Your Home Inspection Is Not a Pass/Fail Test — Here's How to Use It Right

I've watched buyers walk away from solid houses over a leaky faucet, and I've watched other buyers close on money pits because they didn't know what questions to ask the inspector. Both are mistakes you can avoid — if you understand what a home inspection is actually for.

Let me save you some stress.

The Inspection Is a Negotiation Tool, Not a Verdict

First buyers almost always think of the inspection as a green light or a red light. It's neither. It's a detailed picture of the house you're about to spend a few hundred thousand dollars on. Every house — new construction included — will have a list of findings. That's normal. What matters is what's on the list and how you respond to it.

When the report comes back, resist the urge to panic about every line item. The inspector's job is to document everything. Your job is to triage.

Split the findings into three buckets:

1. Safety issues — gas leaks, faulty wiring, structural cracks, active water intrusion. These are non-negotiable. Either the seller fixes them or you adjust the price accordingly.
2. Expensive repairs — aging HVAC, a roof with five years of life left, old water heater. These aren't reasons to flee, but they're absolutely reasons to negotiate.
3. Normal wear — a sticking door, a missing outlet cover, scuffed trim. Don't bring these to the negotiation table. You'll look like an amateur and frustrate the seller.

Choose Your Inspector Carefully

Don't use whoever the listing agent recommends. Find your own. Ask your buyer's agent for names, then check them independently. Look for someone certified through ASHI or InterNACHI. More importantly, talk to them for five minutes before you hire them. A good inspector will walk the roof, crawl the crawl space, and spend two to three hours on site. If someone quotes you 90 minutes for a 2,400 square foot house, keep looking.

Be there for the inspection yourself. I can't stress this enough. The written report will never capture the nuance of an inspector pointing at a beam and saying, "This isn't urgent, but keep an eye on it." That context is gold.

The Sewer Line Nobody Checks

Here's what Scott Andrew Alpaugh learned the hard way talking to buyers who've been burned: get a sewer scope on any house built before 1980. It's usually $150–$200 extra and it's almost never included in a standard inspection. Clay sewer lines deteriorate. Tree roots invade them. A failed line can cost $8,000 to $15,000 to repair. That's not a fun closing gift to give yourself.

Same goes for radon testing if you're in a region where it's prevalent. It's cheap to test, cheap to mitigate, and a real health issue if ignored.

How to Negotiate After the Inspection

You have a few options after you get the report:

• Ask for repairs — good for clear safety items where you want the work done before closing.
• Ask for a price reduction — often cleaner than repairs, especially with deferred maintenance items.
• Ask for a seller credit — the seller gives you money at closing to handle repairs yourself. This gives you control over who does the work and the quality.

In a buyer's market, you have leverage. Use it methodically, not emotionally. Pick the issues that matter and make a clean, reasonable ask. Sellers respond better to a focused request than a laundry list of 30 items.

The Bottom Line

A thorough inspection should feel like homework, not a horror show. Treat it as the information-gathering phase it is, bring in the right professionals, and you'll close with confidence knowing exactly what you're buying.

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More practical home buying advice from Scott: - scottandrewalpaugh.com - andrewalpaugh.com - scottalpaugh.com

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Written by Scott Andrew Alpaugh — technology professional and entrepreneur based in Greenville, South Carolina. Also at andrewalpaugh.com and scottalpaugh.com.