Don’t be saddled with regrets

Buyer’s remorse is a common affliction after a shopping spree. But regretting buying something as big as a house is a much bigger deal.

Real Estate Authority (REA) chief executive Kevin Lampen-Smith says it’s important for buyers to do their homework before buying a property.

“We believe it’s much better to spend a few hundred dollars on an independent report by an accredited building inspector than face having to spend thousands of dollars on fixing any issues after the fact,” Lampen-Smith says.

“It can be tempting to settle for the easy option of using a pre-prepared report, but if you haven’t paid for it yourself you have no way of ensuring that it’s legitimate or being able to take action against the inspector for an inadequate assessment.”

If you end up buying a property and discover a serious issue that you think the seller or the real estate agent failed to tell you about, Lampen-Smith says the first step is to write down what happened when you bought the property.

“If the property was sold by a licensed agent, make notes of any conversations you had with them. If sold privately, make notes of dealings with the seller.

“Add any new information you have, such as a building report or assessment that notes the problems you’ve found.”

If the estate agent is responsible in some way, Lampen-Smith says it’s best to deal with them directly.

“If you can’t resolve things this way, the REA handles complaints against real estate agents.”

For independent guidance and information on buying or selling, check out settled.govt.nz.