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Holmes Inspection: The Essential Guide for Every Homeowner, Buyer and Seller
In his new book, Mike Holmes is on a mission. The star of the incredibly popular Holmes Inspection program, Mike shows you how to spot problems that could be expensive or even catastrophic, giving you the information you need to judge a house wisely. From the mechanicals (furnace, electrical and plumbing) to the "envelope" (floors, walls, doors and windows) to issues of location and siting, this book includes real case studies, "red flag" sidebars and hundreds of photographs, and alerts you to the ugly realities behind the "lipstick and mascara" that many vendors use to cover up problems when selling their homes.
256 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2008
90 people are currently reading
94 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
June 20, 2018
V helpful.
Why it was not titled HOLMES ON HOMES I'll never know
Why it was not titled HOLMES ON HOMES I'll never know
October 20, 2020
Solid book. Basically he tells you what signs to look for in a house that you might purchase that could be potentially be very financially damaging. He gives rough estimates of the cost to repair/upgrade a lot of the bigger items like to do a complete rewiring of the electrical. I learned some things too. Might be embarrassing but I learned that a detached home should have between 100 and 200 Amps coming into the house. I learned what causes floors to be bouncy and the fix to correct that. Learned about the "stack" for plumbing issues and what causes sewage smells to come into the house from the drains. Thats just the interior. I also learned about all the exterior/foundational stuff to look for.
He also randomly throws in code rules all of which I didn't know. Lastly, a big part of the book is quotes of horror stories from homebuyers and some case studies where he does a follow up inspection after the first home inspector to show how many things they could miss. Dont skip those case studies, because there is good stuff there too. So, all-in-all this is a solid nonfiction book.
Where it loses me is that he recommends buyers use his lists of questions to interview prospective real estate agents and home inspectors and to ask each for 6 client references and then use his questions to interview each of them. On top of that, he recommends getting all kinds of professionals out to the house after the home inspection to inspect the fireplace, the electrical, the plumbing, the foundation, etc. This is all if the buyer is worried about one or all these things. That is because the home inspector likely won't have the experience to do a thorough inspection of those kind of things. I must say here that this is all totally important and should indeed be done, but there is no way any of this can be done on decent looking houses that get listed nowadays. The rate that decent looking houses turnover nowadays is just so rapid. If you add this language to a purchase contract to allow for more inspections, sellers will see that as opportunities for the buyer to back out or to delay closing and the buyer will lose the house. I think if you were to do this, you'll need to put more language in the contract to say additional inspections will not delay closing and the buyer will not ask for the seller to pay for any repairs as a result of the findings of the inspections. Lastly, no one has the time to interview multiple agents and inspectors, much less ask for 6 references and then call each if them. Not how things are done anymore.
4 stars is about right for this. Maybe 4.25. :)
He also randomly throws in code rules all of which I didn't know. Lastly, a big part of the book is quotes of horror stories from homebuyers and some case studies where he does a follow up inspection after the first home inspector to show how many things they could miss. Dont skip those case studies, because there is good stuff there too. So, all-in-all this is a solid nonfiction book.
Where it loses me is that he recommends buyers use his lists of questions to interview prospective real estate agents and home inspectors and to ask each for 6 client references and then use his questions to interview each of them. On top of that, he recommends getting all kinds of professionals out to the house after the home inspection to inspect the fireplace, the electrical, the plumbing, the foundation, etc. This is all if the buyer is worried about one or all these things. That is because the home inspector likely won't have the experience to do a thorough inspection of those kind of things. I must say here that this is all totally important and should indeed be done, but there is no way any of this can be done on decent looking houses that get listed nowadays. The rate that decent looking houses turnover nowadays is just so rapid. If you add this language to a purchase contract to allow for more inspections, sellers will see that as opportunities for the buyer to back out or to delay closing and the buyer will lose the house. I think if you were to do this, you'll need to put more language in the contract to say additional inspections will not delay closing and the buyer will not ask for the seller to pay for any repairs as a result of the findings of the inspections. Lastly, no one has the time to interview multiple agents and inspectors, much less ask for 6 references and then call each if them. Not how things are done anymore.
4 stars is about right for this. Maybe 4.25. :)
January 16, 2023
Amazing book. Read it in one sitting. The author walks you through all the questions you should ask and the red flags you may encounter when hiring a real estate agent, home inspector, and buying a home. I wish I had read it before I bought my current home. I'll be recommending this book to anyone I know who's looking to buy a home.
March 7, 2018
It’s the type of reference book you want to keep around and go back to again and again. It laid out very simply and with pictures of how a house should look and how a house shouldn’t look. I now look at roofs in a whole new light
December 11, 2018
Excellent guide for anyone wondering what is and isnt important when house hunting. Many things to consider with many helpful sections for quick references (tldr). Appendices are extremely helpful with many things to ask and think about. Great book.
August 21, 2019
Written at a great level for a newb like me. Pretty helpful, though a lot of it boils down to "ask for refs for a home inspector and make sure they actually inspect everything" and "minimum code is junk."
August 15, 2019
Great book. Very informative and helpful! There is a tv series toon(Buy it Right) that sounds that it would be even better, but I'br never seen it.
