Most Common Home Inspection Problems in South Florida: A System-by-System Guide

Why South Florida homes share the same inspection problems

Every house is different, yet the most common home inspection problems in South Florida show up on report after report. The reason is the setting. Homes in Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties deal with the same stresses all year, and they were built in a handful of eras that each left their own materials behind. Once you know those patterns, an inspection report becomes much easier to read.

Four local forces do most of the damage:

• Salt air. Near the coast, salt settles on everything metal. It eats A/C condenser fins, rusts panel enclosures, meter bases and shutter hardware, and works its way into concrete, where it attacks the steel reinforcing.
• Sun and heat. Ultraviolet light and high surface temperatures dry out roofing, caulk, window gaskets and paint years before the same materials would give up in a milder climate. The A/C also runs for most of the year, so its parts pile up hours quickly.
• Humidity. Moist air condenses on cold ducts, air handlers and supply registers. Wood that stays damp at the bottom of a door frame or behind a fascia board rots, and surfaces that stay wet invite mold.
• Storms. Wind-driven rain finds gaps that stay dry the rest of the year: a cracked vent boot, an open stucco crack, a slider with clogged weep openings. Repairs after a storm are sometimes rushed, and not always permitted.

Building codes add a regional layer. The Florida Building Code applies its High-Velocity Hurricane Zone (HVHZ) provisions to Miami-Dade and Broward counties only, and Palm Beach County sits outside that zone. Roofing, windows, doors and shutters in the HVHZ are held to stricter testing and approval rules, so in those two counties the permits and product approvals behind a roof or an impact window carry real weight when you buy.

Whether you are looking at a 1950s ranch house near the coast, a 1970s home in Hollywood or a 2000s house farther west, the sections below walk through what inspections in this region commonly turn up, system by system, with how serious each one usually is and what to ask the seller. If you are shopping in Miami-Dade, our page on home inspections in Miami covers what is typical there.

Problem areas in a Florida home: where inspectors look first

A full home inspection covers the whole house, from the roof to the slab. Still, a few spots produce more findings than all the others, because they are where water collects, where heat builds up or where an owner made a repair without a permit. If you are walking through a house before making an offer, give these a second look:

• The cabinet under the kitchen sink and every bathroom vanity: soft cabinet floors, water rings, corroded shutoff valves.
• The A/C closet or attic platform: water or rust in the drain pan, a dripping line, a musty smell.
• The water heater: the date on its label, rust at the top fittings, water on the floor, the relief valve pipe.
• Ceilings below bathrooms, skylights and the air handler: stains, patched drywall, one spot of fresh paint.
• Sliding glass doors and window sills: water marks, swollen trim, a door that drags.
• The base of the exterior walls: stucco cracks, wet soil, sprinkler stains, mud tubes.
• The electrical panel: the brand, rust, scorch marks, labels that do not match the house.
• The garage: signs of a conversion or enclosure, the laundry hookups and the garage door's safety reverse.
• The roof edges, and any low-slope roof over a porch, carport or addition.

Small clues matter. One freshly painted patch on an otherwise faded ceiling, a new rug in a single room, a dehumidifier humming in a closet or a strong air freshener next to the A/C closet are not defects on their own, but they tell an inspector where to spend extra time with a moisture meter. For the complete scope of a standard inspection, area by area, see our Florida home inspection checklist. This article focuses on the defects themselves.

Roof problems found on South Florida inspections

The roof takes the hardest exposure of any part of the house: direct sun all day, salt near the coast, heavy summer rain and the occasional tropical storm. What we usually see depends on the covering.

Concrete and clay tile roofs

Tile is the familiar roof in many South Florida neighborhoods. Typical findings are cracked, broken or slipped tiles, missing tiles at the edges, cracked mortar at the ridges and hips, and tiles broken by foot traffic from A/C technicians, satellite installers or pressure-cleaning crews. A cracked tile is usually a small repair. The bigger question sits underneath: the tiles shed most of the rain, but the underlayment below them is what actually keeps water out, and it ages where nobody can see it. A tile roof can look tidy from the street while its underlayment is near the end of its service life, which is why the roof's age, its permit date and the attic side of the deck matter as much as the tiles.

