Rob Smylie
20+ years on-site. Australia-wide.
Smart Renovators Academy
Most renovation disasters are locked in before settlement. The problems are already there when you walk through. Read all 5 before your next inspection.
20+ years on-site. Australia-wide.
A fresh coat of paint covers moisture stains. Staging hides uneven floors. And most buyers walk straight past the things that will cost them tens of thousands to fix after settlement. Here are the five I see most often.
Scroll to read all 5 ↓
What to look for
Most buyers see a crack and assume it is cosmetic. Hairline cracks in plaster are normal. But diagonal cracks running from the corners of window or door frames are a completely different conversation. They mean the wall has moved. The structure is telling you something and most buyers photograph it and walk away without understanding what it means.
Red flag: Fresh render or new plaster
If a section of external render or internal plaster looks newer than the rest of the wall, stop there. Fresh render applied before a sale is sometimes used to cover cracks that were never properly investigated. The crack may still be moving underneath.
If you miss it
$15,000 to $80,000+
Foundation movement, subsidence, or soil issues. Not a paint and fill job.
Check this at your next open home
Stand at each door and window. Look at all four corners of the frame. A crack running diagonally away from any corner is a structural flag. Photograph it and ask questions before you bid.
What to look for
Water that puddles in a shower recess instead of running cleanly to the waste is not a minor inconvenience. It means the floor fall is wrong. When the floor fall is wrong, the waterproofing underneath is almost always compromised as well. The tiles look fine. The problem is invisible. Until it is not, and then you are looking at a full strip-out.
If you miss it
$15,000 to $25,000+
Full bathroom strip-out and rebuild. Not a regrout. The tiles, the waterproofing membrane, the substrate. All of it.
Check this at your next open home
Run the shower for 30 seconds if you can. Watch where the water goes. It should move immediately and cleanly toward the waste. Any pooling, even slight, is worth investigating before you make an offer.
What to look for
Staging fills a home with fresh flowers and candles for a reason. Your nose is more reliable than your eyes at an open home. A musty or stale smell inside a closed cupboard, particularly under sinks, in bathroom vanities, or in laundry cabinets, means moisture is sitting behind or beneath that surface right now. It has been there long enough to smell.
If you miss it
$8,000 to $40,000+
Mould remediation, structural drying, and substrate replacement. The longer it has been sitting there, the higher that number climbs.
Check this at your next open home
Open every cupboard under every sink. Open bathroom vanity doors. Open laundry cabinets. Close them and smell. A musty odour inside a sealed space means moisture that has nowhere to go. It has been there for a while.
What to look for
Most buyers never look up at the roofline and never ask about the roof cavity. Water stains on insulation batts, mould growing on timber trusses, and sagging ceiling sheets are all visible if you look. Fresh paint on a ceiling hides stains beautifully. The cavity above it does not lie.
If you miss it
$10,000 to $45,000+
Roof repairs, insulation replacement, ceiling reinstatement, and mould treatment. Often discovered after settlement when it becomes your problem to fix.
Check this at your next open home
Ask the agent if you can access the roof cavity. Look for dark patches on insulation and mould on timber. Check that exhaust fan vents exit through the roof, not into the ceiling space. If access is not allowed, check the roofline from the ground for sagging or uneven ridge lines.
What to look for
A rangehood that vents into the ceiling cavity instead of externally is one of the most common non-compliant installations in renovation properties. It pushes warm, moist cooking air into the roof space every time someone uses the kitchen. It looks completely normal from inside. The damage builds silently above the ceiling.
If you miss it
$3,000 to $20,000+
Rangehood re-routing plus ceiling cavity remediation if moisture damage has already occurred. Non-compliant work that is now your problem to fix.
Check this at your next open home
Turn on the rangehood. Go outside and look for an external exhaust vent on the wall or roof. If you cannot find one, the rangehood is venting internally. This is non-compliant work. The cost belongs in your renovation budget or your offer price.
The Reno Trap Checklist puts all 11 inspection sections in your hand on the day, with every item Rob checks on-site, a notes field to record what you find, and a report you can email straight to your building inspector.
The full room-by-room inspection tool
Those 5 things are a starting point. The full checklist covers all 11 areas of a property in the order you would walk through them. Tick each item as you go. Flag anything that looks wrong, add your note right beside it, and walk away with a flagged items report before you spend a dollar on a building inspection.
What you get
Instant access. Use it on every property you inspect.
Already found your property?
The scope, the trade management system, the stage inspection checklists, and the payment process that makes sure every dollar you spend is the right call.
Find out more about the Smart Renovators Program