Home Inspection

What Do the “Conditions” in a Home Offer Actually Protect? Financing, Inspection, and Status Certificate Explained

A home offer can be conditional or firm. The most common conditions are financing, home inspection, and (for condos) status certificate review. Here's what each protects, typical timelines, how you fulfill or withdraw, and why the mortgage stress test makes the financing condition more important than buyers think.

Should You Test Your Ontario Home for Radon? What to Test, How, and What to Do If It’s High

Radon is the leading cause of lung cancer among non-smokers in Canada. Health Canada's guideline is 200 Bq/m3, and about 4.6% of Ontarians live in homes above it. Here's how to test (long-term, at least 3 months, fall/winter), what C-NRPP means, how to fix a high reading, and how to handle radon when buying or selling.

Don’t Just Look at the Renovations: 10 Details That Decide If a Home Is Worth Buying

Don't be fooled by renovations at a showing: water pressure, cracks and water stains, light and orientation, noise, storage, cell signal, basement damp, HVAC age, the electrical panel, and the surroundings. A 10-point showing checklist with how-to.

In a Buyer’s Market, Which Offer Conditions Should You Add to Protect Yourself?

In a buyer's market, use conditions to protect yourself: financing, home inspection, condo status certificate, and sale-of-buyer's-property. Here's what each condition protects, how to use it, and the leverage a buyer's market gives you.

Why Sellers Refuse Home Inspections — And How Ontario Buyers Can Still Protect Themselves

A seller refusing a home inspection doesn't always mean they're hiding something — but it always means you need a plan. Learn the six real reasons, your Ontario legal rights, and practical ways to protect yourself.

Kitec Plumbing: How to Spot It and Why It Matters When You Buy

Kitec is a defective plumbing system installed in many GTA homes and condos between 1995 and 2007. Learn how to identify it (orange-and-blue pipes; Kitec, PlumbBetter, IPEX AQUA, WarmRite markings), why it affects insurance and resale, why the class-action fund has expired, and what to do if a home has it.

On-Stage vs. Off-Stage: Where to Spend Before You List

Pre-listing spend splits into "on-stage" (what buyers see — paint, lighting, decluttering) and "off-stage" (what an inspection finds — structural issues). Arthur Zhao explains wher

Home Inspection Reveals the Listing Overstated Square Footage: What Buyers Can Actually Do

When a GTA listing's square footage doesn't match real measurement: MPAC, builder plan, seller's number — who's responsible? How 'approximate' works in your APS, when you can renegotiate, walk, or sue. Real cases from Arthur Zhao.