One of the questions buyers frequently ask me during a NJ home inspection is some version of, “How worried should I be about this?” It is a good question because almost every house is going to have problems. Some will cost very little to correct. Some are simply part of maintaining a home. Others deserve considerably more attention. The difficult part for a buyer is figuring out which is which.
When you are buying a home in New Jersey, particularly an older home, it is very easy to become overwhelmed by everything that may appear in a home inspection report. As a New Jersey home inspector, I don’t look at a house based simply on the number of problems I find. I am much more interested in the type of problems, why they are occurring, what they may cost to correct, and what they tell me about the house as a whole.
Take basement water as an example. This is something NJ home inspectors encounter frequently because we have such a large inventory of older homes with basements. A water stain on a basement wall tells me that water has been there, but it doesn’t necessarily tell me why. I want to go outside and look at the property. Where are the downspouts discharging? Does the ground slope toward the house? Are the gutters overflowing? Is water collecting next to the foundation? Is there a low area outside exactly where I am seeing the staining inside?
Sometimes several problems in an inspection report are really one problem. A downspout discharges next to the foundation, water collects against the house, the basement wall becomes wet, humidity increases and eventually there may be damaged materials or mold growth. Those shouldn’t necessarily be viewed as five unrelated defects. I want to understand the source of the problem because correcting the source is often more important than simply repairing the damage that I can see.
This is also why I spend a considerable amount of time inspecting the exterior during my NJ home inspections. What is happening outside can tell me a great deal about what I eventually find inside. Water is one of the most destructive forces affecting a house, yet many water problems begin with relatively simple conditions that have been allowed to continue for years.
The same thinking applies to structural conditions. New Jersey has a tremendous variety of housing, including many homes that have been standing for generations. Older houses move. Floors aren’t always perfectly level, walls aren’t always perfectly straight, and a crack doesn’t automatically mean there is a major structural problem. I have inspected plenty of older homes where movement occurred many years ago and the house has continued to perform satisfactorily.
What matters is the nature and extent of the movement. If I find significant displacement, damaged structural components, unusual settlement or evidence suggesting that movement may be continuing, that gets my attention. A small shrinkage crack and a foundation wall that has significantly moved are two very different conditions. The buyer needs to understand that difference.
Safety problems are another area I take seriously during a home inspection. Improper electrical work, combustion problems with heating equipment, unsafe stairs and railings, or conditions that could expose someone to carbon monoxide aren’t things I like to dismiss simply because the house is old. An older home doesn’t have to perform exactly like a newly constructed home, but important safety conditions still deserve attention.
Then there are the expensive components of the house. A roof can be functioning today and still need replacement soon. The same is true of a boiler, furnace, air-conditioning system, water heater or sewer line. This is where buyers sometimes misunderstand what their home inspector is telling them.
If I operate a 30-year-old boiler and it produces heat, that means it operated during my inspection. It doesn’t mean the boiler suddenly became new or that I expect it to provide another 15 years of reliable service. Nobody can predict exactly when an older component will fail. What I can do is explain its age, condition and where it appears to be within its useful life so the buyer can plan accordingly.
When several expensive components are approaching the end of their useful lives at the same time, I think that becomes particularly important. You may be looking at a beautiful house with a new kitchen, updated bathrooms and freshly refinished floors, but if it also has an older roof, older heating equipment, original windows and an aging sewer line, there may be substantial expenses coming that aren’t nearly as obvious as the improvements you noticed when you first walked through the house.
That doesn’t necessarily make it a bad house. It makes it a house you need to understand before you buy it.
I also pay attention to how a house has been maintained. Repairs tell you something. When I continually see thoughtful repairs that appear to have been performed correctly, that is encouraging. When I repeatedly find patches, makeshift repairs, deferred maintenance and problems that appear to have been covered rather than corrected, I start wondering what else I am going to find.
A house tends to tell a story as you move through it. The roof, basement, electrical system, plumbing, heating equipment and exterior may seem like completely separate parts of a New Jersey home inspection, but together they can give you a pretty good picture of how the property has been cared for.
There are also plenty of things I find during NJ home inspections that simply don’t concern me very much. A loose door handle can be fixed. A dripping faucet can be repaired. Caulking can be replaced. An older appliance will eventually need replacement. I still put these things in my report because my client should know about them, but they don’t carry the same weight as active water infiltration, structural damage, an unsafe electrical condition or several major systems approaching replacement.
This is why I don’t think buyers should judge a house by the length of the home inspection report. A detailed report is going to contain a lot of information. That doesn’t automatically mean you are buying a bad house.
Instead, try to understand the overall condition of the property. Has the house been maintained? Are there active problems causing continued damage? Are there important safety concerns? Are several expensive components going to need replacement in the near future? Are the problems isolated, or are several of them being caused by the same underlying condition?
When I perform a NJ home inspection, my job isn’t simply to identify as many defects as possible. I want my client to understand which conditions matter, how different problems may be related, what expenses may be coming, and what questions should be answered before moving forward with the purchase. A good home inspection should give you more than a list of defects. It should give you a much better understanding of the house you are considering buying.
Most importantly, do you understand what you are taking on?
There is no perfect house, and the purpose of a home inspection isn’t to find one. The purpose is to give you enough information to understand the house, the problems that matter, the expenses that may be coming and the maintenance that will be required. Once you understand those things, you are in a much better position to decide whether that particular house is right for you.
That’s what I want every client to understand when we finish an inspection.
John Martino
NJ Licensed Home Inspector
LookSmart Home Inspections