Asphalt shingle roofs

Shingles show their age more openly. Inspectors look for granule loss that exposes the dark mat, curled or cupped edges, tabs lifted or creased by wind, exposed or popped nails and patches of mismatched shingles that point to earlier repairs. Dark streaks from algae are mostly cosmetic, but they show where the roof stays damp longest.

Flat and low-slope roofs

Low-slope sections are common over Florida rooms, carports, additions and many townhomes. Ponding water that stands long after a storm, blisters, splits, open seams and clogged drains or scuppers are the usual findings. A low-slope addition tied into a pitched roof is a frequent leak point, because two different roofing systems meet at a single joint.

Flashing, penetrations and edges

Many leaks start at the details rather than in the open field of the roof: cracked rubber boots around plumbing vents, rusted or lifted flashing where a roof meets a stucco wall, skylight curbs, satellite or solar mounts sealed with caulk alone, and soft or rotted fascia and soffit boards where gutters overflow. These are usually modest repairs when caught early, and much larger ones once water has been reaching the framing for a season.

When the roof becomes an insurance question

Roof age is where an inspection finding turns into a policy problem. Under Section 627.7011(5) of the Florida Statutes, an insurer may not refuse to issue or renew a policy solely because of the age of a roof that is less than 15 years old. For a roof 15 years or older, the insurer must allow the homeowner to have it inspected, at the homeowner's expense, and may not refuse solely because of age if the inspection shows five or more years of useful life left. Citizens asks for documentation of at least five years of remaining useful life on soft coverings, such as shingles, older than 25 years, and on hard coverings, such as tile or metal, older than 50 years. If the roof is the sticking point, a roof condition inspection documents what is there, and our guide to Florida roof age rules for insurance explains the rest.

Attic problems: old leaks, ventilation and loose ductwork

The attic is the roof's diary. Stains on the underside of the deck and on the trusses show where water has come in, and a moisture meter tells us whether those spots are dry now or still wet. Daylight around a vent pipe, a dark ring around a nail tip or a stained truss under a valley all point back to a specific place on the roof.

Other attic findings that come up often in South Florida:

• Bathroom exhaust fans, and sometimes dryer vents, that end in the attic instead of outdoors, dumping warm, moist air onto the framing and insulation.
• A/C ducts that are disconnected, crushed, kinked or sweating, and duct joints sealed with tape that has let go in the heat.
• Insulation that is thin, compressed or pushed aside where technicians walked or worked.
• Rodent droppings, chewed wire insulation and nesting material, often along the eaves.
• Rust on the metal straps and connectors at the top of the walls, more common closer to the coast.
• Trusses cut or notched to fit a platform, a duct or a pull-down stairway, which a structural professional should review.

If the attic hatch is sealed, blocked by stored boxes or missing, the report will say the attic could not be fully evaluated. Ask the seller to clear the access before the inspection, because a closed attic leaves the roof deck, the ducts and the straps unseen. Those straps and the roof deck nailing are also what an insurance inspector documents for windstorm credits, so a clear hatch helps on more than one report.

Common plumbing issues in South Florida homes

Plumbing findings come in two kinds: leaks you can see today, and materials that predict leaks later. Both matter, and the second kind often matters more to an insurer.

Leaks at sinks, toilets and showers

The cabinet under the kitchen sink is one of the most productive spots in any inspection. Slow drips at trap connections, corroded shutoff valves, aging supply hoses and water-swollen cabinet floors are routine findings. In bathrooms, a toilet that rocks may have a failed wax seal, and gaps in the caulk or grout around a tub or shower let water into the wall behind it, where a moisture meter can pick it up before it shows.

