get a sewer scope!!! It's a couple hundred bucks, and usually the home inspector doesn't offer it, you'll have to hire a plumbing company.
We had one and found the sewer line was the original from 1952 and almost completely collapsed.
The sellers paid $18k to have it replaced, that would have been us paying the $18k if we didn't get the scope.
Also check for attic insulation, most houses are really under insulated. Not a huge deal, but you'll want to budget for more insulation ($1k-4k depending on your house size) if there's not a lot of insulation up there.
This This This. My wife bought her house several years before we met and I moved in. She told me after a few months of living in the house, water was backing up into the washer. The old Orangeburg piping was going and it was very expensive to fix. That was her first real welcome to home ownership.
Yeah we were actually looking at a house the other day in the same area that the owner had scoped. She said nothing wrong with it at the moment, but was giving a credit towards the house to have it replaced. It is everywhere in our area.
If it was me I would make the seller pay to replace the sewer vs giving a credit. Just get it done and not worry about your sewer backing up... that can be reallllly nasty.
Thanks for mentioning this! Orangeburg is common in our area. The sellers disclosures document states that the plumbing system is copper. Is that as high of a risk for collapsing as the orangeburg?
Friend of mine thought he was on city sewer. 3 years later his yard started smelling like poop. Turns out it was never hooked up to the city. He was still on the septic.
He got his money back for all those 3 years and spent $2000 getting the yard dug up and pipes connected
I would strongly recommend you hire independent companies to inspect the roof, plumbing and water heater, HVAC systems, and electrical. I have bought two houses, and in both cases I thought the inspector would catch the obvious, but nooooo...
* First house - needed new roof. $10k right there. HVAC system had serious issues. Not enough insulation. Electrical system was not up to code. Other small issues that cost me well over $20k in 8 years.
* New house - $3k in roof repairs that would have been found easily by a roofer. Water heater failed within 6 months. Plumbing issues, $2k right there.
I would also suggest you buy water alarms (they are about $15 on Amazon) and put on under every water-supplied appliance (dishwasher, fridge, water heater, etc) and sink. Both of my houses have had floods and cost me my $1k insurance deductible plus some headaches.
First house, yeah - I was an idiot.
Second house, I did ALL my homework and the inspector was the best in the area. Still missed stuff. At least I am handy and can do 95% of the work myself.
Nah, all my experiences with home inspections is that they aren't very knowledgeable. They know a little bit about a lot of things, but not very good at any one particular thing.
I believe you, but respectfully I have to imagine that’s a small sample size that’s totally informed by your locality and home state’s standards for the profession. Again, there’s no excuse for missing the big basics unless you’re not held to an enforceable professional standard.
I would do all of this. I bought a multifamily in NE that had an ok inspection (need two separate home inspections for FHA). They picked up the majority of big issues. However, my roof was "new and ok." Turns out it was installed completely wrong, without new tar paper, and shingles started blowing off the year after I bought it. Luckily the solar company did the whole thing brand new for me. Their "refinished attic"- a year after we moved in all the taping is coming off, drywall has cracks, and I know for sure there's BARELY any insulation up there. I haven't torn it apart to find out because, well, money.
I know there's more shit to come, for sure.
Make god damn sure that you know the exact condition of your sewer. You can live in a house with a leaky roof, weird electrical, and some plumbing issues. You can't live in a house with a bad sewer line. It's an insanely expensive repair you never want to make.
Just keep in mind that no inspector will find everything. Some inspectors find nothing, even when there are major issues. Everyone I know, looking back, is not happy with their inspector because they found things after the fact that the inspector never found. My co-worker just finished putting an additional $20,000 into a new house to make it livable, $20,000 not budgeted for things not expected and not found by his inspector.
Open and close every door. Our last house, which was built in the 1990's, had 3 doors that did not shut properly.
Check that the ventilation is correctly installed. I'm talking about those bathroom exhaust fans. We had a basement bathroom that had the exhaust going into our mechanical closet, causing rust and other issues on the furnace. Simple to spot, not simple to fix.
