I’m a general contractor and while I don’t know everything, I do have a broad knowledge of standards involving home construction.

A home inspection for a real estate purchase is a general visual inspection, which can be compared to a general medical checkup. The inspector is charged with the responsibility of identifying the general condition of the property.

When I come across a fixer-upper, the condition of the property is apparent when reading the first page of my report where I list observations that I think the homeowner should be aware of. If the home is pristine, the list on my first page will be short, if it’s a fixer-upper the list will be long.

I don’t list items in order of importance; I list them in the order that I inspected them. Some of the observations border on trivial and some of them are of more consequence.

What’s trivial to one buyer may be of more importance to another. 

For instance: The kitchen cabinet doors may be loose at the hinges and the drawer boxes may be coming apart. The buyer might be planning  to do a remodel of the kitchen and doesn’t care about the kitchen cabinets. On the other hand, the buyer may be searching for a turnkey, move-in-ready home and he doesn’t want to deal with finding someone to repair the kitchen cabinets. Either way I list this observation and let them decide what’s important.

Sometimes I find items like a poor electrical connection in the attic that should be fixed before or as soon as they move in. I don’t point out that defect by saying it’s a ‘fire-hazard’. I put a photo of the defect in the report and I say that it needs repair. I didn’t say ‘needs repair’ on the cabinet door and drawer issue because the buyer can move into the house and live with the faulty cabinets. The electrical defect is not something that should be ignored but it is something that needs repair.

There is a subtle but important difference between how I report on these items and how an alarmist inspector reports on these two items.

After I’m finished inspecting a home I walk through the house and I show the buyer what I found and we discuss all the items. It is at this time that I elaborate on what I’ve discovered. I show the buyer the photo in my camera of what the poor electrical connection looks like and why it needs repair and how it should be fixed. I do not conceal defects or bury them in my report so that the ‘deal goes through”. Even though I want the real estate agent to be pleased with the inspection, I always remember that it is the buyer that I’m working for. 

A good real estate agent will welcome this approach if he or she realizes that it’s the buyer that we BOTH work for.

Integrity is the most important ingredient in a business transaction.