caveat emptor places responsibility on the prospective house purchaser to be responsible for carrying out their own inspection of any property on land before purchasing the land; the purchaser having no recourse to the common law if any building defects (patent or latent), which are discoverable pre-contract by a normal inspection, are discovered subsequent to sale.
the vendor is under NO obligation to disclose details relating to the quality of the property!
The Australian trade practices and fair trading legislation, do not apply to private vendors selling owner occupied houses; although, private individuals selling investment properties will be covered under state fair trading legislation, and potentially the vendor's real estate agent could be covered within this legislation, nevertheless, statements by the agent such as “quality built residence” are unlikely to be sufficient to protect the purchaser if flaws are later discovered. It would seem estate agents are allowed poetic licence and advertising hyperbole. Such “descriptive statements” by estate agents generally make no specific reference to a warranty, guarantee or assurance, and should be taken with a grain of salt.
1)the vendor's agent works for the vendor and is obliged to observe the conditions of its agency agreement with the vendors in the event of a conflict between its duty to the vendors and a duty, if any, to prospective purchasers - thus one cannot rely on them informing the prospective purchaser of anything that was not in the vendor's interests.
renovation works often cover up important defects such as rising damp, and structural damage from the recent 12 years of drought, and the vendor is not obliged to disclose these.
it is said that over 30% of older houses have problems with white ants / termites (borers), and remedying such issues can be very expensive.
what restrictions are placed upon the property such as restrictive covenants?
are there easements on the property?
are all the buildings approved by council?
are there any outstanding unpaid rates?
it may not be possible to gain insurance for low lying properties at risk of flood damage
your solicitor will generally make enquiries with Vic Roads, Ministry of Housing, the local municipality, Ministry for Planning and Environment and Melbourne Water (if applicable), and any relevant regional authority to ascertain whether there is anything deleterious directly affecting the land so far as such public authorities are aware.
seek independent legal, architectural, pest inspection and financial advice BEFORE buying any property
you may also need to consider options if the property is to be owned jointly
“Joint tenants hold the interest in the property together. Upon the death of a joint tenant, the title automatically passes to the surviving joint tenant(s). The interest of a joint tenant cannot be willed.”
“tenants in common each hold separate interests in the property. These separate interests can be transferred to another person or left to another person in a will.”
on signing the contract, ensure adequate house and contents insurance is obtained as the vendor's insurance if any, may not be adequate in the event of damage to the property prior to settlement, or if an insurer would not have insured the property.
if it will be an investment property, ensure you include Landlord Insurance