10+ Things to Inspect Before You Buy a Rental Property (Foundation to Roof)

Real Estate Rookie

BiggerPockets

Entrepreneurship, Education, Investing, Business, How To

4.7 • 1.8K Ratings

🗓️ 25 March 2026

⏱️ 48 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

How do you know if the property you’re buying is a cash-flowing investment or a money pit? Too many investors think they’re getting a great deal, so they rush the due diligence process, waive home inspections, and hastily close on properties without knowing what’s really lurking beneath the surface. Don’t let that be YOU! Welcome back to the Real Estate Rookie podcast! Ellie Ridge was walking properties, scaling rooftops, and exploring crawl spaces with her contractor father at an early age. Now a top 1% real estate agent in the Bay Area, Ellie blends her deep home inspection knowledge and market expertise to educate home buyers on costly but avoidable mistakes. Today’s episode is just that—a crash course on what every rookie should watch for when walking a property, reading an inspection report, or doing their own due diligence. Whether you’re flipping houses, investing in rental properties, or buying a primary residence, neglecting these line items could cost you thousands shortly after closing. But with Ellie’s tips and tricks, you’ll feel more confident when making offers, renovating, and maintaining your property! In This Episode We Cover 10+ things that too many home buyers miss during the due diligence period How to protect your property’s value with routine rental maintenance What to expect when you receive a typical home inspection report Estimating the age of your plumbing system (and whether it will need to be replaced) Serious hazards to watch out for when inspecting an electrical panel Why an aging roof isn’t as big of a deal as you probably think And So Much More! Check out more resources from this show on ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠BiggerPockets.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/rookie-696 Interested in learning more about today’s sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Email ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠advertise@biggerpockets.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Most buyers walk through a house thinking about paint colors and kitchen counters.
0:04.5	Ellie Ridge grew up scaling rooftops and crawling through half-framed walls with her contractor family.
0:10.4	And today, as a top 1% realtor, she's going to show you exactly what to look for before you ever even sign on the dotted line so you don't inherit someone else's six-figure nightmare.
0:25.9	Yeah. at line so you don't inherit someone else's six-figure measure. This is the Real Estate Rookie Podcast. I'm Ashley Care.
0:29.3	And I'm Tony J. Robinson. With that, let's give a big word and welcome to Ellie.
0:32.3	Ellie. Thanks so much for joining us on the Ricky podcast today.
0:34.6	Thanks for having me.
0:36.1	Now, Ellie, you've said you were literally
0:37.9	scaling rooftops and walking through half-framed homes as a kid. What did that childhood do to you
0:44.9	to see a house when you walk through the front door? Yeah, my dad's a contractor. And so that is just
0:51.8	about visiting my dad at work in particular.
0:54.4	He's a roof framerer.
0:55.5	So I have a special interest in roofs and how they're framed and framing generally.
1:01.9	But it is helpful to walk through a house and know what is behind the walls and what's underneath
1:08.0	the floors because that is where expensive problems often lie.
1:14.7	And the piece of homeownership that I think feels very intimidating to new homebuyers.
1:21.2	I think the intimidating piece is so correct, right?
1:23.0	Because for a lot of first-time investors, maybe the only home they've ever purchased is
1:27.2	their primary
1:27.6	residence. And that's a very different decision than buying an investment property. And I think
1:33.2	there is, really like a massive gap between what a buyer sees as a walk through a property and
1:39.4	what's actually happening inside the home's like bones. where does that gap maybe cost buyers the most money?
	...

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