15 Steps to Prepare for a Home Inspection

Many of these items are easily performed on a weekend if you have a few DIY skills.  If not, it may be worth the expense to hire a handyman for a few hours.  Many of these items will show up on most home inspections, but the bigger issue is that a lot of little items end up making a long report.  A long report can overwhelm buyers, making them consider walking or asking for these items to be fixed by a professional (plumber or electrician.)  It is much less expensive to be proactive and take care of them before they show up!

1. The HVAC system is one of the most expensive components of a house and one of the most frequently identified issues in a home inspection.  Do your best to make sure that your unit is in tip top shape.  If you pay for a twice yearly HVAC service, have the service performed before the home inspection and leave the copy of the report on the table.  If you don’t regularly pay for a service, consider having one performed.  At a minimum, make sure you replace all of your air filters and clean the grates, using a water hose if the weather permits you to go outside.
2. One of the most commonly mentioned items on an inspection are light bulbs.  An inspector won’t replace burned out bulbs, but they will write that the fixture may or may not work.  Make sure you replace all burned out bulbs, including those in ceiling fans and under the kitchen vent hoods and the microwave.  
3. If you have a gas fireplace, make sure to light the pilot light for an inspector to verify that the fireplace works.  They are generally not permitted to turn the gas on.  A fireplace that doesn’t light will generally mean a request for a fireplace specialist to come out for a “repair” that likely isn’t necessary. If the fireplace has a remote or switch on the wall, make sure it is where the home inspector will find it.
4. Open and shut all windows three times, or until they glide open and close smoothly.  Windows that won’t open are a very common item on a home inspection report.  Often, it is as simple as they are stuck because they haven’t been opened in several years.  If they continue to stick, spray a little WD40 on them (or use a mixture of ⅔ vegetable oil and ⅓ water in a spray bottle.) 
5. Check your sinks and tubs to make sure they drain properly and that they hold water.  If they drain slowly, check with your local hardware store about safe drain cleaners.  Replace missing stoppers or tighten the connections on mechanical stoppers so they open and close the drain properly. Place a paper towel under all the drains and run them for 5 minutes.  If you notice the paper towel is wet, tighten the connections under the sinks.  While you are at the kitchen sink, turn on the garbage disposal to make sure that it grinds smoothly and doesn’t contain any pieces of metal.  Watch your fingers if you clear out the disposal, and follow your manufacturer instructions for a reset if the disposal isn’t working properly.
6. Check out the bathroom.  Tighten all toilet seats and clean carefully around the base, while inspecting for signs of a leak.  We have seen reports of possible leaks on home inspections, only to have the homeowner pay a plumber $85 for a house call to determine that someone in the household just had poor aim.  While you are in the bathroom, turn on the exhaust fans to make sure they operate smoothly.
7. Check all the closet and interior doors to make sure they open and close smoothly, and that the ones that have locks work correctly.  It is often as simple as tightening the screws on the hinges to rebalance the doors.  Check all the door knobs to make sure they are tight.  Again, a few turns of a screw can save you from another item that shows up on a home inspection.  While you are checking knobs, also check the cabinet knobs and hardware to make sure they are tight.
8. Test all your smoke detectors to make sure they work.  It is often as simple as replacing the batteries.  Also, make sure that you have enough smoke detectors.  They are inexpensive and easy to install and the lack of ones where recommended will show up on an inspection report.
9. Do a general sweep of the house to notice anything that is missing or loose, like switch plate covers, handrails or light fixtures.  Turn ceiling fans on to see if they wobble and ask a handyman to tighten them.  If the fans operate on a remote, be sure to place the remote in a place where the home inspector will find it.
10. Check interior trim and crown molding for cracks.  They naturally happen seasonally as wood contracts and expands and a little white caulk can usually fill the cracks quite easily.  Make sure you also look for missing caulk in windows, both inside and out.  Check the exterior for signs of wood rot.  If paint has peeled but the exterior wood is in good condition, a weather resistant primer followed by a few coats of exterior paint will save you lots of money in repair requests as it may be the buyer considers this wood needs replaced, not repainted. If the wood is beginning to rot, call in a handyman.  Consider that even if the buyer doesn’t make requests for the repair or replacement of rotten wood, an appraiser might make this a condition of the loan, depending on the type of loan a buyer is using to purchase the home. 
11. Check all the exterior doors to make sure they open and close properly and that the keys operate.  Make sure you don’t leave a bad copy of the key for the inspector to use for entry.  A simple adjustment to the doors will often cause them to open and close properly.  Make sure that you leave keys to any exterior storage buildings and any interior locked rooms or closets.  While you are at the front door, ring the doorbell to make sure that it works.  It is generally a simple DIY fix.
12. Replace any torn or missing weatherstripping. This can be found at a home improvement store and is generally easy to push into the trench in doors or windows.  If you have gaps under doors, consider ordering a weatherproof draft dodger to show that this has been addressed.  They generally attach to the door with an adhesive velcro strip.
13. Make sure that all areas of the house, including the attic and garage, have access for the inspector to get to the furnace, water heater and other mechanical parts.  A termite inspector will need access to the perimeter of the garage for the wood destroying insect inspection.  Make sure that you have someone trim back shrubs that cover the exterior HVAC components or intrude on power lines or gutters.
14. Look for loose bricks on the porch and steps.  If you find them and you have a bit of DIY skills, you can apply a concrete mortar to adhere them.  Check for deep cracks in the sidewalk, garage floors and porches.  Consider using a concrete caulk to fill the cracks. 
15. Check the sprinkler system to make sure that there are no missing or broken heads.  Most home inspectors do just a general inspection of sprinkler systems, but you want to make sure you take care of anything that might show up or be a problem for a potential buyer.