Fire Risk Worries? What a Home Fire Safety Inspection Tells You in Northern Michigan
Buying a home is thrilling right up until the moment you lie awake wondering what you cannot see behind the walls. For a lot of buyers I work with, the fear that keeps coming back is fire. “Is the wiring safe? Could that old panel in the basement be a problem?...
Roof Inspection in Northern Michigan: What a Certified Master Inspector® Looks For (and What It Costs)
You've found the house. It checks the boxes, the offer's coming together, and then the question creeps in: what shape is the roof really in? For most buyers, the roof is the single biggest source of quiet worry. It's costly to replace and nearly impossible to...
Investment Property Inspection in Northern Michigan: What Every Real Estate Investor Should Know Before Closing
An investment property inspection is a comprehensive home inspection performed on a property you intend to rent rather than occupy yourself. While it evaluates the same major systems as any residential inspection—roof, structure, plumbing, electrical, HVAC,...
Indoor Air Quality Testing: What It Measures and Why It Matters in Northern Michigan
You walk through a house you're thinking about buying and you check everything you can see. The roof. The foundation. Whether the furnace looks like a dinosaur. But what you can't check is the air itself — air that your family will breathe roughly 20,000 breaths a...
What Does a Home Inspector Actually Look for During an Electrical Panel Inspection? (And Why it Matters)
When I open the door to an electrical panel during a home inspection in Gaylord, Petoskey, or Charlevoix, I'm looking at one of the most consequential components in the entire house. The panel is the nerve center of your home's electrical system. It controls every...
National Home Safety Month: 5 Overlooked Home Safety Hazards Common in Northern Michigan
When people think about home safety, they usually picture smoke detectors or locked doors. But during home inspections across Northern Michigan, I routinely find more hazards that are at least as serious hidden behind walls, inside attics, beneath decks, and in crawl...
What Does a Deck Inspection Include? A Michigan Master Inspector Explains
If there's one thing I've learned inspecting properties across Northern Michigan, it's this: decks are neglected. Not occasionally — consistently, and across all price points. Some of the most expensive lakefront homes I've walked into have decks in serious disrepair,...
Why Attic Inspection Matters: What Does a Home Inspector Look for in the Attic?
A Certified Master Inspector's Guide to Attic Inspection in Northern Michigan The attic is one of the most revealing spaces in any home. In my experience performing more than 2,000 inspections across Northern Michigan, I've found that the attic tells the story...
Log Home Inspection in Northern Michigan: Don’t Buy Without Reading This
Log homes are one of Northern Michigan's most distinctive property types — and one of the most misunderstood when it comes to home inspection. A log home inspection covers everything a standard inspection does, but it also requires knowledge of issues that simply...
“Do I Need a Home Inspection?” How to Protect the Biggest Purchase of Your Life
Do I Need a Home Inspection When Buying a Home? It's not required by law in Michigan, and most lenders won't mandate it either. But "not required" isn't the same as "not necessary." The short answer to “Do I need a home inspection?” Yes. And I'd go further than that....