When it comes time to sell, you want to increase your house value so you have more money and more options.
As the owner of a plaster clad house, you are no doubt aware that these are harder to sell. They fetch a lower price than similar traditionally clad houses. How much lower? Usually at least 10% but often to down below the value of the land. It’s true, your actual house may be worth less than nothing.
The stigma of the leaky building scandal hangs over every single plaster clad house – whether it leaks or not.
When the time comes to sell, you have to convince the buyer, their bank, and their pre-purchase inspector that your house is safe and a good investment. See our webpage here for more information.
House Sales Fall Through
At Moisture Detection Company, we see many sales of houses with monolithic cladding fall over at the last minute because the buyer’s Pre-Purchase Inspector issues an unfavourable report, which puts either the buyer or their bank off the deal.
Many of the issues are minor, or may just be possible problems. Pre-purchase inspectors can’t actually see inside your walls but they know about the general problems with untreated timber, no cavities and monolithic cladding. They know that there may be leaks and decay they can’t detect and they know about the risk factors that can lead to problems. And they certainly know how to write about this in their reports.
They will point out the lack of cavities, risks with untreated timber, no eaves, bad or missing flashings, no ground clearance to the cladding, flat roofs, balconies and pergolas fixed to the house, internal guttering and so on. They know what to look for and report on.
And do you know what? They are 100% correct and would be negligent if they didn’t alert their client to the risks with the house.
This is the plaster house stigma, and every single plaster house is devalued as a result.
Overcoming the Plaster House Stigma
If you want to increase your house value to sell for the best price, you have to overcome the plaster house stigma. You must provide enough evidence that your house is safe, dry and a good investment.
The Advantage Home Owners Need
If your house has Moisture Detection Probes installed, you already have an advantage over other plaster houses. You already have a history showing how your house has performed. There may have been a few issues over the years, but you have sorted them out and overall, your house is dry.
A pre-purchase inspector can’t write that you house may be leaking when there is hard evidence that it isn’t.
Now is the time to maximise your advantage using Moisture Detection Company’s “Pre-Purchase Inspection Proofing” Process.
What Is Pre-Purchase Inspection Proofing?
Essentially, we want to eliminate any risk that a pre-purchase inspector might want to write negatively about. Where we can’t eliminate the risk, we want to mitigate it by improving other aspects of the house so that this risk is less important.
We provide the inspector with hard evidence about the weathertightness, construction details and timber treatment. They don’t have to speculate about whether your house might be leaking or might be untreated.
This is not an overnight process and some houses may take up to two years to prepare for sale, but if you don’t take the time now, you will almost certainly sell for less, and in many cases much, much less.
Pre-Purchase Inspection Process
- If you don’t have moisture probes installed, you don’t know where your house has problems, so contact Moisture Detection Company for more information.
- The process starts with a comprehensive probe reading and visual inspection to identify actual and potential defects and risks that an inspector is likely to report on.
- A report lists the risks and defects, together with how these could be fixed, or have the risk reduced.
- We discuss your goals, plans and budget to firm up what actions you want to take.
- If modifications, repairs or timber treatment are required, this can then be scheduled and carried out
- Follow up moisture readings can confirm the success of the repairs
- A full vendor weathertightness documentation package is provided before you go to market give to your real estate agent, potential buyers and their inspectors.