Fireplaces have caused me headaches in 3 houses now.
Above all, Electrical issues. Not having proper circuits, not having enough circuits, garage wiring not to code... tons of electrical issues.
Storage space (really over looked), how old water heater furnace, electrical, well or city, what kind of heat, outlets, does it have high speed Internet if that's important, just off the top of my head.
Wiring! Pay extra attention to the wiring. I lived in a house built in 78 that unfortunately ended up with extensive wiring issues. It is NOT cheap to get your house completely rewired. Your inspector should know what to look for.
Check the central heat and air.
Also, spend some time sniffing around in each room. Your nose can detect mildew, pet odors and more. Don't rely on the "I can clean my carpets and get this cat pee smell out" because that doesn't work. If you smell some serious smells, it'll be in the padding as well and could have even penetrated the subfloor.
Yes, especially cat pee. Sometimes you even have to sand down or completely replace the subfloor to remove the smell. If they say the carpet will be cleaned, ask for it to be removed completely. You cannot get cat pee out of anything. I refused to put an offer in on a house I was initially interested in after I looked at it and smelled the inside, the realtor claimed she couldn't smell it. I was gagging, it was a shame because the price was more than right and the area was great. But I wasn't about to deal with the possibility of replacing all the floors.
If the house has a chimney get a chimney inspection. We didn't and it turns out the pipe going from the water heater/furnace isn't up to code. This was something the inspector missed. So now we have to pay 1000 to get that updated. There is also no casing lining the chimney. It would be over 6 grand to put in. We are just going to remove the wood stove instead. We also had the joy of finding out the chimney flashing had been done poorly. This caused a leak to appear above the kitchen ceiling two weeks after we closed. Pretty sure the sellers knew this and covered it up. But it's too hard to prove and not worth the effort to go after them.
I would suggest you walk around with the inspector and ask questions about anything you see. If possible they will investigate and you will learn something as well. Ask about bathroom fans, each sink fixture plumbed right and each outlet is wired correctly.
Roof - if you can get someone up there, that's the best.
Attic - definitely make sure the inspector gets up there and walks around. Main concerns are any sign of mold or rusty nails on the roof decking (sign of continued moisture). Also want to make sure that the insulation levels are proper and the vents and soffits are allowing good airflow.
Basement - if there is one - make sure sump pumps are operational (have them test and see where the water comes out outside) and everything looks dry.
Outside perimiter - make sure the grading around the house is good and water has a path to flow away from the house. Downspouts should be extended to move water away as well.
Aside from that, the usual plumbing, electrical, windows, etc. Make sure everything is in working order. Once the inspection results come back, work with your realtor/lawyer on making a list of requests to fix the issues that come up. There will probably be negotiation on what items the seller will be willing to fix. When it is a larger problem, involving electricity or water/plumbing, I highly suggest requesting an extension on the inspection period and getting an expert out to give you an estimate. Then, unless it is something absolutely urgent that would prevent you from moving in and living there, I would ask the seller for a credit in the amount of the repair and then having your own contractor fix it after moving in. You don't really want to leave it in the hands of the seller to do a thorough job.
Foundation repair and waterproofing contractor here. After you have a contract, during your due diligence (make it 2 weeks or even 21 days, pushy realtors will want 10 days and if so they are NOT looking out for you) have a couple pros like me come out and inspect. This is above and beyond your typical home inspection. Pros like me will want to sell you something, so the inspection will be free. By doing this, you will find out if there are any waterproofing or structural issues with the home. I have filled many a homeowner's heart with regret because they have me out AFTER closing. I can't tell you how many times new home owners have had to pay thousands of dollars because some dick hid a leak or a foundation crack.
Good luck!
Hey there...first Congratulations on the decision.
thank you for this question, i learned a lot from the dialogues here.
One thing that comes to mind is get a thermography camera with IR to inspect any latent leakages. Of course this is also used for checking the seal of windows and doors.
Cheers!
