What to Look for at a Share House Inspection (A 2026 Checklist)

Quick answer: At a share house inspection, test four things: the room (light, noise, phone signal, storage), the house (mould, water pressure, kitchen and bathroom condition), the money (total cost with bills, bond lodgement, lease setup), and the people (who lives there, how long they’ve stayed, how the house runs). Twenty minutes of checking beats twelve months of regret. The full checklist is below.

Listings show a room at its best angle, in its best light, on its best day.

An inspection is your one chance to see the truth. And with Sydney’s vacancy rate at a record low of 0.8%, the pressure to say yes on the spot is real. Don’t. Work through this checklist instead. It takes twenty minutes, and it’s the difference between a home and a lesson.

Before You Go

• Confirm who you’re meeting. A current housemate? The head tenant? An agent? Knowing this tells you who actually makes the decision.
• Check the commute at the right time. Run the route at 8:30am on a weekday, not 2pm on a Saturday. Google Maps lets you set a departure time.
• Re-read the listing. Note what it doesn’t mention. No photo of the bathroom is rarely an accident.
• Never pay anything before the inspection. Not a “holding deposit”, not a “good faith transfer”. Scams spike every January and July with university intakes. Seeing the room first is non-negotiable.

The Room: 6 Checks

1. Natural light. Inspect in daylight if you can. South-facing rooms in Australia get the least sun. A dark room photographs fine and lives badly.
2. Phone signal and internet. Run a speed test standing in the room. Ask what internet plan the house is on. “The wifi is fine” is not a number.
3. Noise. Stand still for thirty seconds. Listen for the road, the neighbours, the train line. Then ask yourself what this sounds like at 11pm.
4. Storage. Is there a wardrobe? Where would your suitcase, bike or work gear live? Rooms without storage shrink fast.
5. The window and the door. Does the window open, lock, and have a screen? Does the bedroom door lock? A lockable door matters more than people admit.
6. Furnished claims. If it’s “furnished”, check the mattress. Lift the sheets. You’re allowed to. You’ll be sleeping on it.

The House: 7 Checks

1. Mould. The big one. Open the bathroom cabinet. Check ceiling corners, window sills, and behind the wardrobe if you can. A strong air freshener smell can be a cover, not a courtesy.
2. Water pressure. Run the shower for ten seconds. Ask if the hot water lasts when two people shower back to back.
3. The kitchen. Open the fridge. Is there space for your shelf? A fridge with no room for you is a daily argument waiting to happen.
4. The bathroom-to-people ratio. One bathroom between four working adults is a 7am queue. Ask how many people share it and what their mornings look like.
5. Heating and cooling. Sydney summers are getting hotter. Is there air con in the room, or just the living area? In winter, how is the house heated?
6. Laundry. Washing machine in the house, shared in the building, or a laundromat two blocks away? This one surprises people after they move in.
7. General condition. Cracked walls, taped wiring, doors that don’t close. A poorly maintained house tells you how repair requests get treated.

The Money: 4 Checks

1. Total weekly cost. Rent plus bills. Get the real number, not the listing number. Bills typically add $30 to $60 a week.
2. Bond lodgement. In NSW, bond is capped at four weeks’ rent and must be lodged with NSW Fair Trading through Rental Bonds Online. Ask how and where your bond will be lodged. No clear answer means no deal.
3. The lease setup. Will you be on the lease, or subletting from a head tenant? Your rights differ. The Tenants’ Union of NSW explains both (tenants.org.au).
4. The notice period. How much notice to leave, and how much would they give you? Get it in writing before you transfer anything.

The People: 3 Checks

1. Who actually lives here? Meet as many housemates as possible. The one giving the tour is usually the friendliest. The one you don’t meet is the one to ask about.
2. How long has everyone stayed? Long stays signal a happy house. A revolving door signals a problem nobody mentions at inspections.
3. How does the house run? Cleaning, guests, quiet hours. You’re not looking for the “right” answers. You’re looking for answers that match how you live.

This last section is where most inspections fail, because fifteen minutes in a hallway can’t tell you who someone is. It’s exactly why Hommee shows housemate profiles alongside listings. Check work habits, social style and routines before you book, and use the inspection to confirm, not discover.

After the Inspection

• Don’t sign on the spot unless everything checked out. Enthusiasm is fine. Pressure is not. “We have three other people coming” is sometimes true and sometimes a sales tactic.
• Send a follow-up the same day. Hosts choose fast in this market. A short message recapping who you are and confirming your interest keeps you at the top of the pile.
• Trust the small signals. A house that’s clean on inspection day, housemates who answer questions directly, a host who volunteers the bond process. Good houses feel organised because they are.

Ready to inspect smarter? Hommee shows real rooms and real housemate profiles side by side, so you walk into inspections already knowing who you’d live with. Create your profile, set your suburbs, and book inspections that are actually worth your evening.

Share House Inspections Questions

.