Broken Appliances in Recently Settled Home VIC

AAN on 15/04/2023 - 22:15

Hi Everyone

I just settled and moved in to my first home, It was an established home
now after moving in I learned that Dishwasher is broken and leaks at the bottom (it's not plumbing, Dishwasher is leaking)
and today i learned that 60cm oven is not working either. I had building and pest inspection done by qualified inspector but they don't check condition of appliances

Having recently settled property its a hefty bill to replace these for me, Just wanted to ask your opinion that should previous owner have informed me about broken appliances and what are my options here

Thanks

Home & Garden

Comments

  • Aussiebargainer on 15/04/2023 - 22:30
    +13

    No, when you buy, you need to do a pre-settlement inspection where you check that all the appliances are in good working order. If any are broken, you can negotiate this with your conveyancer/solicitor and get the purchase price reduced. Once settlement has occurred, there is no recourse for the previous owner to fix this. Unfortunately, you are now responsible for these appliances. Next time, be thorough with the pre-settlement inspection.

    Building and pest inspections do what they say, test the structure of the building and check for pests, they do not test that appliances are working hence why you need to check this yourself.

    • poboy on 15/04/2023 - 23:38

      Oh. That sucks.

    • Jugganautx on 16/04/2023 - 14:38
      +2

      its scary the amount of people that don't know this.

  • thatonethere on 15/04/2023 - 22:34

    You are most likely stuck with the broken appliances. However, it will depend on your contract - does it say anything about appliances working? (ie good working order).

    If it says something like "property as inspected" then you are on the hook to have tested everything (including you and your agents). You can complain to the building inspector but if you look at their T&C they exclude all sorts of stuff you'd take for granted. Maybe ask for a refund from the inspector.

  • CalmLemons on 15/04/2023 - 22:52
    +13

    Dishwasher $600

    Oven $600

    In their used state, your current appliances were probably only worth $200-300 anyway at best.

    Best to just move on and replace them.

    Compare this to the $50K you probably paid in stamp duty to the Vic Government.

  • seannami on 15/04/2023 - 22:55

    I had similar happen. The house was tenanted during inspection- I asked the tenant if the oven and stove worked and they were using the heater, and tried the rangehood (tenant marched into the kitchen looking like they wanted to throw down). Realized very quickly that there were problems. Heater was actually illegal- got someone in to get it serviced and they had to call the government hotline then disconnect it so it didn't burn the house down, stove only has one functional burner (and one that will not turn off if you manage to get it on- its gas) and the oven works but barely (4-5 hours to cook a chicken that should take about 2). Could do exactly nothing and I am currently living with a kmart hotplate and an airfryer until I save enough to get the appliances replaced. You buy as is I'm afraid.

  • elgrande on 15/04/2023 - 22:57
    +6

    I always bake a roast as part if pre-settlement inspections. Its a great way to test the appliances, and, depending on how well (or not well) the oven works, a great way to test out the plumbing too..

    • Ughhh on 16/04/2023 - 08:17
      +5

      Do you bring a week's worth of dirty dishes over to test the dishwasher too?

  • garetz on 15/04/2023 - 22:59

    The time to take note of these things is before settlement, once you settle you own the property and everything in it. You have no recourse legally.

    if you had done something about it before settlement, you may have been able to get a small financial concession based on the current value of the items based on age and depreciation.

  • Muzeeb on 15/04/2023 - 23:09

    Is the oven electric or gas?

    If electric it could be as simple as a $35 heating element and 5 minutes of your time.

    Hand wash the dishes until you save for a new dishwasher.

    • AAN on 16/04/2023 - 11:46

      Oven has no power and after checking main switchboard its not tripped. Its an electric oven and i couldn't find a fuse which might be shot.

      • Muzeeb on 16/04/2023 - 12:00
        +3

        Is it switched on? There may be a switch somewhere in a nearby cupboard or splashback that you were wondering what it does.

        If you have a nearby switch that looks like this the middle switch might be wired for the oven.

    • lgacb08 on 17/04/2023 - 08:36

      Plenty of good working dishwasher with give away price on Gumtree/marketplace, only the matter of finding one that fits your kitchen.

      • Muzeeb on 17/04/2023 - 09:00

        98% of dishwashers are the same standard dimensions.

  • freefall101 on 16/04/2023 - 00:08
    +1

    Housing purchase laws are crap, you have zero warranty on the house - you buy a house in the condition it's in and it's all on you to confirm it works.

    I bought a house with a leaking gas heater, split system doesn't work and bath jets are dead. Absolutely nothing I can do because I didn't check they were working when I purchased, they had turned the gas off, the split system was blowing just air and it's a bit hard to test a bath.

  • Euphemistic on 16/04/2023 - 05:46

    It’s unfortunate that the only way you can get any joy from this is that you tested the items before hand and they have stopped working since. But given a house is hundreds of thousands and a dishwasher is several hundred, it’s not worth the effort to test them during inspection.

    Mate was selling a rental property and the free standing stove was filthy and not working. The agent told him to go find one in a council cleanup and drop it in the space, don’t even wire it in because ‘noone checks the stove’.

  • Nutrino on 16/04/2023 - 09:24
    +4

    I personally would move out and buy another home because of this.

  • Keplaffintech on 16/04/2023 - 09:33
    +2

    If they are the only problems with the house you've made a golden purchase. However given that the previous owner neglected an oven and a dishwasher, it's safe to assume they they probably neglected other building maintenance.

    • Mechz on 16/04/2023 - 20:03

      Maybe they didn't use the appliances much if at all to notice?

      I lived in an apartment for 12 months once and only used the cooktop once, the oven less than a handful of times, and the dishwasher maybe once a week.

  • KaTst3R on 16/04/2023 - 10:51

    Appliances replacement is a small issue compared to major structural problems. Just replace them and feel like you made the home "newer".

  • Tiredman on 16/04/2023 - 11:09

    If tight on budget worth looking at used ones but there are good quality new ones for under $800 nowadays?

  • AAN on 16/04/2023 - 11:44

    Thanks Everyone, we all learn along the way and of course next time i'll be watching out for these.
    It's just that anxiety of moving into your biggest purchase of your life in current economic situation and finding all these issues.
    I have started to look for a used oven as current cut out in cabinets only fit 60cm and most of new appliances are 90cm which will require modifying current cabinetry.

    With Dishwasher can i replace it myself as plumbing connections are already there just need to connect new appliance or do i need to organize a qualified plumber to do this ?

    • Muzeeb on 16/04/2023 - 12:01

      You can do the dishwasher yourself but if you ever go to claim a dishwasher warranty item or insurance (due to appliance flooding) you may not be covered.

    • pharkurnell on 16/04/2023 - 12:31
      +2

      Do yourself a favour, buy a new oven otherwise you'll start another thread about comeback on buying a used oven thats (profanity)

    • altomic on 16/04/2023 - 13:30

      Dishwasher is DIY.

      Everything is set up.
      Power is just a standard plug(not hard wired like an oven may be)

  • Cherry12 on 16/04/2023 - 16:23

    My pest and building inspector checked that all the appliances were working. Maybe yours was supposed to check them.

  • Wiadro on 16/04/2023 - 17:44
    -1

    looks like buyers remose

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