Field notes from hundreds of condos
What do home inspectors look for? What I actually find in Chicago condos
The textbook answer is material defects in whatever is visible and accessible that day. The real answer is more useful. After hundreds of Chicago condo inspections in vintage walk-ups, converted two-flats, lofts and high-rises, the same handful of problems keep coming up. Here’s what I check hardest, what I find most, and what each one means for you as a buyer.
Finding №1
Bathroom and kitchen exhaust that goes nowhere
I run every bath, kitchen and laundry exhaust to make sure 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 the ceiling instead of reaching the outside, and dryer vents on long runs packed with lint. 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 cheap fix, but it’s behind most of the moisture problems I find everywhere else in the unit.
Finding №2
Electrical shortcuts, especially in conversions
Chicago is full of condo buildings that started life as something else, and the electrical work shows it. What I find most: missing GFCI protection in 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 cheap to correct, but they’re exactly what 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 the 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 life, slow drains that point to older galvanized branch lines, and corroded shut-off valves nobody has touched in decades. None of it looks dramatic that day. All of it matters when the unit above yours has the same old 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. What I find over and over is neglect, not disaster: filters that clearly haven’t been changed in years, condensate lines and drain pans about to overflow into the ceiling below, and units that heat fine but struggle to cool. In a high-rise, a clogged condensate line isn’t just your problem. It’s your downstairs neighbor’s ceiling. Ask for the service records.
Finding №5
Moisture at windows, sliders and balcony doors
Windows and doors are where weather gets into a unit, 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 windows looks like a leak. In newer construction, a bad threshold is often the real thing. Which one it is changes who pays to fix it, and you want that answered before you own the wall.
Finding №6
Appliances that look fine until you run them
I run every major appliance instead of just looking at it, and in condos, where the appliances usually come with the unit, that pays off. The usual suspects: dishwashers that fill but don’t fully drain, ranges installed without anti-tip brackets, garbage disposals seized up from not being used, and old rubber washer hoses in a stacked building where one burst line soaks the units below. On their own these are small findings. In a building where your water problems become your neighbors’ water problems, they’re the cheap fixes you do first.
The pattern
What these six have in common
Almost everything on this list is skipped maintenance on things you can’t easily see, and condo living makes both easy. Systems tucked into closets and ceilings don’t get looked at until they fail, and the failure often shows up in someone else’s unit. Usually none of these is a dealbreaker. They tell you what to fix first, what to have a specialist look at while your inspection window is open, and what to ask the seller and the HOA before it’s your problem. Still at the showing stage? These six patterns are exactly what my printable condo inspection checklist turns into a ten-minute walkthrough you can do yourself.
The scope question
Where the building ends and your unit begins
Everything above is in the unit, which is what a condo inspection covers. The building’s structure, roof, exterior walls and shared mechanicals are the HOA’s responsibility and fall outside it. The things that hurt condo buyers most often aren’t in the unit at all. They’re in the board minutes, the reserves and upcoming special assessments. So while I inspect the unit, you work the paperwork. The condo inspection page covers exactly what to ask the HOA for and why.
Two practical notes while you’re weighing it. First, cost: a Chicago condo inspection runs $325 – $650 depending on unit size, and the exact tables are in my cost guide. Second, the pushback 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 shows up in any HOA document. The unit is the part only an inspection covers.
I’ve seen this before
Under contract on a Chicago condo?
Send me the unit’s address and I’ll get back to you with an exact quote. The plain-language report comes the same day as the inspection.
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