You found the house. You love it. It checks the boxes you’ve been looking for, and your offer has been accepted.

Now comes one of the parts of buying a home that I take very seriously: the inspection.

I recently represented buyers purchasing a home in Arlington, Washington. It had so much of what they had been looking for—room for their horse, space for the kids and dogs, a shop, and a setting they really loved.

But when I first previewed the home, something didn’t feel quite right under my feet.

The floor didn’t feel level.

When my buyers toured the home, they noticed it too.

They still loved the property and wanted to move forward, but we weren’t going to ignore what we noticed.

And that decision ended up being incredibly important.

A Home Inspection Is About Getting Information

I recommend that my buyers have a professional home inspection.

Not because we’re trying to create a giant list of things wrong with the house.

Not because we’re automatically going to ask the seller to fix everything an inspector finds.

And definitely not because we’re looking for a reason to walk away from a home they love.

An inspection is about learning as much as we reasonably can about the property they’re considering purchasing.

A house can look beautiful during a showing and still have things we need to know more about.

That’s exactly what happened with this Arlington home.

Sometimes the Inspector Tells Us We Need Another Professional

During the inspection, the inspector recommended that the foundation be evaluated further.

That’s an important distinction.

A home inspector looks at the overall property, but there are situations where something needs to be evaluated by a professional who specializes in that particular area.

We followed that recommendation and obtained additional information about the foundation.

The estimated repair came back at approximately $50,000.

Now my buyers had something much more useful than simply knowing that the floor didn’t feel level.

They had information.

They could understand the potential scope and cost of the issue and use that information when deciding what they wanted to do next.

A Major Inspection Finding Doesn’t Automatically Mean You Walk Away

This is one of the things I think buyers sometimes worry about.

What happens if the inspector finds something big?

There isn’t one answer.

My buyers still loved this property.

Learning about the foundation issue didn’t automatically mean they had to walk away, nor did it mean they had to move forward.

It meant we needed to gather the appropriate information, answer their questions and look at the options available to them under their contract.

Then they could decide what made the most sense for them.

That’s how I approach these situations with my buyers.

My job isn’t to decide whether someone should or shouldn’t buy a house.

My job is to help make sure they understand the information available to them, answer their questions, explain their contractual options and help them navigate the process so they can make the best decision for themselves.

What Happens After an Inspection?

What happens next will depend on the property, the inspection findings, the purchase agreement and the decisions made by the buyer and seller.

Depending on the circumstances, a buyer may want additional information or evaluations. There may also be an opportunity to negotiate with the seller under the terms of the purchase agreement.

But buyers shouldn’t go into an inspection assuming the seller is automatically going to repair everything—or that an inspection is a way to renegotiate the price of every home.

Every transaction is different.

In this particular Arlington transaction, however, the information we gathered became very important during our negotiations.

By the time everything was finished, I had negotiated $71,500 in total savings for my buyers between the purchase price and seller concessions.

That was a fantastic outcome for my clients.

But it doesn’t mean every inspection will result in a price reduction, repairs or seller concessions.

This was one property, one set of circumstances and one negotiation.

Pay Attention When You’re Touring a Home

There’s another lesson from this transaction that I think is worth sharing.

The foundation issue didn’t begin with an inspection report.

It began with something we noticed while walking through the house.

The floor didn’t feel right.

That’s why I don’t want my buyers to feel rushed when we’re looking at homes.

Look around.

Ask questions.

Tell me when you notice something.

You don’t need to know what it means. That’s why we have inspectors and other professionals we can turn to when additional expertise is needed.

Sometimes something turns out to be nothing significant.

Sometimes we need more information.

In this case, paying attention led us to information my buyers absolutely needed before deciding how they wanted to proceed.

Don’t Skip the Inspection Just Because You Love the House

Finding a home you love is exciting.

But loving the house doesn’t change the importance of understanding what you’re buying.

A home is a significant financial investment, and I want my buyers to have as much reliable information as reasonably possible before they move forward.

An inspection can’t tell us everything about a property, and it certainly can’t guarantee that something won’t go wrong after closing.

What it can do is give buyers considerably more information about the home than they had when they first walked through the door.

For my Arlington buyers, that information made a very real difference.

Watch the Story

I shared this transaction on my YouTube channel, including what happened with the foundation and how the negotiations ultimately resulted in $71,500 in savings for my buyers.

Watch this videodeo here:

Want to See This Transaction From the Seller’s Side?

Representing the buyers also made me think about what I would have done differently if I had been representing the sellers.

I wrote a separate article about that because the lessons for sellers are very different from the lessons for buyers.

Thinking About Buying a Home in Arlington or Northwest Washington?

There is a lot more to buying a home than finding one you like and writing an offer.

Inspections, due diligence, negotiations and understanding the terms of your purchase agreement are all part of the process.

My role is to provide information, answer your questions, explain the options available to you and help you navigate the transaction so you have what you need to make the best decisions for yourself.

If you’re thinking about buying a home in Arlington, Stanwood, Camano Island or the surrounding Northwest Washington communities, I’m always happy to start with a conversation.

About Tricia Jacobs

Tricia Jacobs is a Managing Broker and REALTOR® with RE/MAX Gateway, serving buyers and sellers throughout Snohomish, Skagit, Island and Whatcom Counties.

Originally licensed in 1992, Tricia has decades of experience in real estate and has called Stanwood home since 2001. Her experience includes residential homes, acreage and country properties, equestrian properties, waterfront and water-view homes, ADUs and multigenerational properties, investment properties and land.

Tricia believes good real estate advice starts with understanding the person sitting across the table from her. For sellers, that means learning why they are considering a move, what they hope to accomplish and what their timeline looks like before providing information about their property and the current market.

She doesn’t believe it’s always a great time to sell—because it isn’t. Her role is to provide accurate information, answer questions and explain the options available so her clients have what they need to make the best decision for themselves.

When a client does decide to sell, Tricia takes a hands-on approach to preparing and marketing the property. She helps sellers determine what is worth addressing before going on the market—and what isn’t worth spending money on—then builds the pricing and marketing strategy around the individual property.

For buyers, Tricia provides experienced guidance from the initial search through inspections, negotiations and closing. Her background is particularly helpful with the additional considerations that can come with acreage, wells, septic systems, equestrian properties, waterfront and other unique properties common throughout Northwest Washington.

Tricia was honored to be voted Best Real Estate Agent in Stanwood & Camano Island in both 2025 and 2026 and serves as President of the Stanwood Commerce Alliance, Stanwood’s Chamber of Commerce. Both are especially meaningful because Stanwood isn’t simply an area where she sells real estate—it’s her community.

Outside of real estate, you’ll usually find Tricia spending time with her family, horses and dogs and enjoying the Northwest Washington lifestyle she helps her clients call home.

Tricia Jacobs | Managing Broker / REALTOR®
RE/MAX Gateway
360-223-1100
triciajacobs@remax.net
triciajacobsrealtor.com