“I’ve Inspected More Than 3,000 Homes. Here Are the Things Buyers Still Miss.”

You've inspected thousands of homes. What still surprises you?

More than 3,000 homes inspected across Durham Region. Known for plain-language reports and a habit of pulling the panel cover off before anything else.

What is the single most common thing buyers overlook?

Water. It is almost always water. Not a dramatic flood — a grade that slopes the wrong way, a downspout that discharges eighteen inches from the foundation, a bathroom fan venting into an attic. None of it looks like anything on a Saturday afternoon showing, and all of it compounds quietly for years.

“I’ve Inspected More Than 3,000 Homes. Here Are the Things Buyers Still Miss.”

What should a buyer actually do during the inspection?

Come. Walk with me. The report is a record, not the product — the product is the ninety minutes where you can ask what something means and get an answer in real time. Buyers who attend make better decisions, and they negotiate better, because they understand what they are asking for.

• Book the inspection before you're emotionally committed, not after.
• Attend it. Bring questions. Ask what a repair actually costs.
• Separate the "must fix" list from the "should budget" list before you negotiate.

He has inspected more than 3,000 homes since 2007, and he still runs every inspection himself. Buyers are encouraged to walk along — most of the value, he argues, is in the ninety minutes of conversation, not the PDF that follows.