The Safe Buy – Pre-Purchase Walkthrough
Most buyers have two options. Both have a catch.
Right now, when you find a property you like, you’ve got two real choices. You can pay $600 – $750 or so for a full building and pest inspection – thorough, but really only sensible once you’ve made an offer. Or you can go in blind and hope for the best.
If you’re seeing four or five places a weekend, full inspections aren’t realistic. So most buyers default to hoping, and end up either pulling out after they’ve already committed, or settling and inheriting the problems.
Option one
Full building & pest
Thorough, formal, and the right tool - once you've made an offer. At $750+ a pop, not realistic for every place you're considering.
Option two
Going in blind
Skim the surface during a 15-minute open. Hope for the best. Find out the rest after you've already committed.
The middle ground
The safe buy
A registered building practitioner walks the property with a camera, narrates what they see, and gives you a builder's read on it before you commit to anything.
How it works
From booking to walkthrough, in less than 48 hours.
01
You book
Book online or give us a call. Tell us the property address and when the next open is, or arrange a private inspection.
02
Your inspector walks through
One of our building inspectors attends with a camera and walks every accessible area – narrating as they go. Outside, structure, roofline, doors, windows, wet areas. Usually 30 to 45 minutes on site.
03
You get the video and notes
Within 24 hours you get the full walkthrough plus a short written report – your inspector’s overall take, the top three things worth knowing, and recommended next steps.
04
You decide
Watch the video as many times as you want. Send it to your partner, your parents, your conveyancer. Got questions? You’ve got your inspector’s number.
What you get
Three things, easy to understand
A narrated video walkthrough
Watch it as many times as you want, on your phone or your laptop, or together with whoever's helping you decide. Timestamped chapters so you can jump to any section.
A short written report
Our overall take, the top three things worth knowing, and recommended next steps. Clear, plain-English, no jargon.
A real person you can call
After you've watched the video and read the notes, if you've got a question, you call us. Not a call centre, not a chatbot.
Safe Buy vs Full Inspection
Same goal, different jobs.
Both services exist to help you make a confident decision. They just kick in at different stages, and answer different questions.
Pre-offer
The Safe Buy
Post-offer
Full Building & Pest
When
Before you make an offer
After your offer is accepted
Cost
$250 + GST
Around $750+
Time on site
30 to 45 minutes
2 to 4 hours
What it answers
“Is this property worth my time?”
“What am I actually buying?”
What you get
Video walkthrough + written notes
Formal report to Australian Standards
Tools used
None – visual only
Moisture meters, ladders, full kit
Roof & subfloor
Roof from ground level. Subfloor not accessed.
Accessed where safe
Termite probing
Not included
Included in combined building & pest
If you’re going to buy the place, you’ll still want a full inspection to be safe. The Safe Buy isn’t a replacement – it’s the step that comes before, the one that tells you whether it’s worth getting to that stage.
And if you do book a full building and pest inspection with TSB within 60 days of your walkthrough, we’ll take $100 off the inspection price.
Who it's for
Built for the buyers in the middle.
If any of these sound like you, The Safe Buy was built with you in mind.
01 - First-home buyers
You don't know what you don't know.
You're worried about the things you can't see. You want a builder walking you through, in plain English, so you can make a confident decision.
02 - Time-poor buyers
Seeing four or five places a weekend.
You can't justify $750 on every one. You need a way to shortlist fast, and go into the offer or auction with real information.
03 - Auction bidders
No cooling-off period at auction.
The hammer falls and you're locked in. The Safe Buy gives you a builder's read on the property before auction day, so you go in informed, not hopeful.
About TSB INSPECTIONS
The Builder behind The Safe Buy
Tim Browne is a registered building practitioner based on the Mornington Peninsula. He’s spent years on the tools before starting TSB Inspections, and has been through hundreds of properties as an inspector.
He’s seen the same regret enough times to know there had to be a better way for buyers to get a builder’s eye on a property early. That’s why The Safe Buy exists.
Today, The Safe Buy is delivered by Tim and the TSB Inspections team. Whoever walks through your property is trained to the same standard Tim set when he started the business, looking for the same things, flagging them in plain English, and giving you a real person to call afterwards.
“I’m not telling people what they want to hear. I’m telling them what I’d want to know if it was my own family or friends buying the place.”
- Registered Building Practitioner — IN-PS 74093
- Years on the tools before founding TSB Inspections
- Servicing the Mornington Peninsula and surrounds
Book a walkthrough
Ready when you are.
Book online and pick a time, or call Tim direct. The walkthrough is yours, the report is yours. One flat fee, no upsell.
The Safe Buy
Per property · Mornington Peninsula & surrounds-
30 to 45-minute on-site walkthrough
-
Full video walkthrough with timestamped chapters
-
Written report - overall take, top three findings, next steps
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Direct phone access to your inspector with any questions
-
Part of walkthrough fee credited toward a full inspection
FAQ
No. The Safe Buy is a visual walkthrough designed to help you decide whether a property is worth pursuing further. If you’re going to buy the place, a full inspection is still strongly recommended before you sign anything.
Yes. Plenty of agents are happy to support buyers who want a builder’s eye on a property before they commit. The walkthrough is for the buyer – they own it, the report is for them.
Go for it. The video and notes are yours. Send them to anyone helping you with the decision.
If your inspector sees something that needs attention, they’ll flag it clearly in the report, give it the right level of weight in the overall take, and recommend the right specialist to look at it (a structural engineer, a plumber, an asbestos assessor).
Most walkthroughs are completed within 24 to 48 hours of booking, and you’ll have the video and notes within 24 hours of the walkthrough itself.
Each report opens with your inspector’s overall take (Looks good to me, Proceed with caution, or Significant concerns), followed by the top three things worth knowing, then a section-by-section breakdown of the property with timestamps that link back to the video.
Get in touch. Travel fees may apply for properties outside the standard service area, but we’ll let you know upfront.
Book online via the form above, or call us direct on 0466 916 716. Tell us the property address and when the next open is, and we’ll handle the rest.
