Burning thousands of dollars on building and pest inspections could soon become a thing of the past for cash-strapped homebuyers in one state.
The burden of pre-sale building and pest inspections would shift from prospective buyers to sellers under legislation the Victorian Labor government has vowed to introduce to parliament in 2027, if it wins re-election in November.
Under the plan, sellers would be required to organise and pay for the reports before putting a property on the market and make them available to all potential buyers.
Most buyers arrange and pay for their own inspections while competing for the same property, and costs can snowball if they miss out at auction or negotiations fall through.
Premier Jacinta Allan compared the proposed mandate to the requirement for motorists to organise a roadworthy certificate before selling their vehicle.
"The same approach needs to be taken for interested buyers looking at buying a home," she told reporters on Thursday.
Building and pest inspection reports can cost between $500 and $600 combined, according to research from the Consumer Policy Research Centre.
One in six buyers pay for seven or more at a cost of up to $4200 and 11 per cent decided not to place an offer after viewing a report.
The policy has come too late for Caitlin Bibby and William Jarvis, who calculated they spent about $4000 for six reports.
"It made me feel ill," Ms Bibby told AAP.
In an ironic turn, the couple did not get a report for their Gladstone Park home in Melbourne's northwest as it was "last-minute", off-market sale.
The 26-year-old said the couple wanted the reports for peace of mind and real estate agents did not want to consider offers subject to a building and pest inspection.
Ms Bibby said some companies were selling their reports to other prospective buyers without their permission or any reimbursement.
The proposed Victorian scheme should be complemented by more regulation so reports are unbiased and there was no "trickery", she said.
The Allan government plans to consult with industry stakeholders and its counterpart in the ACT, the only Australian jurisdiction where owners are required to pay for inspections reports.
Vendors in the capital territory must arrange pest and building inspection reports three months before a sale, except for certain kinds of properties including new builds.
The reports must meet certain standards and vendors can recover the costs from a successful purchaser after a contract is signed.
It is yet to be decided if certain buildings will be exempt from the Victorian scheme or if sellers will be reimbursed.
Safeguards have been promised to prevent low-quality or biased reports, and buyers can still commission their own reports if they hold conflict-of-interest concerns.
Real Estate Institute of Victoria chief executive Toby Balazs backed the policy but called for broader reforms, while Opposition Leader Jess Wilson demanded more detail before deciding whether the coalition would support the "big promise".
