How to Get Ready for a Home Inspection

An inspection is a report, not a grade. A licensed inspector walks the home and writes down what they see. Roof, foundation, water heater, furnace, plumbing, wiring, windows, drainage, and plenty more. Then the buyer reads it and decides what actually matters to them.

Almost every report comes back with a long list. Even a newer home will fill several pages. That is normal, so do not panic when you see the length of it. The goal is not a spotless report. The goal is no big surprises.

Inspectors spend a lot of time outside, so begin there. Trim back bushes and tree limbs that touch the roof or the siding. Clear the gutters and check that the downspouts push water away from the house. Move stored items away from the foundation and out of the side yards. If the inspector cannot see something, they will write that they could not see it. That one line alone is enough to worry a buyer.

This step is simple and it saves you real trouble. The inspector needs to get to the attic hatch, the crawl space, the electrical panel, the water heater, the furnace, and under both sinks. Move the boxes. Clear the closet floor. Unlock the side gate and the garage. Anything they cannot reach shows up in the report as not inspected, and buyers tend to imagine the worst when they read that.

Have the power, the water, and the gas on for the visit. That sounds obvious, but it comes up all the time with homes that are already empty. Replace burned out bulbs so no light gets flagged as broken. Put fresh batteries in the smoke alarms and the carbon monoxide alarms. Make sure the pilot lights are lit. This is an afternoon of work and it quietly removes a handful of easy items from the list.

Walk your home the way a stranger would, then fix what you can. Running toilets. Slow drains. Loose door knobs. Torn window screens. A dripping faucet. Missing outlet covers. A smoke alarm that chirps. None of these are serious on their own. But a long list of little things makes a buyer feel the home was ignored, and that feeling costs you far more than any one repair.

If you are not sure where to start, ask me. I renovate homes here, so I can usually tell you in one walk which items are worth your money and which ones you can leave alone.

Never paint over a water stain or patch a crack just to get through inspection day. Inspectors look for exactly that, and buyers lose trust in a hurry. In California you also fill out disclosure forms about what you know. Being upfront protects you long after closing. It also lets you explain the repairs you already made, which always sounds better coming from you than being discovered by someone else.

Inspections often run two to four hours, sometimes longer on a larger home. Take your pets with you and plan to be gone. Buyers usually come along for part of it, and they ask better questions when the owner is not standing right there. Before you leave, set out any receipts, permits, and warranties on the counter. Proof that a roof or a furnace was replaced answers questions before they get asked.

Once the buyer has the report, they may come back asking for repairs or a credit. That is a normal part of the process, and it is a conversation rather than a demand. You can agree, offer a credit instead, do part of the list, or hold firm.

What matters is knowing which items are real safety or system problems and which ones are just age and wear. That is where a steady agent earns their keep. I have worked through plenty of these lists, and I will tell you straight what is worth doing and what is not.