An inspection is the one point in the process where you can still change your mind cheaply. Treat it as the most important few hundred dollars you will spend.
Go. In person.
The report is useful. Standing in the crawlspace while the inspector explains what he is looking at is far more useful. You will learn more about the house in two hours than in a dozen showings, and you will own the thing for years.
Bring questions. Ask what he would fix first, what he would watch, and what he would ignore. Inspectors are generally careful about not being alarmist in writing but will talk more freely in person.
Reading the report
Every report on every house contains problems. A long list is not automatically bad news. Sort what you find into three piles:
Structural and safety. Foundation movement, roof at end of life, failing electrical, major plumbing, drainage running toward the house, moisture intrusion. These are expensive and sometimes deal-ending.
Systems with a known lifespan. Furnace, water heater, roof covering. A 22-year-old furnace is not a defect, but it is a bill arriving soon, and that belongs in your calculation.
Maintenance. Loose handrail, cracked outlet cover, dirty filter. Fix it yourself after closing. Nickel-and-diming a seller over small items can sour a negotiation you need for something that matters.
What a general inspection does not cover
A standard inspection is visual and non-invasive. Depending on the property you may also want:
- Sewer scope. A camera down the line. On older Spokane homes with mature trees, this is frequently worth it — root intrusion and failed lines are expensive and completely invisible otherwise.
- Radon testing. Parts of the Spokane area are known for elevated radon. It is inexpensive to test and generally manageable to mitigate, but you want to know.
- Well and septic. Essential outside city services. Flow rate, water quality, septic condition and pumping records.
- Specialist follow-up. If the inspector flags the foundation, electrical panel or roof, get the relevant trade out to price it before your contingency expires.
Negotiating afterward
You generally have a window to accept, request repairs or credits, or walk. Which to ask for depends on the market and the seller — the article on this site about hot, normal and cold markets is relevant here.
Our general advice: ask for a credit rather than repairs where you can. A seller rushing to fix something before closing has every incentive to do it cheaply. Take the money and hire your own contractor.
And be realistic. You are not buying a new house. You are buying a used one, and used houses have wear. The question is not whether it has problems; it is whether the problems are ones you understood and priced in.
Where we come in
We do not have a stake in this house closing, so we will tell you plainly when a report looks like a reason to walk. We have read a great many of them in the Spokane market since 1997, and we know which problems are routine here and which ones are not.