Most buyers walk into an open home looking at the good things. The kitchen. The light. The view from the balcony. The layout.
Experienced buyers also walk in looking for the bad things. Not to be negative, but because the bad things are what determine whether a property that looks good on Saturday afternoon turns into an expensive problem six months after settlement.
Here are the warning signs that should make you pause, ask more questions, or in some cases, walk away entirely.
One of the most expensive surprises a buyer can encounter after settlement is an outdated electrical panel that needs replacing.
Older switchboards, particularly those with ceramic fuses rather than modern circuit breakers, are not just inefficient. They can be a safety risk, and they are often flagged by building insurers and lenders as a condition of coverage or finance. Some properties with old electrical systems cannot be insured or financed until the work is done.
Replacing an electrical panel typically costs between $2,000 and $5,000 depending on the complexity of the work and the access required. In some cases, particularly in older properties where the wiring throughout the building also needs updating, the cost can be significantly higher.
What to look for: Open the switchboard if it is accessible. Ceramic fuses, a lack of safety switches, or a panel that looks decades old are all worth flagging. Ask the agent directly whether the electrical system has been updated and when. If there is no clear answer, make a building inspection by a licensed electrician a condition of your offer.
A brown or yellow stain on a ceiling is one of the clearest signals that a property has had a water issue. It may have been resolved. Or it may still be active.
Water damage can come from a leaking roof, a plumbing failure above, condensation from poor ventilation, or an upstairs bathroom or laundry that has had issues. The stain itself tells you something happened. It does not tell you whether it has been fixed or what caused it.
The cost of addressing water damage depends entirely on the source. A simple roof repair might cost $500 to $1,500. A leaking pipe in a wall or ceiling cavity can cost $2,000 to $10,000 or more depending on access and the extent of the damage. Significant water infiltration that has penetrated structural elements or caused mould can cost far more.
What to look for: Look up. Check every ceiling in the property, particularly below bathrooms, kitchens, laundries, and the roof space. Look for discolouration, bubbling paint, or soft spots in plasterboard. In apartments, check whether there have been any building defects or water ingress issues in the strata report, this is one of the most important things the strata report will tell you.
Not all cracks are equal. Fine hairline cracks in plaster or paint are common in older properties and typically reflect normal movement over time. They are cosmetic rather than structural.
Wider cracks, stair-step cracks in brickwork, cracks that run diagonally across corners of windows and doors, or cracks that appear to have movement -- where one side sits higher than the other -- are different. These can signal foundation movement, subsidence, or structural issues that require engineering assessment before they can be properly understood.
Structural repairs are among the most expensive property problems a buyer can encounter. Foundation work, underpinning, and structural reinforcement can cost anywhere from $10,000 to $100,000 or more depending on the severity and the site conditions.
What to look for: Run your hand along walls and look at the width and pattern of any cracks you find. Cracks wider than 3mm, diagonal cracks from door or window corners, or cracks in external brickwork that show a stair-step pattern are all worth getting professional assessment on before you commit to a purchase.
Timber pest damage, from termites in particular, is one of the most destructive and costly problems a property can have. Termites can cause significant structural damage that is invisible until a professional inspection reveals it.
Signs of past or current pest activity include mud tubes on foundations or walls, hollow-sounding timber when tapped, buckling or discoloured skirting boards, and visible damage to timber framing around door and window openings.
In most cases, evidence of pest activity will not be visible at an open home. This is why a professional building and pest inspection by a licensed inspector is essential before exchanging contracts on any established property.
What to look for: Pay particular attention to areas close to the ground, around wet areas, and in any subfloor or roof void access points. Tap skirting boards and door frames. If anything sounds hollow rather than solid, note it for the inspector.
Water that pools around the base of a building or in the garden after rain is more than an inconvenience. It signals that the drainage around the property is inadequate, which over time can lead to water penetrating the foundation, damp in subfloor spaces, or moisture damage to the building's lower structure.
This is harder to assess at an open home unless you attend shortly after rain. But signs of past drainage problems, green algae or mould on lower sections of walls, evidence of soil erosion, or obviously uneven ground that slopes toward the building, are worth noting.
Drainage remediation can be relatively simple and inexpensive or it can involve significant earthworks and subfloor ventilation work depending on the property and the cause.
An open home on a Saturday at 11am shows you the property at its best. The sun is up, the street is quiet, and the neighbours are at the markets.
What you do not see is the property at 7pm on a Wednesday, or 11pm on a Friday, or early Saturday morning when the local café starts deliveries. Noise from a nearby road, a railway line, a pub, a school, or commercial activity can make a property that feels peaceful on inspection day genuinely difficult to live in.
Drive past the property at different times before you commit. Walk the block. Talk to people who are around. This is not paranoia, it is due diligence that costs nothing and can save significant regret.
For buyers who are concerned about the inspection process and the risk of hidden problems in established property, off the plan purchases have a specific advantage worth understanding.
New builds come with a statutory building defects warranty, in NSW this is a period of up to six years for major defects. If problems emerge after you move in, the builder is obligated to fix them. Established properties come with no such protection, what you buy is what you get, subject only to what you can identify before exchange.
New builds also attract higher depreciation deductions for investors, have lower initial strata costs than older buildings, and are constructed to current building and energy efficiency standards.
Through Coposit, eligible off the plan developments can be secured with $10,000 upfront and the remaining deposit paid through weekly interest-free instalments during construction. For buyers who have been burned by or nervous about the risks of established property, the new build pathway removes many of the inspection concerns entirely.
For renters who are not yet in a position to buy but want a pathway toward ownership, Unrent by Coposit is now live -- a model where weekly rent payments accumulate toward a property deposit. Find out more at unrent.coposit.com.au.
Browse current off the plan listings on the Coposit projects page, download the Coposit app, or contact the Coposit team to understand which projects are currently available.
This article is general information only. Always engage a licensed building and pest inspector before exchanging contracts on any established property purchase.
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