Polybutylene supply lines

Polybutylene is a plastic supply pipe, usually gray, used in many homes from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s. It earned a poor reputation for leaks and breaks and was the subject of a large national class action in the 1990s. Insurers watch for it: a Citizens eligibility clarification published in 2022 states that new-business HO-3 and HO-8 risks over 20 years old with polybutylene piping are not insurable by Citizens. If an inspection finds it, get a re-pipe estimate during your inspection period and talk to your insurance agent before you commit. Our article on what fails a 4-point inspection covers how insurers treat it.

Galvanized steel supply lines

Older homes may still have galvanized steel water lines. They rust from the inside, which narrows the pipe, so the typical signs are weak flow at faucets on the far side of the house, rust-colored water after the house sits unused and leaks at threaded joints. Partial re-pipes are common, so a house can show copper or PEX at the water heater and still have galvanized steel inside the walls.

Cast iron drain lines

Cast iron drains are common in older South Florida homes, and much of their length runs under the concrete slab. They corrode from the inside and can crack or scale up over time. Above ground, inspectors look for rust, weeping seams and patched sections. Inside, slow drains, gurgling, repeated backups or a sewer smell are the clues. Most of the line cannot be seen in a visual inspection: a plumber's camera is the way to see it, and you can ask us whether a sewer scope can be added to the visit. Insurers pay attention here too. Since Citizens updated its 4-point form in March 2025, the supplemental section asks the age of the drain piping and whether it is original or has been fully or partially re-piped.

Shutoffs, pressure and outdoor plumbing

We locate the main water shutoff and note its condition, look at hose bibbs and visible irrigation connections and note water pressure that seems very high or very low. Leaks at outdoor faucets and irrigation valves often go unnoticed for months, because the water simply soaks into the sandy soil.

Water heater problems inspectors flag

Most South Florida houses have an electric tank water heater in the garage, a utility closet or the laundry room, and some have gas or tankless units. The inspector reads the manufacture date from the label, looks for rust at the top connections and at the drain valve, checks for water in or around the pan and confirms that hot water reaches the fixtures.

The finding that appears most often is the temperature and pressure relief (TPR) valve setup. That valve opens if the tank overheats or builds too much pressure, and the pipe attached to it has to carry scalding water to a place where it can drain safely. Model plumbing codes call for a discharge line that drains by gravity, stays full size, ends close to the floor or at an approved receptor and has no threads at its end, where someone could screw on a cap. Inspections regularly turn up lines that are missing, capped, reduced in size, routed uphill or ending in mid-air at chest height.

Other common water heater findings:

• No drain pan, or a pan with no drain line, where a leak would damage finished floors or a ceiling below.
• Corrosion where copper and steel fittings meet at the top of the tank.
• On gas units, a vent connector that is loose, rusted or pitched the wrong way, and no carbon monoxide alarm in the home.
• A tank well into its later years. Age alone is not a defect, but it belongs in your budget.

Water heaters matter for insurance as well. Citizens' 4-point form asks about the water heater, and since its March 2025 update the photos must show the TPR valve. A makeshift relief line that a buyer shrugs off during the home inspection can come back later as a question from the underwriter.

Common electrical problems in Florida houses

Electrical findings are the ones most likely to be true safety items, and the ones a buyer is least able to judge alone. When it is safe to do so, we remove the panel's front cover to look at the breakers, the wiring, the grounding and the connections, and we test a representative number of outlets throughout the house. These are the problems that come up most.

Federal Pacific and Zinsco panels

Panels from these two brands turn up in many homes from the 1960s and 1970s. Electricians and inspectors have long raised doubts about whether their breakers trip reliably, many insurers ask about them, and some carriers will not write a policy with one in place. The usual recommendation is an evaluation by a licensed electrician and, for insurance purposes, often a replacement panel. Because the brand comes up again on a 4-point inspection, it pays to deal with it before closing rather than after the insurer asks.

