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I cannot stress the need to get a good home inspector (my be even multiple) - even for a normal home. It's worth the money - I learned the hard way because I trusted a checklist inspector.

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My home inspector worked exclusively in my town, with the most common housing construction type that my house was built with. I live in a town with a lot of 19th century homes. Not only was he able to tell me most of the common problems that occur in the homes, but exactly what remodels had been done to the home (like what was cheaply done, and what was done 'right'). He also gave me a fairly extensive list of contractors and maintenance people from around the area that he trusted, and encouraged me to contact him if I had any questions or concerns over the next couple years. Looking back on it, as a first time home buyer, I would pay 10x more for the service he gave me than what he charged.

It was eye-opening to go through a couple inspections as a seller and see what those inspectors missed versus the inspectors we had hired on purchase. For example, evidence of insect damage -- we had treated the issue of course, but the evidence was still there and should have been noted.

You should ask your agent for recommendations and avoid them, they'll be the checklist guys :-).

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