Field notes from thousands of units
What do home inspectors look for? What I actually find in Chicago condos
The textbook answer: material defects in the systems and components that are visible and accessible on the day. The practical answer is more useful. After thousands of condo inspections across Chicago — vintage walk-ups, converted two-flats, loft conversions, high-rises — the same handful of problems come up again and again. Here’s what I check hardest, what I find most, and what each finding means for you as a buyer.
Finding №1
Bathroom and kitchen exhaust that goes nowhere
I run every bath, kitchen and laundry exhaust to confirm it actually moves air — and in condos, that test fails more than any other. Fans that spin but don’t pull, ducts that dead-end in a ceiling cavity instead of reaching the outside, and dryer vents on long, lint-loaded runs. In a unit, moisture has nowhere to go but into your finishes: peeling paint above the shower is usually this, not a roof leak. It’s often a modest fix, but it’s the leading source of the moisture problems I find everywhere else in the unit.
Finding №2
Electrical shortcuts — especially in conversions
Chicago’s condo stock is full of buildings that started life as something else, and the electrical work tells that story. The common finds: missing GFCI protection at kitchens, baths and laundry; ungrounded three-prong outlets in vintage buildings; reversed polarity; and in-unit panels with double-tapped breakers or amateur additions from a past remodel. I test the panel and a representative sample of outlets and switches in every unit. Most of these are inexpensive corrections — but they’re exactly the kind of thing you want a licensed electrician pricing before closing, not after.
Finding №3
Water heaters and plumbing at the end of the line
In-unit water heaters live in closets, and closets keep secrets. I check age, corrosion, connections, and the discharge piping on the relief valve — and I run every fixture for flow and drainage. What I find most: water heaters at or past their expected service life, slow drains that point to older galvanized branch lines, and corrosion at shut-off valves that haven’t been touched in decades. None of it is dramatic on the day; all of it is the kind of line item that matters when the unit above yours has the same vintage plumbing.
Finding №4
Heating and cooling that hasn’t been touched since move-in
I run the heating and cooling with the unit’s normal controls, whether it’s a furnace closet, a heat pump, or the classic Chicago high-rise fan-coil unit. The repeat finds are neglect, not catastrophe: filters that clearly haven’t been changed in years, condensate lines and drain pans ready to overflow into the ceiling below, and units that heat but limp at cooling. In a high-rise, a clogged condensate line isn’t just your problem — it’s your downstairs neighbor’s ceiling. Service records are worth asking for.
Finding №5
Moisture at windows, sliders and balcony doors
The unit’s weakest weather points are the openings, and I check every one: staining and soft trim below window sills, failed seals fogging double-pane glass, and balcony door thresholds where water has been working its way in. In vintage masonry buildings, condensation on cold window surfaces mimics a leak; in newer construction, a bad threshold is often the real thing. Which one it is changes who fixes it — and that’s a question worth answering before you own the wall.
Finding №6
Appliances that pass a glance but fail a cycle
Every major appliance gets functionally tested, not just looked at — and condos, where appliances often convey with the unit, are where that pays off. The regulars: dishwashers that fill but don’t fully drain, ranges installed without anti-tip protection, garbage disposals seized from disuse, and washer connections with rubber supply hoses well past their prime in a stack where a burst line means three units get wet. Individually these are small findings. In a building where your water problems become your neighbors’ water problems, they’re the cheap fixes you make first.
The pattern
What these six have in common
Almost everything on this list is deferred maintenance meeting concealed conditions — the two things condo living makes easy. Systems tucked in closets and ceilings don’t get looked at until they fail, and the failure often surfaces in someone else’s unit. None of these findings is usually a dealbreaker. They’re information: what to fix first, what to have a specialist evaluate while your inspection window is open, and what questions to put to the seller and the HOA before you own the answer.
The scope question
Where the building ends and your unit begins
Everything above is unit territory — what a condo inspection covers. The building’s structure, roof, exterior walls and shared mechanicals are the HOA’s responsibility and outside that scope. The findings that hurt condo buyers most often aren’t in the unit at all: they’re in board minutes, reserves, and looming special assessments. So while I inspect the unit, you work the paper — the condo inspection page covers exactly what to request from the HOA and why.
Two practical notes while you’re weighing it. First, cost: a Chicago condo inspection runs $300 – $600 depending on unit size — the exact tables are in my cost guide. Second, the objection I hear most: “the HOA maintains the building, so why inspect?” Because everything on this page lives inside your walls, where the HOA’s responsibility ends and yours begins. The association won’t fix your panel, your water heater, or the exhaust duct that dead-ends above your bathroom — and none of it appears in any HOA document. The unit is the part only an inspection covers.
Eyes that have seen this before
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