I guess the biggest thing is are you planning on buying an acreage or in town. I’ve dealt with quite a few acreages over the years and definitely have an opinion on those. Such as water, sewage is huge, property lines, neighbours ( I hate neighbours ) As far as houses go anything built prior to 1980 you really have to pay attention to the insulation factor. Is it 2x4 walls, quality of windows, are they double or triple pain. If they are crank windows do they all work or is the linkage all broke up. of it has a basement check for moister issues along the bottom of wall, water stains are easy to pic out, go into the mechanical room and look for moister issues on any open studs. Again check out the mechanical equipment, how old is the water tank and furnace. If it’s an acreage does it run a well and have a water softener, is the water rusty, look inside the water tanks of the toilets to see the water quality. If it’s rusty water it will be very present in the tanks. Check out the shingles, are they starting to curl if so you’ve only got a couple years and they’ll have to be done and if it’s and older house more than likely some rot and wood to replace. Go into the attic make sure it’s had good air circulation, if it hasn’t you’ll smell it, it will be damp and mold smell. Look at the insulation in the attic if it’s just pink alone, not very good, make sure it has some blown in the roof as well.
Just a few things that are obvious that you can check out even before you call in an inspector.
