The report is long and orange. You get a plan.
Six inspections, four priority tiers, one rule on cost figures. This is how I take a Maryland or DC buyer through the inspection period, what the seller sees on the other side, and how the repair request actually gets decided.
Inspection reports are long and orange by design.
An inspector's job is to find everything and flag it. Nobody is paid to tell you what to do about it. That part is mine.
A general inspection on an older house in Silver Spring, Columbia, or Petworth comes back as a long document of photographs and orange arrows. Some of it matters a great deal. Some of it is a loose cover plate. The report puts both on the same page in the same font, and it is supposed to.
In Maryland the inspection contingency is an addendum to the Maryland REALTORS® contract and runs for a stated number of days. The contract counts days as consecutive calendar days, weekends and holidays included, starting the day after acceptance. DC's GCAAR forms use their own addendum with the same shape: a deadline, a written notice, a response window. The clock is short, so the inspections get booked the day we go under contract.
Inspection reports are long and orange by design. My job is to turn one into a plan: what came back clean, what to fix first, what to save for, and what to ask the seller for.
Michael WadeSix inspections. You choose the set.
I present the same six to every buyer: what each one checks, who does it, how long it takes, and when it matters most. Selection is personal preference. I tell you what I would do on that house, and you decide.
The general inspection
Roof, structure, foundation, electrical, plumbing, HVAC, water heater, built-in appliances, and the grading around the house. This produces the long report, and it tells you how the house has been cared for.
The one repair that runs deep
A camera travels the main drain line to the street or septic tank, looking for roots, offsets, bellies, and cracked or collapsed pipe. The fix for a bad line is a trench, which is why this gets its own line item.
Two companies, never one
Air and surface samples with lab results, ordered for visible staining, a musty odor, or a known water event. The company that assesses should not be the company that remediates; the one that finds the problem should not sell you the fix.
Termites and their cousins
Termites, carpenter ants, powder-post beetles, and the damage they leave. Lenders often ask for it, and VA loans generally require a clear report.
A short test, a known fix
A monitor sits in the lowest livable level for at least two days. Parts of Maryland, Montgomery and Howard Counties among them, sit in the EPA's highest radon zone, so a result above the action level of 4 pCi/L is a budget line, not a crisis. Mitigation is a known fix: a fan and a vent pipe. Montgomery County requires a test when most single-family homes sell: the seller tests within the year before settlement or lets the buyer test, and both sides get the results. Some sales and towns are exempt.
Level 2, before the first fire
A Level 2 inspection runs a camera up the flue to check the liner, smoke chamber, and crown. A fireplace that looks fine from the hearth can have a cracked liner you cannot see. If there is a fireplace, this happens before the first fire.
Not on public water and sewer? Add a well water test, covering bacteria, nitrates, and whatever the county health department recommends for your area, and a septic inspection, which in Maryland has its own contract addendum.
Built before 1978? Federal law requires the lead paint disclosure. A lead risk assessment is your option, and it matters most where original painted windows and doors rub and make dust.
When I buy a house myself, I do the structural and mechanical, the WDI, the radon, and usually a sewer camera. That is not a recommendation. It is what I do with my own money, and you should know it.
Aging is not broken. Old is a savings line.
The inspector reports condition on the day of the inspection. That one sentence settles most arguments about what a report means.
A snapshot of condition
- Observed, that dayThe furnace ran. The roof shed water. The outlet tested. The inspector reports what happened while they were there.
- Visual and non-invasiveNo walls opened, no carpet lifted. If access was blocked, the report says so, and that is a finding too.
- A list, not a rankingSafety and cosmetic items share a page. Sorting them is the debrief.
A repair bill or a verdict
- Not a predictionA water heater near the end of typical life is not a water heater that fails next month. Nobody knows that.
- Not a cost estimateMost inspectors do not price repairs, and neither do I. Contractors do.
- Not pass or failThere is no grade. Every house has a list. The question is what is on it.
Aging is not broken
- Ran, but oldA savings framing. It goes in the reserve fund with a typical-life window, not in the repair request.
- Did not run, leaks, or unsafeA repair framing. It goes to the seller or into your first-month budget.
- "Engage a specialist"When the inspector writes that, it stands. I do not talk you out of a second opinion, and the other side does not get to either.
What came back clean goes first.
Within a day of the last report, you get a debrief. It opens with what came back clean and the count of safety items, usually zero. Then every finding lands in one of four tiers, or in Still Open.
