I run into this situation often. Some home buyers that are in the market for a home are setting their expectations too high. As a licensed and certified home inspector, I am here to tell you that no home is perfect, in fact I can spot issues with the beautiful home in the featured image for this blog post (on the home page under the recent posts section).

Every home, even new construction homes, have issues. I’ve inspected a new construction home that no one had even lived in it yet and it had over 50 issues. While most of these issues weren’t major concerns, some of them were pretty significant! Today’s home buyer needs to lower their expectations and realize that all houses have issues, and usually the older the house the more issues it will have (but this is not always the case).

Buying a house is not like buying a new phone or a new car. A house is not built in an assembly line inside a controlled environment (unless it’s a mobile or manufactured home). It’s built outside in the various elements by varying contractors with varying knowledge and skill levels. That being said, there will always be errors with the house and no two houses will ever be the exact same; even if they are built using the same plans.

From time to time I will get clients who are on edge about everything. It’s very easy for inspectors to sense that high anxiety, on edge client. When I get that type of client I try my best not to alarm them, keep them calm, and to let them know that most any problem can be fixed.

My report categorizes issues into 3 categories; low, medium, and high priority. It’s easy for a home buyer to get scared when they see a lot of red items (high priority and safety) in the report but I tell them to just read over those items carefully because most of the time they are easy, cheap fixes. A missing GFCI receptacle, for example, is a red item in the report. BUT it only costs $15 and a few minutes for an average person to replace. So fully reading and comprehending the home inspection report is a crucial part of the home buying process, for both clients and agents. That is why I offer free consultation after every home inspection!

My advice to all the home buyers and real estate agents representing the buyers is to lower your expectations, read over the report carefully, and do a little research on the deficiencies in the report. You can even call me or a contractor (for a free estimate most of the time) and ask how hard or costly something is to fix and I/they can give you a rough idea. Remember, no house is perfect and most everything can be fixed!