The Home Inspection Checklist: What Inspectors Look For — and What Actually Matters

No house passes a home inspection, because inspections aren't pass/fail. Every report — on new construction, on mansions, on that immaculate house you fell in love with — comes back with pages of findings. Buyers who don't know this panic at page one; buyers who do know it read straight to the handful of items that matter. After sitting through hundreds of Central Florida inspections, here's the checklist that actually decides deals.

What a standard inspection covers

• ✳Roof — age, remaining life, missing shingles, flashing, and signs of past leaks in the attic.
• ✳Electrical — panel type and capacity, wiring era, GFCI protection, any amateur handiwork.
• ✳Plumbing — supply and drain lines, water heater age, leaks, water pressure, and pipe materials.
• ✳HVAC — age, function, and maintenance of the air conditioning and heat (in Florida, THE comfort system).
• ✳Structure and exterior — foundation cracks, siding and stucco, windows, doors, drainage and grading.
• ✳Interior, attic, and appliances — insulation, ventilation, moisture staining, and everything that switches on.

The Florida big four

Four findings drive most of the money in Central Florida deals. Roof age, because insurers care as much as you do — an older roof can mean expensive coverage or a required replacement timeline. HVAC age, because a fifteen-year-old system in this climate is living on borrowed time. Water intrusion, because our rain and humidity turn small leaks into big problems — stains, soft spots, and mold-like growth deserve real attention. And the electrical panel brand: certain older panels are known insurance red flags and often need replacing regardless of how well they've behaved. Notice the pattern — in Florida, the inspection conversation is half about insurance, and a finding that spooks an insurer is a finding that matters.

Reading the report like a pro

Sort every finding into three buckets. Safety and systems — roof, electrical, structural, active leaks, anything with a big price tag: these are negotiation material. Maintenance — the aging water heater, the fence leaning politely: normal homeownership, not deal material. Cosmetic — the report padding: ignore it. A forty-item report usually holds three to five bucket-one items. Those are the whole conversation. Buyers who nickel-and-dime sellers over bucket three lose goodwill they'll want for bucket one.

Turning findings into negotiating power

You generally have four moves: ask for repairs (best for safety items — licensed work, receipts, verified before closing), ask for a credit (often better — you control the contractor and the quality), renegotiate the price (cleanest for big-ticket items like a roof), or walk away — which is exactly what the inspection period is for when the house turns out to be a different purchase than the one you offered on. The right move depends on the market, the seller, and the finding; that judgment is where representation earns its keep. Get the inspection every time — yes, even new construction, and yes, even in a bidding war there are safer ways to compete than waiving it blind. Then call me and we'll decide which findings are conversation and which are just paper.