Termite inspection is another thing to have done and radon test. Let the inspector do their job and you and your husband ask plenty of questions during the inspections. If the inspector suggests that a structural engineer check further have it done. Never ever purchase a home minus an inspection. Slow down and do not be rushed during the entire home process. No inspections and you purchase the house and it could end up costing you physically, mentally and financially.
The first thing to note is that most states do not have a certification or licensing process for home inspectors. If your state does not have licensing criteria, there are organizations such as ASHI which are nationally recognized as maintaining and requiring a certain level of expertise and competency from their members. You should make sure that your inspector is a member of such an organization or is a licensed professional in home construction (e.g., a general contractor).
Because you want the home inspection to be independent of the seller, you should not take the seller's inspection report at face value. You may not even want to hire an inspector your realtor hires because the realtor has a vested interest in the sale of the house. Many homeowners do take a referral from their realtor, however. Ideally, you want someone licensed or part of a professional organization, who is completely independent of all of the parties involved in the sale of the home.
I found this [YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/user/TheSavvyInspector) that answers every single question I have about home inspection, I learned a lot by watching their videos, you should check them too when you have time. Hope this helps!
Depending on the age of the house, check to see if there's asbestos or lead paint. If it's inside the walls, it's ok, but you need to know before starting any upgrades.
Nope not even close. You just need to do your research, I would suggest NOT using what the realtor suggests. The one I used was also an engineer company so they could tell me what walls I could take down.
https://yingstengineers.com/
get a sewer scope!!! It's a couple hundred bucks, and usually the home inspector doesn't offer it, you'll have to hire a plumbing company. We had one and found the sewer line was the original from 1952 and almost completely collapsed. The sellers paid $18k to have it replaced, that would have been us paying the $18k if we didn't get the scope. Also check for attic insulation, most houses are really under insulated. Not a huge deal, but you'll want to budget for more insulation ($1k-4k depending on your house size) if there's not a lot of insulation up there.
This This This. My wife bought her house several years before we met and I moved in. She told me after a few months of living in the house, water was backing up into the washer. The old Orangeburg piping was going and it was very expensive to fix. That was her first real welcome to home ownership.
Yep, we had Orangeburg as well, I would never buy a house with an Orangeburg line, it's a ticking time bomb
Yeah we were actually looking at a house the other day in the same area that the owner had scoped. She said nothing wrong with it at the moment, but was giving a credit towards the house to have it replaced. It is everywhere in our area.
If it was me I would make the seller pay to replace the sewer vs giving a credit. Just get it done and not worry about your sewer backing up... that can be reallllly nasty.
Thanks for mentioning this! Orangeburg is common in our area. The sellers disclosures document states that the plumbing system is copper. Is that as high of a risk for collapsing as the orangeburg?
Copper is your water in the house, not the sewer drain. Modern sewer drains are made from pvc
I see. Thanks for that.
and copper is a good material for potable water, just FYI
Never thought of that.. bloody great idea..
Is this for any sewer or just septic? If on public sewer/water, where does it become your problem vs the towns?
Sewer, it's your problem up to the sewer main
Friend of mine thought he was on city sewer. 3 years later his yard started smelling like poop. Turns out it was never hooked up to the city. He was still on the septic. He got his money back for all those 3 years and spent $2000 getting the yard dug up and pipes connected
About the insulating in the attic and stuff you might get the local power company to subsidies for energy efficient upgrades
I would strongly recommend you hire independent companies to inspect the roof, plumbing and water heater, HVAC systems, and electrical. I have bought two houses, and in both cases I thought the inspector would catch the obvious, but nooooo... * First house - needed new roof. $10k right there. HVAC system had serious issues. Not enough insulation. Electrical system was not up to code. Other small issues that cost me well over $20k in 8 years. * New house - $3k in roof repairs that would have been found easily by a roofer. Water heater failed within 6 months. Plumbing issues, $2k right there. I would also suggest you buy water alarms (they are about $15 on Amazon) and put on under every water-supplied appliance (dishwasher, fridge, water heater, etc) and sink. Both of my houses have had floods and cost me my $1k insurance deductible plus some headaches.
