An inspection report lists dozens of items. Only a handful decide whether you should buy. How to tell them apart in an Inland Empire home.
What should a home inspection cover?
Systems and structure. Almost nothing else on the report should change your decision.
A thorough inspection produces a long document — often forty pages, often with dozens of flagged items. That length frightens first-time buyers, and it should not. Most of what is listed is maintenance. A small number of items are the reason the inspection exists.
Learning to tell those apart is the whole skill.
The things that actually matter
Foundation and structure. In older Inland Empire housing stock this comes first. Expansive soils are common across parts of Riverside and San Bernardino counties, and they move with moisture. Hairline cracks in stucco are ordinary. Stair-step cracking in block, doors that will not latch, floors that slope — those warrant a structural engineer before you go further, not a note in your file.
Roof. Age and condition, and be specific about which. A twenty-year-old roof that is not leaking today is still a near-term expense, and it belongs in your math whether or not it is currently failing.
Electrical. Panel type and capacity. Certain panel brands installed decades ago have known problems and can affect insurability. Worth identifying early, because finding out while you are binding insurance is a bad time.
Plumbing. Supply line material and age, and evidence of past leaks. Some materials used in mid-century and later construction have failure histories worth knowing about.
HVAC. In this climate, air conditioning is not optional and replacement is a real number. Age matters more than whether it runs today.
Drainage and grading. Where does water go when it rains? Grading that sends water toward the foundation causes the foundation problem you will be reading about in five years.
The things that do not
Sticking windows. Missing outlet covers. A dripping hose bib. Cosmetic stucco cracks. Doors that need adjustment.
Every house has these, including the one you live in now. A report that lists them is doing its job. The mistake is reading a long list as evidence of a bad house — length is a function of thoroughness, not condition.
How to use the report
Sort it into three piles.
Deal-breakers. Structural, systemic, or safety issues that change what the house is worth or whether you want it at all.
Negotiable. Real costs you did not price into your offer. Roof, HVAC, panel, sewer line.
Maintenance. Everything else. This is your to-do list after you own it, not a negotiating position.
Then negotiate the second pile only. Buyers who bring all forty items to a seller usually get less than buyers who bring the four that matter, because a long list reads as someone looking for an exit rather than someone solving a problem.
When to bring in a specialist
A general inspector is a generalist by design. When one flags something structural, or a sewer line, or a roof at end of life, the right move is a specialist in that trade before you decide anything.
That second opinion costs a fraction of a percent of the purchase price. It is the cheapest insurance in the transaction, and it is the step buyers skip most often once they are already emotionally committed to the house.
The part worth saying plainly
The inspection is not there to talk you out of the house. It is there so you know what you are buying.
Almost every house has something. A report with no findings usually means an inspector who was not looking hard enough. What you want is not a clean report — it is an accurate one, early enough that you still have options.
And if a seller will not allow a reasonable inspection, that is itself the finding.
Renee Shell · REALTOR® · DRE #02112806 Jeff Maas, Broker · National Realty Group · DRE #01129578
Sources & Further Reading
