The Home Inspection Mistake That Kills Deals

The inspection process is where a lot of deals fall apart, and most buyers don't realize why. It's rarely the inspection itself that kills the deal. It's how the buyer handles it.

Never Waive Your Inspection

I don't care how competitive the market is or what anyone tells you: you need to know what you're buying. Once you waive that contingency, you're saying you're good no matter what shows up. That's not a position I want anyone in. Once you're under contract, you'll have a due diligence period, one of several contingencies alongside the appraisal, the loan, and reviewing seller disclosures, where you can order a general home inspection and, depending on what it turns up, additional inspections like sewer, mold, pest, pool, or roof.

Start With the General Inspection, Then Let the House Tell You What's Next

Buyers often think the goal is to know absolutely everything upfront, so they order every specialty inspection before they even see the general report. That means spending money before you know if there's actually a problem. My approach is simpler: start with the general inspection, then let the house tell you what it needs. That inspector evaluates everything they can see: the structure, roof, plumbing, electrical, HVAC, running the water, testing outlets, checking the attic. They're not opening walls or digging under the house, but they're putting the home through a basic stress test. I had a buyer once who ordered everything upfront, spent over $2,000 on inspections, and the general inspection came back showing a house in genuinely good shape. More than half those extra inspections weren't even necessary, and the deal ended up falling apart for an unrelated reason. The money was already gone.

Don't Panic Reading the Report

Set your expectations now: the report is going to be long, thirty, fifty, sometimes a hundred pages, and if you've never seen one, it's overwhelming. I've had buyers call and say they want to cancel because the report shows "a lot of problems," and then we go through it together and it's almost all small stuff. Remember, you're literally paying someone to find problems; if they don't find anything, that's the actual red flag. I've seen inspectors flag issues on brand-new construction. Finding items on the report doesn't mean the house is falling apart. It means the inspector did the job you hired them for.

Be There for the Walkthrough If You Can

If your schedule allows it, walk the property with the inspector after the inspection and look at what's in the report together. Things almost always read worse on paper than they look in person, since a report is written to flag issues. Standing there while the inspector points something out, you often realize it isn't as big a deal as it sounded, or on the flip side, they'll tell you something really does need attention. That context is hard to get from a PDF alone.

Separate Signal From Noise

Not all issues are created equal. There's a big difference between a structural issue and a loose outlet, between foundation movement and a door that sticks. Buyers who treat everything on the report the same way are the ones who get themselves into trouble, either walking from a good house over minor items or missing what actually matters. If the inspector notes moisture and a visible sign of a long-term leak, that's a reason to dig deeper with a mold inspection. Older plumbing, slow drains, or big trees nearby might justify a sewer inspection. You're reacting to what you actually see, not guessing and spending just in case.

Using the Inspection to Negotiate

The inspection isn't just about finding problems. It's about what you do with the information. I had a buyer where the general inspection flagged something on the roof, not obvious, but enough to look closer. We brought in a roofing contractor and found the roof had about two years of life left. Instead of throwing that into a long list of asks, we focused on that one issue and negotiated a credit, so the buyer got the house and control over how it got fixed. I've also seen it go the other way: a buyer got an overwhelming report back and asked for nearly everything on it, most of which didn't really matter, and the seller got defensive enough that we nearly lost the deal, not because of the house, but because of how the inspection was handled.

What works better is being strategic and focusing on health and safety, major systems, and structural issues. If you ask for too much, a seller often fixes the easy stuff and you lose leverage on what actually matters.

Once It's In Writing, It Becomes a Disclosure

Something most buyers don't realize: once you bring an issue to a seller in writing, it becomes a disclosure. If you walk away, the seller now has to tell the next buyer, which gives you real leverage. When negotiating, you can ask for repairs or a credit, and I generally prefer credits, since you get the money, choose who does the work, and control the outcome. The seller doesn't have to agree to anything, but as long as you're communicating and acting in good faith, they can't simply cancel on you for asking. Know your line before the report comes back, what you're actually okay with and what's a dealbreaker, because if you don't know that ahead of time, you'll make emotional decisions once it's in front of you. Don't treat the inspection like a checklist. Treat it like a strategy.