Adventures in Home Buying

You Can Still Inspect A House When The Gas Or Water Is Off, But Safety Rules Decide When To Walk Away

• Jim Troth

Share episode

Buying a home is stressful enough without guessing what your inspector can or can’t do when the utilities are off. We pull back the curtain on the real workflow: what we can still evaluate with gas or water shut down, why some issues like slow plumbing leaks require time under load, and how we handle return visits without derailing schedules. You’ll hear exactly which systems we can test, what gets deferred, and how to plan ahead so small problems don’t hide until move-in day.

Safety isn’t negotiable, and that’s where the conversation gets real. We walk through hard stops that end an inspection on the spot: city-issued Do Not Enter or condemned notices, active squatters inside the structure, and flooded basements with unknown electrical conditions. Each example comes with the reasoning behind the policy—legal liability, life-safety risks, and the duty to keep teams and clients out of harm’s way. We also unpack gray areas where judgment applies, like nearby homeless camps that don’t interfere with access, and roof inspections that may shift from boots-on to drones or visual methods when ladder risks outweigh the benefit.

If you’re a buyer or agent, this is your playbook for a smoother, safer inspection. Confirm utility activation in advance, share documentation when prior notices are lifted, and consider bundling ancillaries like radon, mold, sewer scope, chimney scope, gas line checks, and air quality testing to get a comprehensive picture in one coordinated visit. Communication is the difference between wasted trips and meaningful findings—especially with vacant properties or those with a tricky past. If this helped clarify what to expect, follow the show, share it with a friend who’s under contract, and leave a quick review to tell us your top inspection deal-breaker.

Adventures in Home Buying, the ultimate podcast for anyone navigating the exciting, sometimes daunting world of purchasing a home! Whether you're a first-time buyer, a seasoned investor, or dreaming of your forever home, our engaging stories and expert insights will guide you through every step of the homebuying journey. From decoding mortgages and mastering bidding wars to uncovering hidden costs and spotting sustainable home features, we deliver practical tips and real-world advice to empower you with confidence.

Visit our home inspection website at Home Inspector Columbus Ohio | Habitation Investigation for exclusive resources, and tools to make your homebuying adventure a success.

Are you a home inspector or service company? We’re always looking for passionate experts to join us as guests! Share your insights, showcase your services, and connect with our growing audience of homebuyers. Contact us at (1) Facebook to be featured on Adventures in Home Buying.

Subscribe now and embark on your homebuying adventure with us—because every home has a story, and we’re here to help you write yours!

Sponsored by a Multi-Award Winning home inspection company Habitation Investigation in Ohio Home Inspector Columbus Ohio | Habitation Investigation

SPEAKER_01:

Hello everybody. Jim, and here's Laura, of course.

SPEAKER_02:

Hello, everyone.

SPEAKER_01:

So, alright. You're a home buyer. And this isn't a pre-existing home. You're gonna you're gonna buy it and you're doing doing the intelligent thing, and you're gonna have the house inspected.

SPEAKER_02:

Right. As you always should.

SPEAKER_01:

Now, some people ask, well, do you have to have all the utilities on? No, we don't, but it definitely is very much preferred that we have all the utilities on. If we get to a house and say the gas is off, that's not a showstopper. We can still check the uh, you know, look at the electrical panel, check the outlets. We can't test some of the appliances, of course, if they are gas.

SPEAKER_02:

But other than that, we can do everything that doesn't involve gas.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep, and same thing if we get to get the house and say the plumbing's off. We can still do everything else except the plumbing. Now we prefer to have everything on. That way we can we're time efficient. We can go there, get everything done. We don't want to have to make another trip back out to test all these things. And face it, some plumbing leaks, they can take like an hour to finally show up or two hours. Some of the leaks, like a kitchen sink or whatever, bathroom sink. They can take several hours for them to finally show that they're there. They can take a long time. Which is why, if you're buying a house that's vacant when you first move in, you need to keep your eyes out. Keep an eye on that stuff because it has not been used and put through the test for a while. But all utilities not on, not a showstopper. We can still do the foundation, roof, attic space, the the wiring inside the panel. We can look at all that stuff.

SPEAKER_02:

Now, I will say, in all probability, though, when we go back out to finish it, it's going to be worked into our schedule because we're finishing an inspection and we've already had one time slot for it. So I'm not taking a time slot, but I will work you in without any hesitation.

SPEAKER_01:

Correct. Because our time slots, on average, I don't I don't know what it is nationally, but on average, a home inspector's time slot, say three-hour time slot, do an inspection, it's probably like six hundred dollars plus. Because uh, especially for us, ours, because we offer so many services. We're like a nice one-stop shop. We can do the inspection, we just run insect, radon, mold testing, VS line check testing, gas line check, sewer scope, chimney scope. Well, what else do we do?

