Before You Buy

Absolutely fantastic customer service! I reached out with what I thought might be a difficult request, and Jaz handled it with professionalism, patience, and genuine kindness. She followed up promptly, kept me informed, and made the entire process seamless. It's clear that Before You Buy values its customers and employs people who truly care… Read more ·  1

about delivering a great experience. Jaz was an absolute superstar and a credit to the organisation. I couldn't be happier with the service I received and would highly recommend Before You Buy to anyone.

Lisa was extremely helpful and I really appreciated her prompt attention to my request. Within minutes I received further correspondence in relation to the matter getting resolved. Thank you so much, Lisa! Show reply

Product Review of BYB * Confusing to deal with – a BYB report is not a ‘BYB report’. BYB only takes ‘leads’ and sends them onto a Strata Report writer. Staff of both BYB and ‘inspectors’ are hard to get hold of. The ‘inspector’ of my report was… Read more

only found by a lot of searching. His number is silent.

* “Cut and paste” jigsaw – Records from a Strata Company are selected without context, snapshots of situations give a wrong impression unless qualified. Obsolete tenders are shown, which only provide fears that work is being neglected. The reports lack competence and thoroughness.

* No quality control. The ‘BYB report’ for my unit was misleading, superficial and inaccurate. I had to buy the report, and then became my own quality control.

* BYB Report scared buyers. One person gave a seven-point detailed document to my real estate agent about why they wouldn’t buy my unit, based on the misleading ‘BYB report’.

* Vendors are asked by their real estate agent to buy ‘BYB report’, saying it would sell their property faster. My experience was the opposite. I bought a report. Now, will have to pay more if the successful buyer gets a BYB report. I should not have to buy it and then try to fix it.

* AI involvement. I spoke to the Strata Report writer, who used ChatGTP to write an ‘Executive Summary’. A summary should only have the most important items. In our case, with cracking in the building, the summary foregrounded this fact. It made no mention that the cracking is normal for older buildings, being settlement or hair-line cracks etc. The summary should have put minds at rest, but instead raised fears.

Asking for accuracy. I asked the writer to add the truth - what engineers had found, minor cracking, typical etc. But the report writer then added minor facts, which negated the ‘minor cracking’. His new ‘Executive Summary’ is an act of retaliation. It now reads as a subtle criticism that Strata took the cracking issue no further but the issue was resolved at an AGM, which he never mentioned.

* Who to complain to – you think you are dealing with BYB but you are being forwarded to the Strata Report writer. Only the independent report writer can change reports – but they don’t want be relevant in their ‘accuracy’. Bits and pieces of information without context can be damaging.

* Clipping tickets. BYB obtains money from whoever it can, purchase, vendor …

BYB has cost me intending purchasers. Cost me financially and time-wise, trying to fix the misleading and inaccurate report. Poor product. Go elsewhere.

Poolie

Hi Product Review - I had to buy the report through real estate agent, don't have any bank records saying BYB. The photo below is of the report on my computer - I do have an email but don't know how to send it to you.

We had paid on our business account a Pest & Building Inspection that was withdrawn from sale before the inspection was done. Belinda was very helpful in advising me of the process of how we cancel as well as our options for when we receive the reimbursement of funds already paid. Thank you Belinda.

Lisa was incredible. We were in the cooling off period of our property purchase when we discovered a potential balcony issue. Lisa was the first person we called who actually took interest in our situation and moved mountains to try to get us the help we need. She found an engineer who gave us the answer we were looking for.

Jaz was amazing, super helpful and tried contacting the inspector many times until she finally got an answer from him. Very happy with the outcome and with her help! Show reply

Very disappointing experience. These building reports are extremely light, generic and feel rushed, with vague copy-paste comments and endless disclaimers instead of real analysis. You pay expecting professional advice before one of the biggest purchases of your life, but you receive a document with very little practical value and almost no… Read more

accountability. As many other reviews mention, communication is poor, answers are vague, additional costs appear later, and everything seems designed to protect the company rather than help the buyer. Under the pressure and stress of buying a property, many buyers simply trust and pay without realising how superficial these reports are. Honestly, I also question why so many real estate agents keep pushing buyers toward these services. It certainly does not feel like the buyer’s interests come first. The smartest thing is to pay an experienced independent builder for a real inspection. At least you will get honest, useful advice for your money.

