Inspection report came back with 40 items - should I walk?

Why the number itself means nothing

An inspector is paid to notice, and a good one notices everything. A forty-item report on a well-kept 1990s house and a forty-item report on a neglected one look identical in length and are nothing alike in content. Read the items, not the count.

Bucket one: structure and water

These are the ones worth walking away over, or renegotiating hard on.

• Foundation movement, particularly where it shows in the slab and the wall finishes at the same time.
• Roof condition and roof age, which in Florida is also an insurance question.
• Active leaks anywhere, including around windows and at plumbing penetrations.
• Grading that sends water towards the house rather than away from it.

Bucket two: systems with a date on them

These are not defects so much as a schedule of future spending, and they are the ones people misjudge. Ask for the age of each and work out what is due in the first three years.

• Roof, HVAC and water heater.
• The electrical panel, including the brand — some older panels are effectively uninsurable.
• In Florida, the plumbing material. Polybutylene supply lines change both the repair plan and the insurance quote.

Bucket three: safety, then the Saturday list

Double-tapped breakers, missing GFCI protection where it is required, and anything involving gas belong in the safety bucket and are usually inexpensive to correct. Everything left after those three buckets — loose handles, a sticking door, missing outlet covers — is a Saturday with a screwdriver, and arguing about it costs you leverage on the items that matter.

Ask for money, not repairs

A seller under time pressure hires the cheapest available person, and you inherit that work. A credit lets you choose the contractor and the specification. It also keeps the closing date intact, which is usually worth more to both sides than the repair itself.

I read these reports as a builder first, which changes what I tell buyers to fight for. If the report raises the roof, the next step is how to judge roof replacement quotes; if it raises insurance, read when to get a Florida insurance quote. For the repair side of it, that is what my contractor licence is for.

What to do with the report in the next 48 hours

1. 1Read the summary, then read the body. The summary is what the inspector thought was notable; the body is where the dates and the ages are.
2. 2Mark every item with a cost that starts in four figures. That is your negotiation list.
3. 3Get one real quote for the largest item rather than three guesses. A written quote is what moves a seller.
4. 4Send the request as a credit with the quote attached, inside the inspection period.

Sellers respond to evidence and deadlines. A list of forty items with no numbers reads as a renegotiation attempt; one quote for a roof with a date on it reads as a fact.