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You found a house you love, wrote an offer, and the seller accepted. Now comes one of the most important parts of the home-buying process: the inspection.
For first-time buyers, this part can feel a little overwhelming. You may spend a few hours following an inspector through the house, hearing about everything from loose handrails to moisture in the crawlspace, and then receive a report that runs dozens of pages.
That does not necessarily mean you’re buying a bad house.
Especially in Seattle, where we have homes spanning more than a century of construction, nearly every house will have maintenance items, quirks, and things that will eventually need repair. The purpose of an inspection isn’t to find a perfect house. It’s to understand the house you’re buying.
What Does a Home Inspector Look At?
A general home inspection is a visual evaluation of the home’s major components and systems. While the exact scope varies depending on the property, inspectors typically evaluate:
- Roof and exterior
- Foundation and structure
- Attic and insulation
- Electrical system
- Plumbing
- Heating and cooling systems
- Windows and doors
- Kitchens and bathrooms
- Crawlspaces and basements
- Drainage and signs of moisture
- Decks, stairs, and railings
Your inspector isn’t only looking for things that are currently broken. They’re also looking for signs of deterioration, safety concerns, improper installation, and components that may be approaching the end of their useful life.
Not Everything in the Report Is Equally Important
This is one of the biggest things I want first-time buyers to understand.
Inspection reports can be long because inspectors document nearly everything they observe. A missing outlet cover and evidence of a failing roof might both appear in the same report, but they clearly don’t deserve the same amount of attention.
When reviewing an inspection, I generally think about findings in a few categories:
Safety issues: Things that could pose an immediate concern, such as exposed wiring or unsafe stairs and railings.
Major systems and potentially expensive repairs: The roof, foundation, sewer, electrical panel, plumbing, heating system, and drainage deserve particular attention.
Deferred maintenance: Things that haven’t failed but may need attention in the coming months or years.
Normal homeowner repairs: Caulking, loose hardware, minor leaks, aging finishes, and the many smaller items that come with owning a home.
The goal isn’t to create a list of every imperfect thing. It’s to figure out which findings actually matter.
A Few Things I Pay Attention to in Seattle Homes
There are three areas I pay particularly close attention to when reviewing an inspection with buyers.
Foundation, Structure, and Drainage
Seattle’s hills, wet winters, older housing stock, and crawlspaces make moisture and drainage especially important.
Cracks or settlement don’t automatically mean there is a structural problem. Older homes often have quirks. What matters is understanding whether something appears cosmetic, needs to be monitored, or warrants further evaluation.
It’s also important to look at why moisture may be appearing. Gutters, downspouts, grading, drainage, and water around the foundation can all play a role.
Roof
A roof doesn’t have to be new, but you want to understand its current condition and estimated remaining life.
An inspector may find worn roofing material, damaged flashing, moss, evidence of previous leaks, or areas that need maintenance. If a roof is nearing the end of its useful life, that’s important information even if it isn’t leaking today.
The Sewer Line
For most Seattle-area single-family homes, I strongly recommend a separate sewer scope in addition to the general home inspection.
A sewer scope involves running a small camera through the home’s sewer line. It can reveal issues such as root intrusion, cracks, separated or offset sections, deterioration, blockages, or areas where the pipe has begun to fail.
And you can’t see any of that by walking around the house.
This is particularly important with older Seattle homes, where sewer lines may also be decades old. A home can look beautifully maintained above ground while having an expensive problem underneath it.
Because sewer repairs can become costly quickly, this is one area where I don’t like buyers guessing.
Sometimes You Need a Specialist
A home inspector is a generalist. Part of their job is recognizing when something deserves a closer look.
Depending on the property and what comes up during the inspection, that could mean bringing in a:
- Structural engineer
- Electrician
- Plumber
- Roofer
- Sewer contractor
- HVAC specialist
- Pest specialist
- Arborist
This isn’t necessarily a sign that something is seriously wrong.
Seattle homes have been built, remodeled, added onto, repaired, and updated over many decades. Sometimes getting a specialist involved is simply the best way to understand what you’re looking at before making a decision.
Should You Attend the Inspection?
Whenever possible, yes.
The written report is valuable, but being there gives you context that is difficult to get from photos and written descriptions alone.
You can ask questions, see where things are located, and hear the inspector explain which findings they consider significant and which are relatively routine.
It’s also a useful introduction to your future home.
You might learn where the main water shutoff is, how to change the furnace filter, where the electrical panel is located, how the crawlspace is accessed, and which areas will need regular maintenance.
What Happens if the Inspector Finds a Problem?
Finding problems is the inspector’s job, so don’t be surprised when they do.
What happens next depends on your purchase contract, the inspection terms in your offer, the severity of the findings, and the circumstances of the transaction.
Depending on those factors, a buyer may have options that include asking for repairs, requesting a credit, conducting additional inspections, renegotiating certain terms, or deciding whether they’re comfortable moving forward.
This is where context matters.
A small repair and a major system replacement deserve very different conversations. So do an older component that may need replacement eventually and an active problem that needs to be addressed now.
What an Inspection Can’t Tell You
A standard home inspection is primarily visual and non-invasive. Inspectors aren’t opening walls, pulling up flooring, or dismantling major systems. And they can’t predict exactly when something will fail.
A furnace that’s working properly today could fail next year. A roof with several years of estimated life remaining could develop a leak sooner.
An inspection reduces uncertainty, but it can’t eliminate it.
That’s part of homeownership.
You Aren’t Looking for a Perfect House
In Seattle, a completely issue-free inspection would be unusual.
A 1920s Craftsman, a 1950s rambler, a 1990s townhouse, and a brand-new home will each have different things to understand.
The question usually isn’t:
“Did the inspector find anything wrong?”
They probably will.
The better questions are:
What did we learn?
Which items actually matter?
What might they cost?
Do we need more information?
And knowing all of this, are you still comfortable buying the house?
That’s what the inspection period is really for.
You don’t need a perfect home. You need enough information to understand what you’re buying, what you may need to take care of in the future, and whether the home still feels like the right decision.
For a first-time buyer, that knowledge can make the difference between simply buying a house and feeling prepared to own one.
Kristina Bulajewski
Broker | Realtor®
Windermere Real Estate Co. | Ballard
Helping buyers and sellers navigate Seattle real estate with thoughtful guidance and local insight.
