What a Madison Home Inspector Actually Looks For

By Joshua Holt

Meet Joshua, a licensed real estate professional and accomplished broker. As the forward-thinking leader of the Holt Real Estate Team, he has forged a strategic alliance with Keller Williams and PLACE to deliver on Our Promise.

If you’re thinking about buying a home, one question comes up again and again: What does a home inspector actually do once they’re inside the house? It’s a fair thing to wonder, because the inspection is one of the most important steps in the buying process, and most buyers have never seen one up close.

To answer it, we brought in Kyle Jensen from Homestart Inspections, a local inspector here in the Madison area, to walk us through exactly what happens.

Inspectors are licensed generalists. As Kyle puts it, the team at Homestart likes to call themselves professional generalists. They know enough about every trade to catch problems across the whole house, from the roof, exterior siding, doors, and windows to the plumbing, bathrooms, kitchens, foundation, and framing. It’s all-encompassing. Because they’re generalists, they’ll occasionally spot something unusual and recommend a specialist come take a closer look, but with hundreds of inspections a year and over a thousand expected this year, they’ve seen enough to have a very good read on what’s going on. A thorough inspection covers the home’s major systems and structure, and knowing what an inspector reviews helps you understand the report you’ll get back.

Thermal cameras catch what the eye can’t. Beyond experience, Kyle’s team brings tools that not every inspector uses. They work as a team, so if one inspector runs into something unfamiliar, they can pull in the group and figure it out together. They also use thermal cameras, which read heat and pick up things the naked eye can’t see, like electrical issues and hidden moisture. That kind of technology gives buyers a deeper look into the home than a standard visual check would.

Moisture meters tell you what’s urgent. Speaking of moisture, Kyle explained why a stain on a ceiling, wall, or attic is only the first part of the story. Looking at it or touching it isn’t a technical way to judge the problem. His team uses a moisture meter that tells them whether the spot is actively wet or already dry, and that single reading says a lot about how urgent the issue really is. Sometimes what looks alarming turns out to be cosmetic, and the right tool clears up the doubt either way. If you’ve ever wondered how appraisals and inspections differ, this kind of hands-on evaluation is a big part of what sets an inspection apart.

Inspectors do far more than the basics. Kyle also pointed out that a good inspection company can handle just about any service you need, including septic and well inspections, radon testing, and VA pest inspections. For buyers, that means one team can cover a lot of ground. His biggest piece of advice, though, was to prepare yourself mentally before the report comes in.

Every home turns up something, and that’s the point. Josh is going to tell you all the good things about a house, Kyle said, and his job is to tell you the rest. You’re going to get a list of things that need attention, and that’s completely normal. It doesn’t matter whether the home is brand new construction or decades old; there’s no such thing as a perfect house, and something will always turn up. In fact, if an inspector walks through a home and finds nothing at all, that’s the real warning sign. Knowing that going in keeps buyers from feeling overwhelmed when the report arrives, and it’s one reason post-inspection protections matter so much for buyers. Understanding this ahead of time is part of making it as a homebuyer in today’s market, and it’s exactly the kind of thing we walk through with buyers who are starting the homeownership journey.

If you want to reach Kyle and his team to learn more about the inspection process or schedule something, you can call or text them at the number on their site or schedule online at homestart.pro.

And if you’d like to talk with our team about what’s happening in the Madison real estate market, or you’re ready to start your own path to homeownership, we’d love to help. Give us a call at 608-345-6594, email us at info@holtrealestateteam.com, or visit holtrealestateteam.com. We look forward to helping you find your next chapter.