Reno Diary #2: The Home Inspection Reality Check (20 days to closing)
- nvilu7
- Mar 31
- 6 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
90 Pages of “What Did I Just Buy?”
Buying a house? Here’s what a home inspection really tells you—and how to turn a terrifying report into a smart renovation plan.
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On August 11th, my dream house was inspected.
On August 12th I got the home inspection report—and a nasty reality check.
It was 90 pages long.
Yikes.
I knew from my initial walk-through that the house was in bad shape.
But 90 pages?
Then I remembered what I saw when I first entered the house.
Good bones. A clean, elegant layout. Lots of light. No unfortunate attempts at modernization.
A house worth saving.
I would use the inspection report to save the house. My house.
What is a Home Inspection Report?
A home inspection report is a detailed list of issues found during a home inspection, paid for by the buyer. It tells you what systems are broken, what’s going to break soon, and what you can leave alone.
It doesn’t tell you whether or not you should buy the house.
That’s your problem.
Some states require that home inspections occur after the buyer makes an offer on a property but before the seller has legally accepted the offer. This timing gives the buyer a significant advantage when negotiating with the seller. Unfortunately for me, in Oregon, home inspections occur after the seller has legally accepted the buyer’s offer.
I could have backed out of the deal, but my vision of what the house could be persisted. Rather than walk away, I negotiated with the seller to pay all my closing costs.
How to Spot Problems Before the Home Inspection
To avoid the shock of getting your very own 90-page home inspection report, conduct your own inspection during the showing. Forewarned is forearmed.
Situational Clues
Homes in neighborhoods that have experienced a disaster, including flood, fire, or earthquakes
Long term rental properties being sold by the owner (ding ding!)
Properties sold by heirs after a lengthy ownership by a parent
Homes resold quickly by sellers not experiencing a life change
Physical Clues
Significant cosmetic wear and tear
Fresh paint or new carpet in an otherwise unmaintained house
Musty smells (hello, mold)
Outdated electrical systems
Leaky or corroded plumbing (look under every sink)
Foundation cracks or uneven floors
Roof/siding damage
Foggy double-pane windows
Yard sloping toward the house
If you spot problems like these, and you still want to make an offer, strategize with your real estate agent beforehand on how much you want to offer and what conditions you want to impose on the offer. And be prepared to walk away if the seller isn’t willing to negotiate.
Why? Most residential sales contracts provide buyers with little legal recourse if the buyer uncovers significant issues with a property post-close that were undisclosed by the seller.
What that means is that, in addition to what’s in the home inspection report, undisclosed problems also become your problems after close.
In my case, several months after the reno was completed and I had moved in, I found out that my home had an old, supposedly decommissioned heating oil storage tank buried in the back yard. This teeny tiny detail was not disclosed by the sellers.
I could have taken action against the sellers for their memory lapse, but I would have had to hire an attorney and take the sellers to court. No, thanks.
How I Turned My Home Inspection Report into a Renovation Plan
The home inspector ranked the issues he found like this:
Satisfactory—item functions as intended
Maintenance or Monitor—the item needs typical maintenance
Repair or Replace—the item is not functioning as intended
Deferred Cost—the item is currently functional but is nearing the end of its life
Not Inspected
I turned the report into a plan by building a spreadsheet with one line for each item in the report. It was a big spreadsheet, but it made it much easier for me to see, sort, and prioritize the report’s recommendations and build a budget and timeline.
Columns:
Inspector recommendation/Priority
Issue/Item
Timing (Pre-Move / Post-Move Phases)
Who to hire to do the work
Then I assigned timing phases:
Pre-Move = must be done now
Post-Move = staged upgrades
Monitor = keep an eye on it
After discussing the condo sales strategy and timing with my real estate agent, I knew I had until early November to get my house move-in-ready.
Now I needed to figure out what move-in-ready looked like.
Prioritizing My Home Inspection Checklist
I decided to review the home inspection report in detail to determine what actually mattered for the reno.
The first thing I did was eliminate anything on the report considered ‘Satisfactory’.
My priority order was:
Repair or Replace—an obvious first priority.
Deferred Cost—but first I wanted to know how close to kaput these items were to determine where they fit in the reno timeline (many of them were reassigned to Repair or Replace).
Not Inspected—I wanted to get these items inspected ASAP because what you don’t know CAN hurt you.
Maintenance or Monitor—like the Deferred Cost items, I wanted more intel on each so I could assign the action to the appropriate reno phase.
This is where I began to look at the house as a series of connected systems rather than individual items—and the reno evolved from a long list of tasks to a shorter list of projects.
For example, the inspector classified the house’s rotten porch posts as a first priority for replacement, but the rotten fascia as a deferred fix. Since they were connected, I decided to treat them as a single project categorized as Pre-Move.
In another example, the inspector considered the electrical panel as a deferred replacement. But, if I wanted a kitchen with more than four outlets (which I did), the panel would need to be replaced first in order to update the kitchen. I reclassified all electrical-related recommendations as Pre-Move.
Some Repair or Replace items were not essential to my safety (for example, a cracked doorframe and trim) were moved to Post-Move.
After deciding to treat the reno as projects rather than tasks, and reclassifying where related tasks took place in my timeline, I had a much more realistic reno project list.
The results gave me a starting point for identifying the services I needed, when they needed to be scheduled, and creating a budget.
Before finalizing, I double-checked all the items considered ‘Satisfactory’ in the inspection report against my reno plan to make sure I accounted for every system, even if it didn’t need work.
When I was done, my spreadsheet had transformed 90 pages of problems into a renovation strategy.
When planning a home renovation, think in terms of projects, not repairs.
If it’s part of the same system, it belongs in the project.
Next—Identifying My Personal Reno Priorities
My next step was to do a walk-through of the house to identify my personal reno priorities. I scheduled it for Monday morning. My deadline for backing out of my offer was the following Friday.
Which meant that I had most of next week to build a master reno plan, determine if I had enough time to get the Pre-Move projects done, figure out how much it was going to cost, and whether I should move forward—or abandon ship.
No pressure.
But there was one other thing I could start now—getting estimates for the services I knew I would need and start plugging those into the spreadsheet. My real estate agent had already shared his personal list of home repair service providers. I knew I could engage anyone on that list without fear of shoddy work or getting ripped off.
There were a few hours left in the business day, so I picked up the phone and started to schedule appointments for the following week.
What You Actually Need After a Home Inspection
These are the tools I rely on to evaluate issues, prioritize work, and avoid expensive surprises.
Inspection + Planning Tools
Moisture meter (check for hidden leaks)
Outlet tester (quick electrical checks)
Laser level (spot uneven floors/walls)
Small notebook
Safety First
Fire extinguishers (one per level)
Smoke + CO detectors (upgrade immediately)
Radon test kit (if not already tested)
Basic Toolbox
Screwdriver set
Pliers set
Combination pliers
Power Tools
Drill/driver — I've owned four drills and this one is SO good
Measuring & Install
Stud finder — because magnetic stud finders never work for me
Plumbing
Storage
Before-Move Fixes (Most Common)
LED light bulbs (upgrade everything)
Daylight (5000K)
Soft White (2700K)
Exterior doorknobs
Exterior door deadbolts
HVAC filters (double-check size and type for your system)
Weather stripping for exterior doors
Weather stripping for windows
Buy these before closing so you’re ready Day 1.
Next Up
Adding personal reno priorities to the reno plan.
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