looked good in the real estate photos.

Buying a Property on the Central Coast?

If you're buying around Gosford, Erina, Terrigal, Kincumber, Tuggerah, Wyong or elsewhere on the Central Coast, get the timber pest inspection sorted before you're backed into a corner by your deadline.

If something comes up, it's much better knowing about it while you've still got options.

James runs the business himself, and Ultra Pest & Termites services the Central Coast.

When you book an inspection, you're dealing directly with the person doing the job and assessing the property.

Frequently Asked Questions

What’s the difference between a building inspection and a pest inspection?

A building inspection looks at the general condition of the building. A timber pest inspection focuses on termites, other timber pest issues, damage and conditions that could increase the risk of a problem.

What happens if termites are found?

Don’t assume the house is automatically a write-off. The important thing is understanding whether the activity is current, what damage is visible and what needs to happen next.

Can a pest report be used to renegotiate?

Potentially. If something significant is found, the findings can be discussed with your conveyancer or solicitor before deciding what to do next.

Who organises access to the property?

Access is normally arranged with the selling agent once the inspection has been booked.

When should the inspection be booked?

As soon as practical once you’re seriously proceeding with the property. Leave yourself enough time to understand the report and investigate anything important before your purchase deadline.

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