Aluminum branch wiring

According to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), homes built, added to or rewired between 1965 and 1973 may have aluminum branch circuit wiring. The danger is at the connections, which can overheat. Warning signs include warm faceplates on outlets or switches, flickering lights and a smell of burning plastic, although some failing connections give no warning at all. The CPSC's guidance points to rewiring with copper or to two repair methods, COPALUM crimp connectors and AlumiConn connectors, and it does not treat twist-on connector pigtails or CO/ALR devices as a complete repair. Insurers want proof: Citizens' updated 4-point form asks that documentation of any single-strand aluminum wiring remediation be separate and certified by a licensed electrician.

Double taps, open boxes and do-it-yourself wiring

Small panel defects and amateur wiring are among the most frequent electrical items on any report. Typical findings:

• Two wires under a breaker terminal designed for one, known as a double tap.
• Missing knockout covers that leave open holes in the panel's front.
• Junction boxes without covers in the attic or garage, and wire splices made outside any box.
• Extension cords or appliance cords used as permanent wiring.
• Three-prong outlets with no ground behind them, usually two-prong outlets swapped without adding a ground.
• Reversed polarity, dead outlets and circuits with no labels.
• Breakers that are too large for the wire they protect.

Missing GFCI protection

Ground-fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs) cut power almost instantly when current leaks to ground, which protects against serious shock. The CPSC's fact sheet traces when the National Electrical Code began requiring them: most outdoor receptacles since 1973, bathroom receptacle circuits since 1975, garage wall outlets since 1978 and kitchen receptacles since 1987. A house wired before those dates may have none, and newer homes often have GFCI outlets that no longer trip or reset. Adding GFCI protection near water is a straightforward safety upgrade even where the code of the time did not ask for it, and the CPSC recommends testing GFCIs once a month.

Corrosion in panels and outdoor equipment

Close to the coast, rust on the panel enclosure, the meter base and the outdoor A/C disconnect is common, and corrosion inside a panel can affect how breakers connect. Signs of moisture inside the panel, such as rust streaks or white deposits on the bus bars or breakers, call for an electrician to take a closer look.

A/C, air handler and condensate problems

In South Florida, the air conditioner is a dehumidifier as much as a cooler. Every system pulls a steady stream of water out of the indoor air, and that water has to leave the house through a small drain line. When it does not, it ends up in a ceiling, a closet floor or a wall, which makes the A/C one of the leading sources of water damage on inspection reports.

Condensate drains and overflow protection

The primary drain line clogs with algae and sludge, the pan under the coil fills, and the water spills over. Florida's mechanical code calls for extra protection where an overflow would damage the building: a secondary drain, an auxiliary pan or a water-level switch that shuts the system off when the drain backs up. We look for standing water or rust in the pans, missing or disconnected float switches, drain lines that sag or run uphill, and stains on the ceiling or floor around the air handler.

Air handler condition

Air handlers sit in closets, garages and attics. Typical findings include rust at the base of the cabinet, a dirty or clogged evaporator coil, a missing or overloaded filter, gaps in the cabinet or the return that pull in unfiltered air and dark growth on surfaces that stay damp. Supply ducts and registers that sweat in humid weather are another frequent item, usually caused by poor insulation or air leaks rather than by the unit itself.

Performance and age

We run the system and measure the temperature difference between the return air and the supply air, which shows whether the A/C is actually cooling. We also read the data plates on the air handler and the condenser to record their ages, since the two halves of a split system are often replaced at different times. An inspection is not a full HVAC service, so if the system is old, weak or noisy, have an HVAC contractor evaluate it during your inspection period.

Older R-22 systems

If the condenser's nameplate lists R-22 (HCFC-22), the system was built for a refrigerant whose production and import in the United States ended on January 1, 2020. The EPA says homeowners may keep using these systems, and servicing relies on recovered and reclaimed refrigerant. An R-22 unit is not a defect, but it belongs in your budget, and it is worth asking an HVAC contractor about repair versus replacement before paying for a major repair.

The outdoor condenser

Outside, salt air corrodes the thin aluminum fins and can eat through coils near the coast. Shrubs packed around the unit choke its airflow, pads settle so the unit tilts, and the insulation on the refrigerant lines breaks down in the sun. Each of these shortens the life of the equipment or reduces how well it cools.

