Buying or Selling a Geelong Home With Asbestos

Asbestos comes up constantly in Geelong property transactions, and for good reason. A large share of the housing stock through Corio, Norlane, Belmont and the older suburbs dates from the period when asbestos cement was the standard building material, so a building inspection flagging it is closer to the norm than the exception.

The reaction it produces is usually out of proportion in one direction or the other. Some buyers walk away from a perfectly good house. Some sellers say nothing and hope it does not come up. Neither is a good approach.

What a building inspection will actually say

Most standard pre-purchase building inspections are visual. An inspector will typically note materials that appear to be asbestos-containing, based on age, appearance and location, and recommend testing to confirm.

That is an important distinction. A building report saying material is suspected to contain asbestos is not the same as a laboratory confirmation, and standard building inspections generally do not include sampling. Confirming it requires a sample analysed by a laboratory, which is a separate and relatively quick exercise.

Reports also tend to flag only what is visible. Material concealed behind linings, under floor coverings or in inaccessible subfloor and roof areas will not appear, which is why an inspection finding nothing is not the same as there being nothing there.

Does it have to be removed?

This is the question most people get wrong.

There is no general requirement to remove asbestos from a home simply because it is present. Bonded asbestos in sound, undisturbed condition is generally regarded as low risk, and the accepted approach is often to manage it in place rather than remove it.

What changes the answer is condition and intention. Material that is damaged, weathered, crumbling or in a location where it will be disturbed is a different proposition. And if you are planning to renovate, the asbestos in the areas you intend to open up will have to be dealt with before that work proceeds, which we cover in our piece on asbestos found mid-renovation.

So the practical question for a buyer is not simply "is there asbestos" but "what condition is it in, and does it sit where I want to make changes".

If you are buying

Get the material identified properly rather than relying on a visual note. Confirmation is inexpensive relative to the decision it informs.

Then get the likely cost of removal quoted for the areas that matter to you, particularly if you plan to renovate. A quote is far more useful in a negotiation than a vague concern, and it turns an unknown into a number.

Consider condition specifically. Sound cladding you have no plans to touch is a very different matter to a deteriorating shed roof or damaged wet-area sheeting.

And factor it into your renovation budget rather than treating it as a separate shock. If you are opening up a bathroom in a house of that era, removal is part of the job, in the same way that plumbing is.

If you are selling

The strong advice is to disclose rather than conceal.

Vendors in Victoria have disclosure obligations regarding material facts about a property, and known asbestos, particularly in poor condition, is the kind of thing that falls into that territory. Beyond the legal position, concealment tends to be discovered, and a buyer who feels something was hidden becomes far more difficult than one who was told upfront.

Whether to remove before selling is a genuine commercial judgement. Removing deteriorated material such as a failing shed roof or crumbling fence is often worthwhile, because it removes an obvious negative and it is usually cheaper than the discount a buyer will seek. Removing sound, well-managed cladding from a whole house before sale rarely returns its cost.

Where you have had work done previously, keep the documentation. Disposal records and any clearance certificates are genuinely valuable at sale time, because they convert an unknown into a documented, resolved item. That is one of the reasons we return that paperwork to clients as a matter of course.

How it affects price

Honestly, less than people fear when the material is sound and more than they hope when it is not.

Buyers in this market broadly expect asbestos in houses of a certain age and price accordingly. What moves a price meaningfully is material in poor condition, material in areas the buyer clearly wants to renovate, or uncertainty about the extent. The last one is the most damaging, because buyers price uncertainty conservatively. Removing the uncertainty with an assessment often costs less than the discount it prevents.

The short version

Suspected asbestos in a building report is normal for Geelong housing of this age and is not a reason to abandon a purchase. Get it confirmed rather than assumed, assess its condition, and price removal for the areas you intend to touch. If you are selling, disclose it, consider removing anything visibly deteriorated, and keep any documentation from past work, because a documented, managed situation is far easier for a buyer to accept than an open question.