Walk the house. Answer the questions.
Before you make an offer, tell us what you can see and how you know it. “Not sure” is a fine answer. We label every answer by how it is known, so your brief shows what is solid and what still needs a question.
Buyer-observed. Not an inspection, not a bid, not a code review.
- Fill in “The house” with what you know first, from the listing. The rest you answer in the house.
- If you're touring with an agent, ask before opening the electrical panel door or filming. If it's already your home, go ahead.
- Bring a flashlight. Panels, basements, and data plates are dark. Your phone light works.
- Each section has its own "Add photo" buttons, so snap the shot right where you're standing, no need to remember it for later. Photos are not saved if you close this page, so finish and send in one sitting.
The house
If yes, snap it right here. Photos or a PDF both work.
What is old
Roof, heating and cooling, water heater. For each: the year, and how you know it.
Electrical and plumbing
Open the panel door and look under the kitchen sink. Only look, do not touch wiring.
Signs of trouble
Pick everything you noticed.
Garage door and fireplace
One tap if the house does not have one.
Appliances
Which major appliances stay, and did they work when you tried them.
Video walkthrough (optional)
A short video shows a contractor what photos cannot. It is recommended for the contractor review, and worth recording now even if you decide later.
More detail (optional)
Skip this and your brief still works. Every answer here sharpens it.
Add more detail (0 of 8 answered)
Last questions, then send
Before you send: why we're asking
Help people know what a house will really cost them before they commit: before an offer, not after the fact.
What you just did, hunting for a year stamped on a water heater, guessing when the roof went on, trying to remember what the panel looked like, is the hard way, and today it's the only way. Here's where we're taking it: you type an address, and the house starts talking back. Point your phone at the furnace, the panel, the water heater, and get handed back what that unit tends to be known for and roughly what it may cost, without you knowing a single thing about any of it going in.
That's walking into a negotiation already knowing what everyone else in the room doesn't, so nobody gets surprised at the closing table.
What you just tested is the first version of it. Right now it's just us and a form, and you're one of a small group of people we trust to walk through it and tell us the truth. Send your walkthrough and we'll email you your brief.
Once you've read your brief, we'll follow up with a few short questions: how useful it was, what was missing, whether it gave you real value, and what, if anything, a brief like this is worth to you. For now, we only want to know how filling this out went. The questions below won't change your brief.
Three quick questions about filling this out
Honest answers help us more than kind ones. Only the first one is required.
Where the numbers come from
- Sourced A named, checkable source. Directional Reported by agents, brokers, or contractors, not measured. Inference Our reasoning from the facts above.
- HUD American Healthy Homes Survey (2011), lead paint by year built. Government survey; we read the Oklahoma State Department of Health summary of it, not the original.
- Triple-I (Insurance Information Institute), Facts + Statistics: Homeowners and renters insurance (claims, 2019 to 2023 data from ISO), and “How your roof influences your home and business insurance.” Insurance-industry group.
- NAHB and Bank of America, Study of Life Expectancy of Home Components (2007). Home builders’ trade group. Averages, and the study says maintenance and climate change them.
- NFPA, Home Fires Caused by Electrical Failure or Malfunction (2010 to 2014 annual averages). Fire-safety nonprofit; the figures are older.
- NFPA chimney and flue fire share (2016 to 2020), read through an Insurify summary, not the NFPA original.
- U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, Publication 516, Repairing Aluminum Wiring. Federal agency. The survey covered outlet connections only, in homes built before 1972.
- InterNACHI, Standard Estimated Life Expectancy Chart. Home-inspector trade association.
- New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection, notice on heating oil tanks (signs of a leaking tank). State agency.
- HomeGuide, “How Much Does a 4-Point Inspection Cost?” (2026). A cost guide that earns lead-generation fees.
- Full-inspection price range, from buyer guides citing HomeAdvisor and Rocket Mortgage. Secondary compilations.
- Insurance agent and broker articles (2026), and environmental contractor and real estate agent pages on oil tanks. All have a commercial interest. Directional only.
Cost ranges and flags in your brief are questions to raise with sellers, contractors and insurers. They are not findings, approvals, or a substitute for a licensed inspection. The drawings above are simple illustrations; the real thing will look different.
Sent. Thank you.
Your walkthrough is in. We'll email your brief to you directly, then follow up with a few short questions about it.