Door and window problems in Florida homes

Doors and windows are what buyers touch during a showing, but they rarely test them. An inspection operates a representative number of windows and the exterior doors, checks the locks, the glass and the seals, and looks at the walls and floors around each opening for signs of water. Here is what comes up most often in South Florida.

Sliding glass doors

Sliders lead the list. Worn rollers and bent or corroded tracks make the door drag or jump, locks and latches stop lining up, and weatherstripping dries out. The most important detail is the weep system: small openings in the sill track that let rainwater drain back outside. When they clog with sand and debris, wind-driven rain can back up over the sill and into the floor, and stained or swollen baseboards beside a slider are the giveaway. Glass in sliding doors, entry doors and shower enclosures is covered by the federal safety glazing standard, 16 CFR Part 1201, and tempered glass usually carries a small permanent mark in one corner.

Windows

Fogging or a milky film between two panes means the seal of an insulated glass unit has failed. It is mostly a clarity and efficiency issue. On standard windows the glass unit can often be replaced on its own; on impact windows, ask the manufacturer or a window contractor what a repair involves. Other common findings are broken cranks and operators on awning and jalousie windows, windows painted or screwed shut, missing screens, failed caulk at the frame and water stains at the sill or the lower corners. Diagonal stucco cracks running from the corners of a window opening often mean water has a path in, even when the inside looks dry.

Impact windows, shutters and their paperwork

Hurricane protection has its own list: missing shutter panels or hardware, bent tracks, corroded anchors and wing nuts, accordion shutters that no longer lock, and impact windows or doors with no label, permit or product approval to show what they are. A missing panel is easy to replace before storm season. Missing paperwork is harder, and it can cost you on the insurance side, because a wind mitigation inspection can only credit opening protection that can be verified, and the weakest opening sets the answer for the house.

Entry doors

Exterior wood doors and frames rot from the bottom up, where rain splashes and water sits on the threshold. Swollen doors that stick, daylight under the door, worn weatherstripping and soft wood at the base of the jamb are the usual findings. A door that suddenly binds can point to settlement, but more often the cause is loose hinges or moisture swelling.

Bedroom windows and security bars

Bedrooms need a window that works as an emergency escape. Security bars are common in parts of South Florida, and fixed bars defeat that purpose. Miami-Dade County's building department explains that bars over an escape opening must be releasable or removable from the inside without a key, a tool or more force than it takes to open the window normally. Bars without a working quick release, and bedroom windows that are painted or nailed shut, are safety items, not cosmetic ones.

Stucco cracks, spalling concrete and drainage problems

Stucco cracks

Many South Florida homes are concrete block covered with stucco. Fine hairline cracks from shrinkage and temperature swings are common and usually cosmetic, though they still let some water reach the block, so sealing and repainting them is normal maintenance. Cracks deserve more attention when they are wider, when they step or run diagonally from the corners of windows and doors, when one side sits higher than the other or when they keep growing. On wood-frame additions and second floors, stucco cracks matter more, because water behind the stucco reaches wood instead of block. A home inspector is not a structural engineer, so cracks that suggest movement come with a recommendation for one.

Spalling concrete

When moisture and salt reach the steel inside concrete, the steel rusts and swells, and the expanding rust pushes the concrete off in flakes and chunks. This is called spalling. It shows up at balconies, columns, beams, eaves and slab edges, often with rust stains bleeding through first. Exposed, rusted reinforcing steel is a repair for a qualified contractor, and for an engineer when it involves a structural element. In condo buildings, this kind of deterioration is part of what Florida's milestone inspections are meant to catch.

Grading, gutters and irrigation

Water should move away from the house, not toward it. The Florida Building Code, Residential, asks for the ground to fall at least 6 inches within the first 10 feet from the foundation, with swales or drains where a lot line or a wall makes that impossible. Common findings are flower beds and mulch built up against the wall, low spots that hold water after rain, downspouts emptying at the foundation, gutters packed with leaves and patios that slope toward the house. Irrigation is a South Florida specialty: sprinkler heads that spray the stucco every morning leave rust or mineral stains, keep the base of the wall wet and make the area more inviting to termites.

