A good house inspector is worth his or her weight in gold. But they’re hard to find.
A good house inspector, particularly when you’re buying an historic home, needs to understand not only construction and systems, but which issues are red flags, which are yellow flags, and which are simply “comes with the territory” issues…foundations that may have shifted a hundred years ago but haven’t moved further, basements which get water in torrential rains, but drain efficiently, etc.
If you want to sell your historic house, it’s very wise to get your own inspection before putting it on the market. Identify potential issues, either address them or at least understand them, before buyers bring in their own inspector and you discover issues you never saw, or cared about.
I’ve walked away from houses I thought I wanted to buy because of a scary inspection report. But I’m living in a house that proved to have issues the inspector didn’t see. It’s the price of old house living.
Whatever your inspection report says, if you love the house, get a second opinion. Bring in a good contractor to look at the issues, make sure they’re as big as they appear to be.
No house is perfect. Just make sure the imperfections are ones you can deal with.