Paid for an expensive report which they state 2-4 business days. Day 5 now and they havent even booked to inspect the property until day 6. Will be outside of NSW cooling off period now so we may miss out on buying property and lose our 0.25%… Read more

deposit. When we rang to enquire on the phone the man we spoke to was incredibly rude for no reason and spoke over the top of me so i couldnt even ask a question. I am going to raise a complaint with fair trading.

Essentially, you need a report to purchase. It’d be st^pid not to. God forbid you have to before these incompetent fools. Ask a few questions about the report, to the person who pulled it together; nope. Can’t answer that. Need to ask the strata mangers… wait a week, don’t get a single response. The customer service folks are amazingly considerate and polite but reporters like S.M. Are hopeless Show details

Very quick and easy process. Communication was great and they were easy to contact. I booked a building and pest inspection but decided to cancel after changing my mind about the property. They processed a full refund quickly with no hassle. Great customer service and would definitely use them again! Show reply

Easy and reliable. Just click to purchase the report and select the B&P company of your choice and everything else just falls into place. In the event if there are more people purchasing the report, you get to save on the cost. Show reply

Lisa was a real trooper, listening until I worked out what I wanted and then speedily providing Building and Pest options. After I chose one provider, she then organised it (and thanks $75 RACV discount!). Lisa kept in touch and kept me informed.

I had a great experience dealing with Jasmine from Before You Buy. She was extremely helpful, professional and responsive throughout the process. Jess took the time to answer all my questions and made everything easy and straightforward. Her friendly attitude and excellent customer service were greatly appreciated. I would highly recommend Jess… Read more

to anyone looking for assistance with Before You Buy. Thank you, Jess, for your fantastic support! Rong

Before you Buy is a professional and effective service. A good tool and investment for conducting due diligence on a proposed property purchase. Consultant Lisa provides excellent, thorough and reliable service.

I purchased a building report though Before you Buy and it was a very poor document. Not only did it get the street address of the property wrong, but basic facts about the house, and missed several areas of real concern which our private building inspector picked up. Of a 22 page report 11 pages were generic information and disclaimers. Very… Read more

little useful information. When i complained to BYB they told me to contact the writer of the report. I don’t know what BYB actually do because they don’t take responsibility for the product they sell. Avoid and get your own report with an experienced building inspector.

Glorified Scammers! My experience with Before You Buy was extremely disappointing and distressing. The strata report I received did not meet my expectations in terms of clarity, depth or meaningful analysis. I raised concerns with the company. Rather than addressing those concerns constructively, the response I received escalated the situation.… Read more

Following my complaint, I was informed that unless I withdrew my complaint, additional charges could be applied in connection with what they described as a “second charge” to my card. I found this communication deeply concerning. I believe I should not have been placed in a position where further financial charges were implied or referenced in response to a complaint. The tone of the correspondence felt intimidating, bullying and pressure-based rather than solution-oriented. Instead of resolving the matter fairly, I was left threatened amd bullied. Because of this experience, I will be lodging a formal complaint with the appropriate consumer authorities and Ombudsman. I believe customers should be able to raise concerns about paid services without fear of financial pressure or escalation. I strongly encourage anyone considering this company NOT to use them.

Incomplete / misleading report, Defects section of the report had nil defects listed. NSW Building Commissioner's had a work order on so many defects, Building has been in the media for years. DO NOT use them. either negligent and / or deliberately withed information. not helpful, besides complaining and specifically asking multiple times, they just were not willing to help and wanted more money. Report Author: [Content Removed]

There service is an absolute no brainer..recently sold my property utilising their services along the way, easy for all concerned to have peace of mind when buying my property, which means for a happy vendor and purchaser, so thank you team!! Reuben 10/10 Show reply

I noticed a transaction they charged me for. When I asked, they said I was the successful buyer, which I was not. I also didn’t know they would charge me if I bought the property after purchasing the strata report. Their policy and terms & conditions were unclear. Additionally, they mistakenly charged me $232 and did not apologise for the error. I had to make several calls and send follow‑up emails to get my money back.

Fast resolution on Sunday! Great support team. Better give Sonia a pay rise! Show reply

Cannot recommend them enough. If you're buying a strata property, this is the service to use. Show reply

The reports were very thorough and reliable. Would definitely use before you buy again. - Please give me a discount for future purchases!! :) Show reply

Support team members are friendly, quick to respond, and helpful. Show reply

I have a very good experience with friendly staff there very honest and very professional very good customer service with a smile you feel it Thank you Show 2 replies