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Priority One · First 30 to 60 days
Safety and active problems
Anything that can hurt someone or is actively damaging the house: air quality above the action level, active water intrusion, missing or dead smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, open electrical hazards like double-tapped breakers, and the chimney before its first use. Done before move-in or in the first weeks after.
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Priority Two · The reserve fund, 0 to 7 years
Works today, at or past typical life
The furnace that ran fine but is past its usual service window. The roof with some life left. Nothing is broken. You set money aside so that when one of them stops, it is a withdrawal, not an emergency.
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Priority Three · Within 12 months
Water management and the envelope
Sealant at windows and tubs, roof tune-ups and flashing, downspout extensions, soft exterior wood, a slow drain or a dripping valve. Cheap now, expensive later.
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Priority Four · As you go
Maintenance and cosmetics
Loose cover plates, a sticking door, a filter schedule. Real items, honestly listed, and never the subject of a repair request.
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Still Open
Pending results
Radon still running, lab samples not back, a sewer scope set for Thursday. Listed, dated, and priced only if the result comes back adverse.
Nothing here should change your mind about the house. It should change how you budget for it.
The last line of every debriefI am a REALTOR, not a contractor. So I do not estimate.
You still see numbers in the debrief. Here is where they come from and what they are allowed to mean.
The one rule on cost figures. Every price range in a debrief is a public range for the county, pulled from published pricing guides and labeled in italics: Google result — not an estimate. It shows the order of magnitude, hundreds versus thousands versus tens of thousands. It is not a quote and not my opinion of cost, and a real bid replaces it the moment one arrives.
Known scope
A radon system. A water heater. A GFCI outlet. A panel replacement. The work is standard, and public guides publish ranges for our area. You see the range, labeled, with its source.
Unknown scope
A deck where the inspector could not see the ledger. Drainage that needs a redesign, not a downspout. Any line that says "engage a contractor to evaluate." Those carry no number on purpose. The honest entry is: a real quote is needed, and here is who to call.
As bids come in during the contingency, they replace the ranges. A debrief that mixes a guess with a quote is worse than one that says plainly which is which.
A tight, well-documented ask lands better than a long one.
In Maryland the ask goes on the Maryland REALTORS Property Inspections Notice. The addendum above it says plainly that routine maintenance and cosmetic items are not proper subjects. I take that seriously, because sellers and their agents do.
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1Substantive items only
Non-working, leaking, unsafe, or documented damage. If it belongs in Priority Four, it stays off the notice. A list padded with cover plates tells the other side you are fishing, and the serious items get less attention.
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2Every item, four parts
A plain-English headline. The report section and page. What the contractor will do. Why. A seller who can check the ask against the report in two minutes tends to say yes more often.
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3Scope protection
When the inspector writes that photos are representative, the ask says so: all instances of the condition, not only the ones photographed.
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4Licensed, insured, invoiced, finished
Licensed and insured contractors, finished before settlement, with paid invoices and any permits delivered before the walkthrough. Not the seller's cousin, and not the week after closing.
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5Ranked, so the seller knows what matters
Non-working components and water defense first. Documented rot or damage second. Safety-framed items third. The order tells the seller where to spend if they are not going to do everything.
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6Caps measured per finding
Some contracts set a dollar cap on what can be requested or what the seller must spend. When yours does, each finding is measured against it with its bid attached, so nobody wastes a round on items that were never eligible.
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7What you can ask, what they can decline
You can ask for anything substantive. The seller can decline anything, including all of it. The contingency gives you the right to end the contract inside the window, with the deposit handled as the contract spells out. That right, more than the ask, is your real position.
Arithmetic before strategy. Then the choice.
The seller gets the notice and a short window to answer. An answer takes one of six shapes, and most real responses are a mix.
| Option | What it means | When it fits |
|---|---|---|
| Perform the repairs | The seller hires the contractor, pays, and hands over invoices before settlement. | Clear scope and a seller who wants to close on time. Weakest when the seller picks the cheapest fix. |
| Credit with release from performance | Money at settlement toward your closing costs; you release the seller from the work and hire your own contractor after. | You want to control who does the work. Has to fit your lender's limit on seller concessions. |
| Price reduction instead of credit | The purchase price drops by the agreed amount. | When a credit would exceed what the loan allows. Changes the appraisal target. |
| Hybrid | The seller performs the safety and water items and credits the rest. | The usual landing spot. Each side takes the items it is best placed to handle. |
| Buyer handles the cheap items | You drop the small lines and keep the ask on the expensive ones. | When a long list is getting in the way of the two items that matter. |
| Early access on a vacant home | Contractors come in before settlement to quote or complete work. | Vacant homes, tight timelines, or when a real bid is needed before the response window closes. |
Arithmetic before strategy. Before anyone picks, we add it up: what the bids total, what a credit does to your cash to close, what a price cut does to the loan and the appraisal. A generous-looking credit can be worth less than a smaller price cut if the lender caps concessions. I do not guess at those limits. Your lender confirms whether a credit fits the loan, and I confirm every deadline with the broker before anything is signed.
