Choosing the Right Home – A Home Inspector’s Perspective

As a veteran home inspector of over 16 years I?m still surprised by how often people make preventable and costly mistakes when choosing a potential home to buy. Here we?ll attempt to give potential homebuyers some ideas and guidelines to evaluate potential homes from a layman?s perspective. Hopefully we can prevent some ADU unpleasant surprises after you?ve signed a purchase agreement.

This in no way will replace a professional home inspection, but choosing the correct home from the start can save a lot of time, money and aggravation. Too many times I?ve inspected homes with major defects that could have been visible to even the untrained eye. What we?ll do here is cover some of the basics of evaluating the home from a structural and mechanical perspective. I want to stress again ? this will NOT replace a professional home inspection, but may prevent you from entering into a purchase agreement on the wrong home.

Now I am not saying that a home that is less than perfect (aren?t they all?) cannot remain a candidate. It can, but having all the information you can gather up front can help you in your home buying decision. For example, let?s say you?ve narrowed it down to 2 homes. They are the same price, size, quality, age and neighborhood. Both homes are 18 years old. One has a new air conditioner, roof and water heater. The other has original everything. Which one is the best buy? I know the answer is obvious here on paper, but you?d be surprised how often home buyers never look at it from that perspective. We?ll attempt to change that here.

After you?ve chosen the potential school districts and neighborhoods, it?s time to start narrowing down the homes. This is a layman?s version of the process a good home inspector uses. It should help you narrow your decision down.

First we want to walk around the exterior twice. Once up close, then the second time farther away. The first walk around we will be looking for things like wood rot, unusual cracks in the exterior or anything out of the ordinary. Look closely at the windows and doors, roof overhang, gutters, etc. Look for water stains and damage on the soffit overhang. This often indicates roof leakage, especially with tile roofs.

On the second trip around the exterior we want to be far enough away to get a good look at the big picture. Does the home sit up high, or down low? Homes that sit high are ALWAYS preferable and the ground should slope away from the home. (I once did a home that was literally in the bottom of a deep bowl that extended ¼ mile in every direction. All water drained towards it which caused major water issues that were not practically correctable. The buyer had no choice but to walk away from the deal.) Look at the home?s roof line. Look for framing sags, look for shingles that curl or look worn. Look at the walls and make sure they are plumb and square. Take in the entire home scanning left to right, top to bottom. Look at the condition of the wall cladding and the entire exterior.