Signs of past flooding

An inspection notes evidence of past water, such as stains low on the walls, replaced baseboards or drywall cut at the same height all around a room, but it does not determine a flood zone. Look the address up on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center and read the flood disclosure. Under Section 689.302 of the Florida Statutes, the seller of a residential property must give the buyer a flood disclosure at or before the time the contract is signed, stating whether the seller knows of flooding that damaged the property during their ownership, has filed an insurance claim for flood damage, including with the National Flood Insurance Program, or has received assistance for flood damage, such as from FEMA. If the disclosure or the inspection points to past flooding, a mold inspection with air sampling can help show whether growth followed.

Termite damage, moisture and hidden-damage clues

South Florida has both subterranean termites, which live in the soil and build mud tubes to reach wood, and drywood termites, which live inside the wood itself and push out small, hard fecal pellets. Formosan and Asian subterranean termites, both invasive, are active in the region as well. A home inspection reports visible damage and the conditions that attract termites. Common clues:

• Pencil-width mud tubes on the foundation, on garage walls or behind baseboards.
• Small piles of pellets, like coarse sand, on window sills, floors or below wood trim.
• Discarded wings near windows, doors and light fixtures after a swarm.
• Wood that sounds hollow, blistered paint on trim, and soft door frames or baseboards.
• Firewood or cardboard stored against the house, and soil or mulch touching the stucco.

In Florida, the wood-destroying organism (WDO) report used in real estate sales is a separate inspection under the state's pest control law, written on a form from the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. Our guide to WDO inspections explains what it covers, and you can ask us whether one can be coordinated with your home inspection visit.

Moisture you cannot see yet

Many findings in this article end the same way: water where it does not belong. We use a moisture meter wherever a stain, a soft spot or a smell suggests it, and thermal imaging can show temperature patterns that hint at hidden moisture, which the meter then confirms or rules out. Where moisture has been present for a while, mold growth often follows. Our guide to the signs of mold in Florida homes covers what to look for and when air sampling makes sense.

Problem drywall in homes from 2001 to 2009

Some homes built or renovated in that period received drywall that gives off sulfur gases and corrodes copper. The CPSC's identification guidance starts with two conditions: blackened copper electrical wiring or A/C evaporator coils, and drywall installed between 2001 and 2009. Confirming it takes corroborating evidence, most of it from lab testing, and the CPSC notes that other sources can cause similar corrosion. If a home from those years shows blackened copper ground wires or repeated coil failures, the report will recommend further evaluation.

Safety items that show up on many reports

Some findings take minutes to fix and still matter more than anything else on the report. These come up constantly:

• Smoke alarms. The U.S. Fire Administration says to replace smoke alarms every 10 years, test them every month and put them inside and outside each sleeping area. Alarms in resale homes are often older than that, and the manufacture date is printed on the back.
• Carbon monoxide alarms. Section 553.885 of the Florida Statutes requires buildings constructed on or after July 1, 2008 that have a fossil-fuel-burning heater or appliance, a fireplace or an attached garage to have an operational CO alarm within 10 feet of each room used for sleeping. Older homes with gas appliances or an attached garage benefit from the same protection.
• Garage door openers. Openers made on or after January 1, 1993 have to meet the federal entrapment protection standard, 16 CFR Part 1211, which means the door must reverse when it meets an obstruction. We test the auto-reverse and the photo-eye sensors, and a door that does not reverse is a safety item, especially in a home with children.
• Dryer vents. The U.S. Fire Administration identifies failure to clean as the leading factor in clothes dryer fires. Long runs, crushed plastic or foil ducts, lint packed at the exterior hood and vents that end in the attic or garage are routine findings.
• Stairs, railings and balconies. Loose handrails, guards with wide openings and missing rails at steps are easy to fix and easy to overlook.
• Pools. A home inspection does not include a full pool evaluation. If the house has one, ask us whether the pool can be added to the visit, and look closely at the fences, gates and door alarms that keep small children out.

