Investors approach a home inspection differently than a buyer who plans to live in the property. You are not emotionally attached to the home. You are running numbers. Your inspection needs to give you the information you need to make a sound business decision, estimate your renovation budget accurately, and avoid expensive surprises after closing.
What You Need from an Inspection That Buyers Don’t Always Prioritize
Buyers focused on moving in often care most about safety items and comfort. Investors care about those things too, but they also need a realistic assessment of major system remaining life, a clear picture of what deferred maintenance will cost, and any code compliance issues that could affect a rental permit or building permit for renovation work.
When you schedule your inspection with us, let us know you are an investor. We will tailor our verbal summary during the walkthrough to focus on the items that affect your numbers most directly.
Evaluating Rental Properties
If you are buying a single-family home or small multifamily property as a rental, your inspection needs to consider not just current condition but also what will be required to make the property safe and habitable for tenants. Oregon and Washington have landlord-tenant laws that impose specific habitability requirements.
Key items from an investor’s perspective include roof remaining life and any active leaks, condition and age of the furnace and water heater, electrical panel safety and capacity, plumbing materials and pressure, crawlspace condition, and any obvious code violations.
Evaluating Flips
For a home you plan to renovate and sell, your inspection serves a different purpose. You want to know about structural issues and anything that will require permits and licensed contractor work, because these are the items that most affect your rehab budget and timeline.
We can walk you through the home with an investor’s eye, discussing what is cosmetic versus structural, what might trigger permit requirements, and what we estimate based on our contracting experience will be the most significant cost items.
Why Our Contracting Background Matters for Investors
Russ Motyko spent 12 years as a general contractor before and during his inspection career. He has framed multifamily properties, remodeled fixer-uppers, and worked on flips. When an investor asks “what will it cost to fix the floor system in this crawlspace?” we can give a realistic answer, not just “consult a contractor.”
For duplexes, triplexes, and small apartment buildings, pricing is based on size and number of units. Contact us for a custom quote on any multifamily property. Schedule your investor inspection today.