February 19, 2020
Useful, somewhat. A lot of typos
February 19, 2021
Very Helpful
This is a very helpful book about what to look for when hiring a real estate agent and a home inspector, as well as in-depth information about home inspections.
This is a very helpful book about what to look for when hiring a real estate agent and a home inspector, as well as in-depth information about home inspections.
April 19, 2022
It read like he was dictating it. Doing it right!
December 22, 2022
A little dry but very informative. Wish I had read this at the beginning of my home buying journey rather than late- too late now. The information will still be useful for home maintenance though.
March 24, 2014
This was SO helpful to read before/during our home inspection. It gave me plenty of great questions to ask both our realtor and our inspector, and I almost wish I had read the book earlier in my home-buying process. The inspector pooh-poohed some stuff that really could become an issue down the line, so I'm glad I had another source of information. We also plan to tackle a lot of projects on our own, and this will be a great reference. It gives guidance on things like when to pull a permit, when to hire an expert, how to protect our home from moisture, etc etc. I plan to hold onto this one for a good long while.
June 27, 2013
The glossy, full color photos were incredibly helpful. The book covers interior and exterior of the home, focusing on the important but not so glamorous topics such as foundation, eavesdrop, electrical, HVAC, and plumbing. I found Holmes attitude towards home renovation to be refreshing, "Do it right the first time". The complex issues are explained fairly well to a complete beginner such as myself. The book is by no means a complete guide to owning a home but it is a good introduction to future first time home owners.
August 14, 2016
So obviously I picked this up at the library because of the pun.
Nice conversational tone and taught me a lot of things to look for. I liked the book's organization: first, it walks you through what to look for in each room and the house's exterior and then it has four case studies showing what problems you might encounter in a house that's been flipped, new construction, a fixer-upper, or a 100 year old house.
Would recommend this not only to someone looking to buy but to someone looking to rent in an older building, or especially a basement apartment.
Nice conversational tone and taught me a lot of things to look for. I liked the book's organization: first, it walks you through what to look for in each room and the house's exterior and then it has four case studies showing what problems you might encounter in a house that's been flipped, new construction, a fixer-upper, or a 100 year old house.
Would recommend this not only to someone looking to buy but to someone looking to rent in an older building, or especially a basement apartment.
September 3, 2014
As a professional associated with historic homes, I'm unimpressed. Holmes does his best to denigrate the intelligence of his readers and use client/reader comments to amplify the potential problems associated with buying any kind of property. Really interesting photographs are included, but with little to no captioning or detailing as to how the problem portrayed should look if correct and done well.
April 11, 2011
Mike Holmes certainly knows his shit, and I love watching his numerous television series'. This book gave great advice on what to look for/at when buying or selling a home. I wish I had known about it BEFORE buying my first home last summer, but I was still able to walk around the house and yard to look for warnings signs.
September 13, 2011
This is an excellent book for the first-time home buyer, especially one without handy parents, or for people who are not handy themselves. Some of the items addressed in the book seemed a bit obvious to me, but I have home-buying and renovating experience to draw upon.
This book will help me finish the small projects I need to do to prepare my house for sale.
This book will help me finish the small projects I need to do to prepare my house for sale.
August 17, 2012
Mike Holmes methodically evaluates what every current and future homeowner needs to know about evaluating a house (owner, seller and buyer). It includes detailed information on what to look for and what to look out for. There are great checklists and tools to use. Every family who has a house or is looking to buy one should own this book.
October 8, 2012
I now know a lot more about home inspections than I did before I finished this book - I'm also more wary of pretty much every inspector out there who isn't Mike Holmes. Still, this is a useful guidebook on what to look for in four different representative types of houses on the market. Definitely worth a read if you're buying or selling a house for the first time.
June 1, 2009
Ever the nerd.... this is a book on how to do home inspections. I'm learning how not to get screwed when I buy a house someday.
Honestly, after reading this, living in a van down by the river doesn't sound so bad.
Honestly, after reading this, living in a van down by the river doesn't sound so bad.
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March 28, 2012He does his best to make having your future home inspected sound like a manageable thing--but it sure is scary to get an idea of all the things that can go wrong. But since I grew up in a fixer-upper, I guess it wasn't really news.
July 26, 2016
Despite the title, this book is aimed much more at buyers than sellers. Once I realized that I kind of skimmed it. It does appear to provide a really good primer on anything that might be wrong with a house you're thinking of buying.
January 8, 2010
Valuable (and terrifying!) book for the potential home-buyer.
February 6, 2010
Great book for buyers, especially first-time buyers. I learned a lot by reading this book. You've gotta love Mike Holmes. The guy knows what he's talking about.
May 9, 2012
Good book about home inspection and in general how to look at a home and judge the quality of the building.
Also had good advise for finishing a basement.
Also had good advise for finishing a basement.
August 16, 2013
Totally should have read this before we purchased we our house. I also love Holmes.
October 11, 2013
I didn't read it so much as skim through it before getting an inspection on our new home. Lots of good pointers and photos, but I can't honestly say I read it in depth enough to review it.
March 25, 2014
I found it very helpful in learning the importance of a home inspection and what it should entail.
January 30, 2014
Solid advice, but his constant bitching about other people's work is annoying.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews