Do You Need to Inspect an Investment Property Yourself?

Dilleen Property Group 2022

Have you ever worried about buying an investment property in another state because it’s too far away to inspect yourself?

Does the thought of not being able to touch and feel the property you’re investing your money into scare you?

If any of these thought have run through your mind, this post is for you.

Unfortunately a lot of investors share the same hesitations with buying property interstate due to the fact that inspecting it yourself isn’t an option.

Although these thoughts are understandable, I strongly believe they are not needed.I’ve personally bought most of my investment properties (43 properties) interstate and for 70% of them, I never went to inspect them myself. This was never an issue to me.

The reason for this is that there are a lot of different things you can put in place to safeguard the process.Here are a few things you can do to make this seamless and minimise risk:

Number 1: Pest and Building Inspector

Having a qualified pest and building inspector to inspect the current condition of the property is essential. If you are investing gin states like South Australia or Queensland, a majority of the time you will have a 14 day pest and building clause, in which you can get a detailed report from an inspector about the condition of the property, this usually includes photos as well. If you find that the report comes back and you aren’t happy with the property condition you can terminate the contract and get your holding deposit back.This clause makes the buying process for investors a lot more seamless and safe.A great thing to mention with the pest and building inspector, is that these are professionals assessing the property. They know what to look for and how to look for discrepancies with the property. A majority of everyday people won’t know what they are looking for when inspecting the property themselves and it would essentially be no use to them.

Number 2: Have an Experienced Property Manager

I can’t stress enough how important this is, especially if investing in property in another state.

A property manager’s job is to make your life as a landlord easier.

They can put processes in place to streamline things in the early and later stages of owning a property.

One of the great things you can organise with the property manager and the selling agent are video walkthroughs. If you aren’t 100% satisfied with the photos you receive before going through with the property purchase, you can set up a time with the property manager and agent to go to the property and take video walkthroughs and or additional photos of the property.

While this isn’t totally necessary, it can help ease your mind and make it feel like you are there viewing the property yourself. This can save you a lot of time and money that would’ve been spent on plane tickets flying there to view it yourself.

Number 3: Using a Property Buyers Agent

Using an experienced, reputable property buyers agent can be especially helpful throughout the whole process of finding and purchasing a property. They can provide a detailed rundown about the property, the location it is in, the geographic and economic details, etc. They can put detailed reports together to give you a really good insight about the area it’s in. This is great if you are buying in an area that you’ve maybe never heard of or that’s in another state as it can be daunting doing something like this, especially if you have never invested property before.

Disclaimer: This is not intended as legal, financial, or investment advice and should not be construed or relied on as such. Before making any commitment of a legal or financial nature, you should seek advice from a qualified and registered legal practitioner or financial or investment adviser.