Pages of findings can scare buyers off a good home. Learn the three issues worth paying attention to and what is just routine maintenance.

How do you keep a home inspection from blowing up your entire real estate deal? We recently had a buyer who made an offer contingent on a home inspection, and when the full report came back, they were surprised by how many pages were in it. 

Here's the key thing we want every buyer to understand. Inspectors are paid to find things, and not just things that are wrong with the home. They also note maintenance items and recommendations on how to properly care for that particular property. So a report can run several pages without meaning there are several pages of problems.

The thing you actually want to look for falls into three categories. When something shows up in one of these, that's when it's time to lean in and pay attention.

First, look for mechanical issues. If the plumbing, electrical, appliances, or the mechanics like the HVAC aren't working the way they should, it makes sense to ask for that to be repaired and addressed. These are the systems you rely on every day.

“Pages in an inspection report don't mean pages of problems with the home.”

Second, look for structural issues. If there's a structural concern, definitely pay attention and lean in to negotiate on those items.

Third, look for safety or health hazards. Mold, asbestos, radon, and anything similar can be surprising, and it's common to get those addressed and negotiated as part of the inspection contingency.

Outside of those three categories, most of what fills an inspection report is general or recommended maintenance to take care of once you move in. So don't worry if you have pages of recommendations. You're looking for the major items that fall under one of those three buckets, so a good home doesn't slip away over things that were never really problems.

If you're a seller who wants to avoid costly inspection items popping up and surprising you, reach out to us. We'll let you know what to look for so you can get ahead of the inspection before you sell and avoid those negotiation traps. Give us a call at (651) 998-9829, email us at info@holzgroup.com, or visit holzlifestylehomes.com. We'd love to help you get to the closing table without the surprises.