By this stage, you have had us do an initial assessment or someone else has done an inspection or moisture testing on your home or building and confirmed you may have a problem.

So what options do you have ?

Sell Sell Sell !! Can I just sell it ? Is this really an option ?

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I thought this might cross your mind ! It crosses everyone’s mind in this situation.

Well, putting aside the moral dilemma of passing on the problem to someone else if you give a “buyer false or misleading information about the property you can be liable for breach of contract, even if you honestly believed that the information given was correct”.

Whether you give this information verbally, in writing or if evidence is later found that you knew there was a problem and told a buyer there is not amounts to fraud and you can be found liable. Imagine paying your mortgage on your new home and also paying the full repair work on your old one ! (See the Matthew & Sally Ridge story on the right of this page)

Simply not mentioning the property is leaky isn't illegal but buyers are now very wary of potential leaky homes. Further to this, if you do end up in court neither us nor any other inspector will lie for you and say that you were not advised of the problem.

Additionally, as of 2008, the Real Estate Act says that Estate Agents are now liable to make sure of a property’s soundness.

Alternatively, you can try to sell the property, disclosing that it has leak problems.

This will lower the value (get your calculators out) and because it is almost impossible to give a repair estimate before starting the work banks and potential buyers will likely run a mile.

Do Nothing

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Ok, so obviously this is not really an option. You may have read the recent story about Christchurch residents Grahame Hollobon and Kathleen Bennett who had to demolish their house earlier this year. If you want to read the full story click here. Unfortunately, these problems do not get better on their own and as the structure decays you are exposing yourself and family to health risks   Just two weeks ago I spoke to a man whose grandson had been in and out of hospital for the last year due to living in damp and mouldy conditions.

Bite the bullet and get it repaired

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This is where it gets complicated and you can either save or lose a lot of money pretty quickly.

The first thing is to be set in your mind to repair the property.

Choose a good, experienced company to work with – We’d love you to talk to us first but please do not just grab any builder.

Remediation work is difficult, time consuming and must be documented fully – you need an experienced company.

Talk to a lawyer. They will be able to tell you what options you have for covering the cost of repair work– we are in contact with a legal specialist in leaky homes and can help with this

Get a full, impartial inspection done by a reputable property inspection company. Again, whoever you choose will be responsible for the advice they give and may have to defend themselves in court or argue on your behalf in court. Again, you need an experienced company and again, we can help you with this.