SPEAKER_02:

Air quality testing, VOC, molding.

SPEAKER_01:

We can check the house for levelness. If it's on a slab, we can determine if are for the corners of your house, are they all you know fairly level? We can test all that stuff. So ours might be a little higher, but that's because we offer a lot more services. I think our basic home inspector fee is pretty much within range. I kind of think it's a little low. Yeah, I think it's a little bit low, but but we have all the ancillaries that help us with the average. But not having utilities on is not a showstopper. Laura? What are some things that are showstoppers that can make us go, nope, we're done. Blake, no, we are not doing this inspection at this point in time. What is what is one thing that would happen?

SPEAKER_02:

One big thing that would happen is a notice on the door saying, Do not enter. This property is unsafe. And that's a notification from that's a notification from the city typically. If we have not had anything from the agent, either listing agent or buyer's agent, saying, Hey, the um landlord, the owner just never took this off. Here's proof that it is, you know, not active anymore. That's cool. If, however, we do not and we go out to that property and there is a notice, our instruct our our instructions per our employee policy is that they are to not enter that building.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah. Well, also, this notice this notice that we had the other day even had a warning on it saying it's safety hazard. Well, that was it some from the city of Columbus saying it's illegal to enter.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah. If they have that posted, you cannot go into that house. It's it's it's a no-go. So all right, so that so that that's one thing that's a deal stopper.

SPEAKER_01:

Because legally, by the state, well, the city, if we go in there and they go, hey, somebody's in that house, we're gonna be in trouble. We're gonna be in trouble. And if you are a buyer and you you have that on your house, your agent on you, but your agent really should be able to send us, hey, this this is all taken care of.

SPEAKER_02:

You let us know ahead of time.

SPEAKER_01:

Not telling us what's wrong with the house or what's been wrong with the house, because that's obviously there's a history with that, and it could be something important. I remember doing a house, it had a condemned sign on it.

SPEAKER_02:

Is it the one that you had to unscrew the the the screws and the wood and the door? Oh, the power. And then there was there was a a thing in between the two where he had to scooch in with a hole in the wall. No, that's it.

SPEAKER_01:

That's a different place. That place was not condemned. Oh my gosh, that was it? No. The place I'm thinking about, I pulled up and there's that orange sticker saying, hey, this place is condemned, do not enter it. And I'm like, does this buyer he was out of state? I'm like, do you even know this is there? So I gave him a call, and he's like, Yeah, they said they got all it's all it's all fixed or whatever. But I I go in there and no there, it was so eaten out by termites, it was a mess. So where they bought them at, I do not know.

SPEAKER_02:

So that's one thing. That's one thing. And any any city notices, anything saying do not enter, we're not going in. It is company policy. If you know that sign is there, you best be sending me something prior to our doing the inspection, or as soon as we see that, we're leaving.

SPEAKER_00:

Not habitation investigation is the way to go for a home inspection in Ohio. Trusted licensed home inspectors for your needs. From radon to mold to warranty. For a great home inspection, you really can't go. Visit home inspections in Ohio.com.

SPEAKER_01:

Houses are owned by like HUD. HUD owned houses, something like that. They all have a sticker saying, hey, this house contains mold. They put that on every single house. So that has no that means nothing.

SPEAKER_02:

But that's not a do not enter sign from the city saying it is unlawful to enter this property.

SPEAKER_01:

Correct. But no home inspector is required, even though they say they'll inspect your house, there's no requirement for them to go in and do something if it's not safe. If they deem it not safe.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, if you've got someone that's got a severe mold allergy for the HUD stuff, they may choose to not go in.

SPEAKER_01:

That's the that's the the buyers or the inspectors, it's their responsibility to determine if they're gonna go in or not. But it's not I mean, it's it's the inspector's determination to if it's gonna be safe for them. Just like uh the state does not require home inspectors to climb on any roof, you can have a single-story, low slope roof, and the inspector does not have to walk on that, even though I would consider that really safe to do. Ladders, there are a lot of ladder injuries, just regular people climbing ladder that get hurt all the time. That is probably one of the most dangerous home tools you have is a ladder, because people just they they slide, they slip out, trip on them going up, all kinds of different things. So, anyway, so a sign like that saying do not enter, unlawful to do so. That's a show stopper. Laura, what's another show? What is another show stopper for the inspection that we came across?

SPEAKER_02:

We've come across a couple of these actually.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, the sign is next thing, we're all in the same house.

SPEAKER_02:

So what's the next thing that's like finding squatters hanging out either in a garage or somewhere in the house and their sleeping bags all curled up next to their drug paraphernalia? Nope, we're done.

SPEAKER_01:

Oh, did they have drug paraphernalia with with them? It wouldn't die.