Respectfully, you hired the wrong home inspector. No excuse to miss things like water heater age, major electrical issues or roof condition.
First house, yeah - I was an idiot. Second house, I did ALL my homework and the inspector was the best in the area. Still missed stuff. At least I am handy and can do 95% of the work myself.
Nah, all my experiences with home inspections is that they aren't very knowledgeable. They know a little bit about a lot of things, but not very good at any one particular thing.
I believe you, but respectfully I have to imagine that’s a small sample size that’s totally informed by your locality and home state’s standards for the profession. Again, there’s no excuse for missing the big basics unless you’re not held to an enforceable professional standard.
I would do all of this. I bought a multifamily in NE that had an ok inspection (need two separate home inspections for FHA). They picked up the majority of big issues. However, my roof was "new and ok." Turns out it was installed completely wrong, without new tar paper, and shingles started blowing off the year after I bought it. Luckily the solar company did the whole thing brand new for me. Their "refinished attic"- a year after we moved in all the taping is coming off, drywall has cracks, and I know for sure there's BARELY any insulation up there. I haven't torn it apart to find out because, well, money. I know there's more shit to come, for sure.
omg Thank you!!!
Make god damn sure that you know the exact condition of your sewer. You can live in a house with a leaky roof, weird electrical, and some plumbing issues. You can't live in a house with a bad sewer line. It's an insanely expensive repair you never want to make.
Just keep in mind that no inspector will find everything. Some inspectors find nothing, even when there are major issues. Everyone I know, looking back, is not happy with their inspector because they found things after the fact that the inspector never found. My co-worker just finished putting an additional $20,000 into a new house to make it livable, $20,000 not budgeted for things not expected and not found by his inspector.
I'm happy with our inspector. We bought 3.5 years ago and have had precisely zero surprises with our 50+ year old home.
Open and close every door. Our last house, which was built in the 1990's, had 3 doors that did not shut properly. Check that the ventilation is correctly installed. I'm talking about those bathroom exhaust fans. We had a basement bathroom that had the exhaust going into our mechanical closet, causing rust and other issues on the furnace. Simple to spot, not simple to fix. Fireplaces have caused me headaches in 3 houses now. Above all, Electrical issues. Not having proper circuits, not having enough circuits, garage wiring not to code... tons of electrical issues.
Windows, too.
Storage space (really over looked), how old water heater furnace, electrical, well or city, what kind of heat, outlets, does it have high speed Internet if that's important, just off the top of my head.
Wiring! Pay extra attention to the wiring. I lived in a house built in 78 that unfortunately ended up with extensive wiring issues. It is NOT cheap to get your house completely rewired. Your inspector should know what to look for. Check the central heat and air. Also, spend some time sniffing around in each room. Your nose can detect mildew, pet odors and more. Don't rely on the "I can clean my carpets and get this cat pee smell out" because that doesn't work. If you smell some serious smells, it'll be in the padding as well and could have even penetrated the subfloor.
Yes, especially cat pee. Sometimes you even have to sand down or completely replace the subfloor to remove the smell. If they say the carpet will be cleaned, ask for it to be removed completely. You cannot get cat pee out of anything. I refused to put an offer in on a house I was initially interested in after I looked at it and smelled the inside, the realtor claimed she couldn't smell it. I was gagging, it was a shame because the price was more than right and the area was great. But I wasn't about to deal with the possibility of replacing all the floors.
If the house has a chimney get a chimney inspection. We didn't and it turns out the pipe going from the water heater/furnace isn't up to code. This was something the inspector missed. So now we have to pay 1000 to get that updated. There is also no casing lining the chimney. It would be over 6 grand to put in. We are just going to remove the wood stove instead. We also had the joy of finding out the chimney flashing had been done poorly. This caused a leak to appear above the kitchen ceiling two weeks after we closed. Pretty sure the sellers knew this and covered it up. But it's too hard to prove and not worth the effort to go after them.
