Yes, a friend can attend a Melbourne rental inspection for you. Open homes are public and agents are used to people inspecting on behalf of someone else. The question worth asking is not whether they can go, but whether what they bring back is enough to apply on.
What do I need to give them?
Ask them to register with the agent at the inspection and to give your details as the applicant, not just their own. The inspection code is what your application depends on, so make sure they ask for it explicitly before they leave, and that it comes back in a form you can actually use.
Confirm this with the agent beforehand if you can. Agencies handle it slightly differently, and finding out afterwards is expensive.
What should I ask them to check?
Most people walk through a property and form a general impression. That is not what you need. Give them a specific list:
- Water pressure in the shower and kitchen tap
- Mould or damp around window frames, in wardrobes and in the bathroom
- Mobile reception inside the property, not on the balcony
- Whether the second bedroom fits an actual bed and wardrobe
- Natural light at the time of day you would be home, not midday
- Storage — real storage, not a cupboard
- Noise from the street, neighbours and any main road
- Which direction the living space faces
- Parking, and whether the space is usable for your car
- Condition of appliances, and whether anything looks recently patched over
Ask for video, not photos. Photos hide layout problems. A slow walkthrough shows how the place actually connects.
Where does it usually fall short?
Three places.
Availability. Melbourne inspections are Saturday mornings and mid-week evenings, published a few days out. One favour is easy. Six weeks of favours across a dozen properties is a different ask, and it tends to run out exactly when the good listings appear.
Judgement. A friend who has not rented in that part of Melbourne cannot tell you whether the rent is reasonable for the street, or whether the building has an obvious issue. They will tell you it seemed nice, because it did.
Awkwardness. They are unlikely to push the agent on anything — how long it has been listed, why the last tenants left, whether the owner is likely to approve pets. Those answers change whether you should apply.
So should I use a friend or pay someone?
If you have one property, a good friend and a clear list, use the friend. It costs nothing and it works.
If you are applying from interstate or overseas across several properties, the favour model breaks down. That is the point at which a paid inspection service stops being an indulgence and starts being the cheaper option — one property is $89, and nobody has to owe anybody anything.
Are you building inspectors?
No. We attend rental open homes for renters who cannot be there. We are not building inspectors or pest inspectors, and we do not carry out pre-purchase inspections.
If the favour model has run out, this covers what a paid inspection service actually delivers.
Ready to get someone to the inspection?
Run out of favours to call in? We can send someone to the inspection instead.
Call 0403 443 189 or send us the listing and the inspection time. One-off inspections are $89 and we reply to every enquiry the same day.