SPEAKER_02:

I I know the one house did. I don't know about this one.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. So if we get to our house and there's squatters there, we're done. We're we're out. We're out. Because this is first of all, it's illegal stuff already. And who knows what else they're doing. Often there's drug usage going on there. And we're and who knows if these people are not uh obviously they have some going through hard times, but often people who are homeless, there's also mental illness as well. True. And so they nope, we we can't trust that, we're out. So those are two showstoppers on the inspection. And if you are a real estate agent, you need to let us know what's going on. We had an agent the other day went to a house, it had that sign about you can't enter this house, it's it's so legal to find out.

SPEAKER_02:

It's illegal to enter this house.

SPEAKER_01:

Go and give the agent a call, go, hey, we got the sign. Can you tell us if it's fixed or not? So we can do the inspection. And before I give her a call, the inspector found uh squatters in the house. So I'm like, it doesn't matter that thing's fixed or not.

SPEAKER_02:

We're done.

SPEAKER_01:

We're done. We don't go in with a squatter. So that's the same thing. And then first thing on Monday.

SPEAKER_02:

First thing on Monday, we called and we talked to the client, told the client what all was going on. He's like, Yeah, I'd read the report. I totally agree. We need to get all this stuff fixed. Um, CC'd him in on the email thread with the agent who was not happy that we didn't risk our inspector's life.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, she wants us to r risk just just just go around the homeless.

SPEAKER_02:

Just go around them.

SPEAKER_01:

We are not doing that. So anyway, if you're buying a house, we can inspect a house under all sorts of conditions. Now, if it's flooded in the basement, we can't go in the basement. That's that's another condition. That's another safety for that for that area.

SPEAKER_02:

Right. Well, that's a safety issue. You don't know if there's any wires down there that are floating in the water. Or remember when we were living in our old house, our neighbor's basement flooded like inches away from the electric panel. Do you remember that?

SPEAKER_01:

I do remember hearing that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02:

The fire department came and had to pump it out for her. So you have no clue like where wires are going to be, or you know, if they're live or what, you know, it's just not worth it.

SPEAKER_01:

Nope, nope. So inspector safety is very important. So if you, yeah, you can no squatters, gonna have to have a safe building to go into uh if you want an inspector. Other than that, let us know before we show up because that that one that agent wants to go ahead and continue the inspector, like, dude, we're we're gone. We can't do it when they're when there's squatters there.

SPEAKER_02:

No, and that is that I don't know about other companies, but that is a company policy with us. We do not go in on um with squatters in the property, and that's anywhere on the property, and we also do not go in if there are notices up that say you cannot go in, it's illegal to enter.

SPEAKER_01:

Yeah, and inspector kind of has to determine they're comfortable they're not. Now, I did I did a commercial building, it was uh it was a fast food restaurant. I won't say what it was, but it was closed down, and there were homeless sleeping behind the dumpster in the trees. I'm like and they waved, they said hi, and but they there were no issue, they were not coming close to the buildings. I'm like, they're not just they're not a problem to me. So I continued. I kept an eye on them.

SPEAKER_02:

I think I was there with you when you did that one. But uh that's different than actually being right on the property, right in one of the buildings. They were trespassing within the structure, and that's where I draw the line because you already have somebody committing an illegal act, they know it's an illegal act, and what else are they willing to do to protect that space or you know, whatever? And I I'm not willing to chance my inspectors' lives.

SPEAKER_01:

No, no, it and percent chance wise, if somebody's uh squatting in the house, they got some other issues going on on, maybe doing some other illegal stuff. Who knows? You gotta play it safe.

SPEAKER_02:

You're better safe than sorry.

SPEAKER_01:

Yep. So all right, I think that's it on this one. So yeah, make sure there's no squatters and the house is actually safe to go into.

SPEAKER_02:

So make sure if you are a client or an agent that you send verifying information, if you know there are some issues going on at the house, just communicate. Give us the heads up so that we can talk. I mean, there are even times that we've scheduled more than one inspector to go out just for safety. That that's even an option, too, with some of this stuff. But you need to communicate with us because if we go out and we find it, we're done.

SPEAKER_01:

Well, this house that has the squatters, this is almost a week and a half ago. Yep. Because I think they just now got the squatters out.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, they couldn't have done it through the court because that would have taken a lot longer.

SPEAKER_01:

So well, yeah, and and we don't we don't do anything law enforcement. So anyway, so when the inspector goes back out, I'm going out there with them just in case somebody is still there. Because if somebody's there, we're we're gone. We're gone. We're we're not we're not gonna finish this up. So, all right, thank you everybody. Bye. Bye bye.

Contributor

Jim Troth

Host
Contributor

Laura Troth

Host