How to Prioritize Your Home Inspection Findings

The prioritization framework

This is a six-tier framework for sorting inspection findings. Start at the top and work down.

Tier 1: Safety hazards

These need resolution before anyone moves in. They affect the health and physical safety of the people in the house.

Examples: electrical hazards (exposed wiring, double-tapped breakers, missing GFCI near water), gas leaks, carbon monoxide risks from a cracked heat exchanger, missing smoke or CO detectors, elevated radon, trip hazards on stairs with no railing, asbestos in a condition where it could release fibers.

What to do: Raise these with the seller. Many are inexpensive to fix. If any are severe and the seller won't address them, consider whether this is a house you want to own.

Tier 2: Structural concerns

These affect the building's ability to hold itself up. Structural repairs are often expensive and can affect everything else in the house.

Examples: active foundation movement, horizontal or stair-step foundation cracks, compromised load-bearing walls, significant roof structure deterioration, sagging beams, visible settling that's ongoing.

What to do: Get a specialist evaluation — usually a structural engineer — before making your decision. The inspection report identifies the concern, but a specialist tells you how serious it is and what it costs. See our foundation cracks guide or our guide to calling a specialist.

Tier 3: Active water problems

Water causes more cumulative damage to homes than almost any other single factor. Active water problems get worse over time and affect structure, air quality, and livability.

Examples: active roof leaks, water intrusion in the basement or crawlspace, poor drainage grading directing water toward the foundation, plumbing leaks inside walls, evidence of ongoing moisture with no identified source.

What to do: Identify the source, assess the extent, and determine whether the fix is straightforward or complex. Our water intrusion guide covers this in detail. Raise active water issues with the seller — they're among the strongest items in any negotiation.

Tier 4: Major mechanical systems

HVAC, electrical panel, plumbing supply lines, water heater, roof covering. These are expensive to replace and affect daily livability. When they're near end of life or showing signs of failure, they become budget-planning items and potential negotiation points.

Examples: HVAC unit past expected lifespan, aging roof with visible wear, outdated electrical panel with known safety history (Federal Pacific, Zinsco), galvanized or polybutylene plumbing, water heater past its rated life.

What to do: These may not require immediate action, but they affect your near-term costs. Factor them into your offer or credit request. Get a sense of likely costs so you can plan.

Tier 5: Maintenance items

Normal homeowner upkeep that the current owner may have deferred. These are real tasks, but they're manageable and expected.

Examples: clogged gutters, missing caulk around windows, peeling exterior paint, worn weatherstripping, dirty dryer vent, vegetation too close to the house, minor grading improvements.

What to do: Note them for your to-do list after closing. These are rarely worth raising in negotiation unless there are many of them and they point to broader deferred maintenance.

Tier 6: Cosmetic and informational

Items that affect appearance or are noted for context rather than concern.

Examples: scuffed flooring, dated fixtures, cracked outlet covers, nail pops in drywall, minor surface staining. Also: informational notes about the home's construction type, age of systems, or configuration details.

What to do: Ignore these for negotiation purposes. Address them at your own pace after move-in, or don't.

How to use this framework during your contingency

Once you've sorted your findings, the tiers map to your contingency checklist:

Tiers 1-3 are the items you may need to raise with the seller, get specialist evaluations for, or factor into your go/no-go decision. These drive your negotiation and your timeline. For more on managing that timeline, see what to do before your contingency expires.

Tier 4 items inform your credit request and your post-purchase budget. You may ask for concessions on these, but they're unlikely to be deal breakers on their own.

Tiers 5-6 are your personal homeowner to-do list. They stay off the negotiation table.

What if everything feels like it's in Tier 4?

Sometimes a report doesn't have clear red flags but has a dozen findings in the middle range — aging systems, deferred maintenance, a few things that could go either way. This is common in homes that are 20-40 years old and have had inconsistent upkeep.

In that situation, the question changes from "is there a deal breaker?" to "what does ownership of this house look like for the first five years?" Adding up the likely costs of those mid-range items tells you whether the home's price reflects its condition. See our guide to thinking about repair costs for help with that.

If you want your findings pre-sorted by priority with cost ranges and a timeline for what needs attention now versus later, that's what InspectionTriage builds for you. Upload your report and get a Decision Packet organized around this framework. See what’s worth negotiating — free.