John Martino's (looksmart) Blog

One question I hear a lot from buyers is should I get a radon test during my NJ home inspection. The short answer is yes. Radon is not something you can see or smell. You would never know if it is in the home unless you test for it. Because much of New Jersey is in a moderate or high risk zone fo...

One of the most common questions buyers ask is how do I actually find a good home inspector in New Jersey. The truth is there are a lot of inspectors out there and they are not all the same. Some are very thorough, some are quick and basic. Some are independent, while others rely heavily on real ...

When you are buying a home in New Jersey, the inspection is one of the most important steps. Some findings are small and easy to handle, but others are real red flags. These are the problems that can cost a lot of money, affect safety, or point to bigger issues that are not always visible at firs...

When you are buying a home in New Jersey, choosing the right home inspector is one of the most important steps in the process. A home inspection is your chance to learn the truth about the house before you move forward. Not all inspectors work the same way, and the quality of the inspection can m...

A question I hear all the time is whether a NJ home inspector checks everything in a house. The answer is no. A home inspection is very detailed and covers all the major systems, but it does have limits. The New Jersey home inspection regulations make it clear what we are required to look at and ...

When people go searching for the best NJ home inspectors what they really want is somebody they can trust with one of the biggest purchases of their life. The problem is a lot of folks do not know what makes one inspector better than another. Some inspectors run through two or three jobs in a day...

When most people think about a home inspection, they picture the roof, the foundation, or maybe the electrical system. What they do not think about is the sewer line. The sewer line is underground and out of sight, but when it fails it can become one of the most expensive repairs a homeowner will...

When I inspect older homes in New Jersey, one of the most common places I find problems is in the electrical system. These houses were built in a different time, long before today’s standards for safety and capacity. On the surface everything may look fine. Lights work, outlets test okay, the pan...

When I inspect older homes in New Jersey, one of the first questions buyers often ask is, “Does this house have asbestos?” People have heard about the risks, but they are not always sure where asbestos is found or what to do if it is there. The truth is asbestos was once thought of as a miracle p...

When I inspect older homes in New Jersey one thing I look for is whether the house still has a clay sewer line. These pipes run underground from the home out to the street. Many houses built before the 1970s have them. Clay was cheap and easy to install back then but over time it has proven to be...