Sequencing matters. Mold remediation before the leak is fixed is money spent twice, so the moisture source comes first. And if your contract allows only one round of response, the numbers go first and the preferences second. There is no second chance to fix the math.
Selling? You will be on the other side of this notice. The Inspection Response Playbook in the Seller Toolkit walks item by item through what to repair, credit, or decline, and a pre-listing inspection tends to take the surprise out of the whole week. See Sell My Home and Before We List.
Repairs done, systems on, then we sign.
The walkthrough happens in the day or two before settlement, after the seller has moved out. It is not a second inspection. It is a check that the house is what the contract says it is.
- Agreed repairs complete. Invoices and follow-up reports in hand before we walk in. We check the work, not just the paperwork.
- Systems on. Heat or cooling running, water heater hot, every faucet and toilet, the dishwasher started.
- GFCI test buttons. Every one trips and resets.
- Detectors. Smoke and carbon monoxide, present and sounding when tested.
- Locks and doors. Exterior doors lock and latch; windows open, close, and lock.
- Conveying appliances. Everything the contract says stays is still there and still works.
- New damage. Move-out scuffs, a wall patch, a cracked tile that was not in the report.
- Broom clean. Debris gone, garage and shed emptied, nothing left in the attic.
- Keys, codes, and openers. Every key, garage remote, mailbox key, and alarm code.
- Shutoff locations. Main water, gas, and the electrical panel. I show you where they are before you own them.
Your own Priority One items are listed separately on the same sheet, so the walkthrough shows two columns: what the seller owed, and what is yours to do first.
What buyers ask before the inspector arrives.
Which inspections do I actually need?
The general structural and mechanical inspection, every time. Beyond that it depends on the house: a sewer scope for older homes and mature trees, radon for anything with a basement or slab, WDI if the lender asks or wood meets soil, a chimney inspection if there is a fireplace, mold only if there is a reason. I tell you which ones I would do on that house, and you choose.
How much do inspections cost?
Ranges vary by the size and age of the home and by the company. The inspector quotes it before you book, and bundling radon or WDI with the general inspection often lowers the total. I do not estimate inspection fees any more than I estimate repair costs. I give you two or three companies and their quotes.
Can I attend?
Yes, and I recommend it, at least for the last hour. The inspector's verbal summary at the end is the most useful twenty minutes of the process. Bring questions, and let them work.
What if the seller says no to everything?
Then you have the contingency's real power: the right to end the contract within the window, with the deposit handled as the contract spells out. Before that, we do the arithmetic again. Sometimes a full no still leaves a house worth buying at the price. Sometimes it does not. The decision is yours; the numbers come from me.
Should I ask for repairs or a credit?
Repairs when the scope is clear and you trust the timeline. A credit when you want to pick the contractor or the work is better done after you own the house. Your lender confirms whether a credit fits your loan's concession limits before we ask for one. Many responses end up a hybrid.
What is a per-item cap?
Some contract forms let the parties set a dollar limit on repairs the buyer can request, or on what the seller is obligated to spend. When one is in your contract, each finding is measured against it with its bid attached, so the notice stays inside the cap and the seller cannot dismiss the whole ask over one item.
Do I inspect new construction?
Yes. A new house has never been lived in, which means nothing has been tested by use. I recommend a general inspection before the builder's final walkthrough and another before the builder's warranty ends. The punch list is not an inspection.
The report is their job. The plan is mine.
Fifteen minutes, your questions, no pressure.
Equal Housing Opportunity. Michael Wade, REALTOR®, Samson Properties, licensed in Maryland and Washington, DC. 443-812-9980. Michael is not a home inspector, contractor, lender, or attorney, and nothing on this page is legal, lending, or tax advice. Any cost figure shown in a debrief is a public range, labeled as such, and not an estimate; licensed contractors provide quotes. Contract deadlines, caps, and contingency terms come from your signed contract and are confirmed with your broker, lender, and title company. Radon and inspection requirements vary by county and municipality; confirm the current rules for your address.