When buying a home there come some inherent risks, especially when purchasing a used home. However, purchasing a home in the winter time brings some additional inherent risks that you may not know about. Now before I start I want to say that you will probably hear from real estate agents that winter is the best time to buy a house. I’m not necessarily arguing that, I’m just stating that buying a house in the winter has additional risks that you wouldn’t have during the summer time. Let’s take a look at some of these risks.

1) The Air Conditioning System Can’t be Tested

The air conditioning system, unfortunately, cannot be operated when it is below 60 degrees outside. It really shouldn’t be tested unless it has been above 60 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 24 hours straight. The reason the air conditioning system shouldn’t be run when it’s below 60 degrees is because the lubricating oil in the system will thicken during cold weather. When that oil thickens it can no longer lubricate the system and parts properly and can cause excessive wear and even failure of parts.

With lower exterior temperatures your compressor will have to work a lot harder if the air conditioning is ran. This can cause the indoor coil and refrigerant lines to freeze up which will create excessive wear and even failure of the compressor. Since home inspectors don’t like paying for new air conditioning systems, we do not test them in the winter time or anytime it’s below 60 degrees.

2) Snow Covers Roof, Grading, and More

Snow also creates an issue for home inspections in the winter time. When it snows, especially when it snows multiple inches, the snow can cover many things on the exterior of the home blocking the view and ability for an inspector to…well…inspect.

Snow can cover decks, patios, driveways, sidewalks, roofs, grounds, etc. I can recount one situation where I was inspecting a home with a deck after it had snowed about 5-6 inches. I was walking on the snow covered deck when all of the sudden my foot fell through. There was a rotted deck floor board and I couldn’t see it because it was covered in snow. I was luckily to escape uninjured. I was also luckily to have stepped on it because otherwise I wouldn’t have known about the rotted board and come time when the snow melts the buyer would have had an unpleasant surprise of rotted deck boards that would not have been in my report due to not being visible.

I learned from then on to always write a disclaimer in my reports anytime things are snow or leaf covered that defects may not be visible. Things like rotted boards, cracks or pot holes in driveways and sidewalks can go unnoticed too because of snow. The two biggest things and most important things on the exterior that can become blocked with snow are grading and the roof.

When it snows the snow will prevents inspectors from being able to tell if the ground around the home is properly sloped away from the home. Negative grading around the home can have significant negative impacts on the house and foundation.

Snow can also cover the roof, one of the biggest expenses on a home, and keep inspectors not only from walking the roof but from seeing it’s condition as well. This is one of the biggest downsides to buying a home in the winter. Almost every homebuyers concern is the condition of the roof and in the winter when it’s snow covered the condition can not be determined.

3) Other Things

There are many other things that the winter can create issues with in terms of inspections and not being able to inspect something. Hose bibs are one, in the winter, more so weather below 50 degrees, I do not test exterior hose bibs. The main reason is due to possibility of pipes freezing and bursting. Any time its at or below freezing, or will be that night or that week, I do not test them. Also, a lot of homeowners winterize them (turn water off from inside, cover them, etc.) anyways which wouldn’t allow me to test them unless I de-winterize them (which home inspectors would never do).

Gutter leaks can also prove to be difficult and even impossible to see during the winter. Most of the time the water in them is frozen so inspectors won’t be able to see dripping from joints or corners. The one thing inspectors could look for is darker staining on the gutters which indicates leaking areas.

There may be a few other things I’m leaving out but I got the big things covered above. This article is by no means trying to scare you out of buying a house in the winter. It is just to inform you of the inherent risks of buying a home in the winter and some things that may not be able to be inspected or commented on by your inspector. So if you plan to purchase a home and have it inspected in the winter, make sure you are willing to accept those risks.