What Really Matters in a Home Inspection

By Mark Bunch, InterNACHI® Certified Inspector · Free Resources

Video: InterNACHI

Every Report Has a List

Every house has findings, even a brand-new one, so a long report doesn't mean a bad house. What matters is sorting them: which items need attention now, which are normal maintenance, and which only look worse than they are.

Sounds Scary, Usually Simple

Cracks in concrete. Buyers see a crack and worry the house is falling down. Most of the time, minor cracks are simply drying cracks that formed as the concrete cured, not a structural problem.

GFCI outlets that don't work. These get red-flagged as a Safety item, because a GFCI that doesn't work can't protect you from a shock. But it's rarely the big, costly electrical problem it sounds like: 99% of the time, the fix is simply replacing the outlet.

The Ones That Sneak Up on You

Dryer vents. I find clogged vents, and vents that discharge under the house instead of outside. That matters because dryer lint is one of the most flammable things in your home. (Next time you're starting a campfire, try a handful and see.) The good news: kits for installing or relocating a vent, and kits for cleaning one, are sold at the big home improvement stores, so you can handle it yourself or call someone.

Attic water heaters with no drain pan, or a pan that isn't piped to drain anywhere. Like HVAC units, water heaters can and will eventually fail. If that water isn't directed out, it comes down through your ceiling.

New-build water heaters you can't easily reach. I've seen a couple that were framed in, but most are set in hard-to-reach corners of the attic, nowhere near the stairs. When one of those fails, it's often abandoned in place: no one wants the liability of carrying it out, or the owner doesn't want to pay what plumbers charge to take that risk on. That's worth knowing before you buy, not after.