Buying a home can be a stressful process.
A home inspection is supposed to give you peace of mind, but often has the opposite effect. You will have to absorb a lot of information in a short time. Reports, checklists, pictures all of these things plus whatever the seller and agents tell you can make you go into information overload and panic a little!
Relax. Most of your inspection will be maintenance recommendations, life expectancies and minor imperfections. While those items are nice to know about, the issues that really matter will fall into 3 categories:
1. Major defects, e.g. a structural failure.
2. Conditions that lead to major defects, e.g. a small roof-flashing leak.
3. Safety hazards, such as an exposed live wires in the electric panel.
Anything in these categories should be addressed. Often a serious problem can be corrected inexpensively to protect your safety and property. No home is perfect. Keep things in perspective. Do not kill your deal over things that do not matter!