Get this before the auction, not after it. Three things get covered: termites, borers and wood decay. Subfloor and roof void where access allows, accessible timbers sounded, fence lines, stumps, decking and retaining walls checked, plus the conditions that invite termites in where nothing is active yet. Drainage running the wrong way, garden beds above the damp course, a leaking tap on an external wall, timber stacked under the house.
The report tells you what is there and what it does to the price you offer. Old treated-out damage is a different conversation to a live colony in a bearer. It matters most on the older stumps through Belmont, Highton and Grovedale, and on anything near the Barwon or out along the river valley. A building inspection and a timber pest inspection are not the same thing, and buyers find that out after settlement.