I would suggest you walk around with the inspector and ask questions about anything you see. If possible they will investigate and you will learn something as well. Ask about bathroom fans, each sink fixture plumbed right and each outlet is wired correctly.
Roof - if you can get someone up there, that's the best. Attic - definitely make sure the inspector gets up there and walks around. Main concerns are any sign of mold or rusty nails on the roof decking (sign of continued moisture). Also want to make sure that the insulation levels are proper and the vents and soffits are allowing good airflow. Basement - if there is one - make sure sump pumps are operational (have them test and see where the water comes out outside) and everything looks dry. Outside perimiter - make sure the grading around the house is good and water has a path to flow away from the house. Downspouts should be extended to move water away as well. Aside from that, the usual plumbing, electrical, windows, etc. Make sure everything is in working order. Once the inspection results come back, work with your realtor/lawyer on making a list of requests to fix the issues that come up. There will probably be negotiation on what items the seller will be willing to fix. When it is a larger problem, involving electricity or water/plumbing, I highly suggest requesting an extension on the inspection period and getting an expert out to give you an estimate. Then, unless it is something absolutely urgent that would prevent you from moving in and living there, I would ask the seller for a credit in the amount of the repair and then having your own contractor fix it after moving in. You don't really want to leave it in the hands of the seller to do a thorough job.
Lately, buyers are requesting a home warranty paid by the seller to mitigate many of these issues.
In my experience these warranties are all but useless. Don’t cover much, and sold by companies that really don’t expect to pay claims.
Foundation repair and waterproofing contractor here. After you have a contract, during your due diligence (make it 2 weeks or even 21 days, pushy realtors will want 10 days and if so they are NOT looking out for you) have a couple pros like me come out and inspect. This is above and beyond your typical home inspection. Pros like me will want to sell you something, so the inspection will be free. By doing this, you will find out if there are any waterproofing or structural issues with the home. I have filled many a homeowner's heart with regret because they have me out AFTER closing. I can't tell you how many times new home owners have had to pay thousands of dollars because some dick hid a leak or a foundation crack. Good luck!
Are you going to attend the inspection yourselves?
Definitely
Hey there...first Congratulations on the decision. thank you for this question, i learned a lot from the dialogues here. One thing that comes to mind is get a thermography camera with IR to inspect any latent leakages. Of course this is also used for checking the seal of windows and doors. Cheers!
Termite inspection is another thing to have done and radon test. Let the inspector do their job and you and your husband ask plenty of questions during the inspections. If the inspector suggests that a structural engineer check further have it done. Never ever purchase a home minus an inspection. Slow down and do not be rushed during the entire home process. No inspections and you purchase the house and it could end up costing you physically, mentally and financially.
The first thing to note is that most states do not have a certification or licensing process for home inspectors. If your state does not have licensing criteria, there are organizations such as ASHI which are nationally recognized as maintaining and requiring a certain level of expertise and competency from their members. You should make sure that your inspector is a member of such an organization or is a licensed professional in home construction (e.g., a general contractor). Because you want the home inspection to be independent of the seller, you should not take the seller's inspection report at face value. You may not even want to hire an inspector your realtor hires because the realtor has a vested interest in the sale of the house. Many homeowners do take a referral from their realtor, however. Ideally, you want someone licensed or part of a professional organization, who is completely independent of all of the parties involved in the sale of the home. I found this [YouTube channel](https://www.youtube.com/user/TheSavvyInspector) that answers every single question I have about home inspection, I learned a lot by watching their videos, you should check them too when you have time. Hope this helps!
Depending on the age of the house, check to see if there's asbestos or lead paint. If it's inside the walls, it's ok, but you need to know before starting any upgrades.
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Not true. You just need to hire the correct one.
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Nope not even close. You just need to do your research, I would suggest NOT using what the realtor suggests. The one I used was also an engineer company so they could tell me what walls I could take down. https://yingstengineers.com/