A house hunting we will go...

So we've been in Brisbane as a family now for two months. We're living in a rental house that is OK, but is a bit smallish, and like many rental properties has it's 'interesting' bits.

We've been looking for a house to buy pretty much since I arrived here last October. I've looked through a number of houses, some of which were quite nice, but out of our price range. Some have been pretty ordinary, and one or two have been real fixer uppers.

We found a house that we really liked back in October, and put an offer in, which was accepted. We did the inspections, and unfortunately it turned out they had a termite problem that they didn't know about. Further, they had never installed a termite barrier, or had inspections and treatments carried out on any kind of regular basis. We decided we weren't going to go ahead and that was that.

Fast forward to January this year, and we find another house that we really like, and it appears to have ticks in all the right boxes. Owners have done some extensive renovations, and it looks really nice. So we come up with an offer, and after a little negotiation, we get an offer accepted. Great. Now to the inspections.

Oh-oh, the building inspection isn't too flash, but it's not disastrous. The inspector can't access much of the sub-floor under the house because the owners have their stuff all over the place down there. So, we don't know if there are any real problems there. There are also some drainage problems, and a fair amount of moisture in places it shouldn't really be.

The pest inspection report is a little delayed, but finally comes through. Oh-oh, not too flash. No termites found in the house, but the inspector couldn't inspect most of the sub-floor area (same reason as the building inspector couldn't), so that part of the inspection is really of limited value. However there is extensive termite activity around the property, which apparently isn't too unusual either for Brisbane or this particular area. The moisture in the underneath of the house is a termite attractant (and a source of rising damp). Furthermore, there is only effectively half a barrier installed, and then only around the extension work carried out 7 years ago. Nor is there evidence that there have been any regular inspections or treatments. And there are several instances of bridging of the barrier. So, the little red flag is waving most insistently, and we are now looking to ending this contract on the basis of unsatisfactory inspection results. We don't see it as desirable to have to spend a few more thousand dollars getting all the problems fixed.

If we weren't talking about a weatherboard house, then we might be willing to take it on the basis that a proper barrier is installed and a treatment carried out by the sellers before settlement. But, because it is a timber home, and because the inspector couldn't inspect half the place, it's a no-deal now.

What astounds us most about these experiences, is that it seems these aren't isolated cases. Seems a lot of people here are pretty blasé about termite protection, notwithstanding there is a termite problem in Brisbane. I've spoken to a few people here, and get some funny looks when I state that it's a problem when people don't properly protect their properties from termites. C'mon people, we are talking about wooden houses here - termite food.

In Perth, we made sure we had our termite inspection done every year. And of course, when selling a house in Perth, it is the seller's responsibility to provide a current white ant certificate.

Buying a house in Brisbane is certainly a much different experience. But, we will do it, and find a decent house notwithstanding. We've come to the conclusion that maybe looking for a brick house would be better...