Victoria

Is your house cracking up?

Is your house cracking up? A long, spidery vein is inching its way across the dining room wall. It seems to be spreading even as you stare at it! You’re sure it wasn’t there yesterday! So what does this mean and how can it be fixed? Don’t...
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What Does Jim Know About Building Inspections Anyway?

ACTUALLY, QUITE A BIT MORE THAN WE EVER REALISED! We recently discovered that Jim Penman’s dad was a forensic engineer. From an early age Jim’s father was investigating materials, structures and their components which failed o...
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Need To Know - Building Inspection Inclusions and Exclusions

It is important to understand what is generally included and excluded in a building inspection service.  Jim's Building Inspections work hard to understand what type of property you are purchasing. Factors that influence which building inspection...
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Asbestos - Not Just About Housing

FEATHERS were flying in Red Hill last week when neighbours discovered asbestos sheeting was being removed from a disused chicken shed near their properties. First reported in the Southern Peninsula News (6 November 2018) the story continues: Mo...
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Building? Here Are Mark Campbell's Lessons Learned

“My rationale for building new was threefold,” writes Mark Campbell, a working-class Aussie. “Firstly, it enabled me to have control over the end product and it made sense from an investment perspective because I could maximise depreciation and...
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The Case For More Home Inspections

Building surveyors are calling on Victoria’s state government to mandate balcony inspections. This follows the tragic balcony collapse in Doncaster East in late 2017. Sadly, two people died and many others were injured, according to The Age. In ...
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What is Caveat Emptor?

Increasingly property buyers are aware of their responsibility to discover building defects before sale – this is known as the Latin principle Caveat Emptor or ‘buyer beware’. The full quotation is ‘caveat emptor, qui ignorare no...
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Buying Off-The-Plan Housing Needn't Be Scary

Buying an off-the-plan house needn’t be scary if you make smart choices. One important choice: Seeking out experts in New Construction – and Jim’s Building Inspections is a good place to start. Buying off-the-plan with professional guidan...
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The Block's Depreciation Schedules And You

So, “investors could claim an average of over $2.2 million in depreciation deductions for each apartment on Channel 9’s 2016 season of The Block,” according to new analysis reported by The Urban Developer. By far the biggest potential deprec...
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GET YOUR HOME READY FOR WINTER!

With winter only around 7 weeks away it is time to think about doing those essential jobs around the home that is really easy to forget. Then one day you look out the window and you have water cascading down your fascia and into your eaves. This happ...
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