Building era clues: what the year built tells an inspector

The year a house was built does not decide its condition, but it tells an inspector which materials to look for first. South Florida's housing runs from the 1920s to brand-new construction, and each era tends to bring its own short list. Treat the table as a guide, not a verdict: many older homes have been re-piped, rewired or re-roofed, and the permits for that work matter as much as the original date.

Age also decides which insurance reports you will need. Citizens requires a 4-point inspection for property owner, dwelling and mobile home applications on homes more than 20 years old, and private carriers set their own limits, often between 20 and 30 years. In an older home, the electrical and plumbing materials in this table are exactly what the 4-point form records.

How serious are common home inspection problems?

A long report does not mean a bad house. Inspectors write down everything they see, from a loose cabinet hinge to a scorched breaker, and the length of the list says more about thoroughness than about the home. What matters is sorting the findings into four practical groups:

• Safety: could injure someone or start a fire. Plan to correct it before you move in.
• Repair: a defect that is causing damage now or soon will, such as an active leak. Get an estimate during the inspection period.
• Maintenance: normal upkeep that has been put off, such as caulk, weep openings, filters and small cracks.
• Monitor: nothing to fix today, but worth watching or budgeting for, such as an older water heater or a hairline crack.

The same item can move between groups. A stuck window is maintenance until it is the only escape window in a bedroom, and a hairline stucco crack is something to monitor until a stain appears on the inside of that wall. That is why a good report explains where each finding is and what it is doing, not only what it is called.

Four common ways to misread a report

• "A long report means walk away." Most of a typical report is maintenance and minor repairs. Focus first on the safety and repair items.
• "New paint and new floors mean no problems." Fresh finishes can cover old stains and soft spots. That is exactly why inspectors carry moisture meters.
• "It passed the city's inspections, so nothing is wrong." Permit inspections check work when it is done. They say nothing about how it has aged or about what was added later without a permit.
• "If the inspector did not mention it, it is fine." A home inspection is visual and limited to what is accessible. Areas behind walls, under the slab or behind stored items cannot be seen, and the report says where access was limited.

What to ask the seller, and what to do with the findings

Most Florida purchase contracts give buyers an inspection period, and everything in this step has to fit inside it. Our buyer's guide explains how the inspection period works. A practical order:

1. Read the summary first. Separate safety and repair items from maintenance and monitoring, so the big items get your attention while there is still time.
2. Bring in specialists early. A licensed electrician for panel or wiring questions, a plumber with a camera for cast iron or polybutylene, a roofer for remaining life, an HVAC contractor for old or weak systems and a licensed pest control company for termite signs.
3. Ask the seller for history and paperwork. Permits, invoices and warranties answer many questions an inspection cannot. The table below lists what to ask for.
4. Decide how to handle each item. Ask for a repair, a credit or a price change, or accept it as it is. Your agent can help you choose, and a real estate attorney can answer contract questions.
5. Line up insurance early. Older homes may need a 4-point and a wind mitigation report before a policy can be bound. Send them to your agent as soon as you have them.

If you are on the other side of the deal, many of these findings can be caught and fixed before you list. Our guide to the pre-listing home inspection explains how sellers use one.

The bottom line

The most common home inspection problems in South Florida trace back to the same causes: water, salt, heat and the materials of a particular building era. Roofs, A/C condensate, plumbing materials, electrical panels, sliders and stucco account for much of what you will read in a report, and most of it is repair or maintenance rather than a reason to walk away. The findings to take seriously are the safety items and the ones your insurer will ask about. If you are buying in Broward, Miami-Dade or Palm Beach County, send us your request or call or text (954) 297-0317 with the address and the year the house was built. You get a firm price up front, and the photo report arrives within 24 hours.

About the author

Peter Lemos, Certified Master Inspector®

Owner and lead inspector of Global Home Inspectors in Hollywood, FL. Peter holds InterNACHI certifications in wind mitigation, 4-point and mold inspection and has served Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties since 2008.