Thought those $30 home inspection walkthroughs were a scam until my buddy found $14k of knob and tube in a Hamilton bungalow

Spencer Thomas · 2026-09-30T00:40:03.589619+00:00

I always figured paying extra for anything beyond the basic bank appraisal was flushing money down the toilet. Then my buddy put in an offer on a place off Ottawa Street in Hamilton last month, and his agent talked him into spending $650 on a proper inspector instead of the $300 guy. The cheap guy had already been through 12 houses that week and missed the fact that half the wiring was still knob and tube hidden behind the basement ceiling tiles. The $650 guy pulled back a panel and found it in about 20 minutes, plus a cracked clay sewer line under the front yard. Seller ended up knocking $14,000 off the price to cover the rewiring. I was the loudest guy saying inspections were a waste of cash, and now I'm eating my words hard. Has anyone else had an inspector catch something that actually paid for itself, or was it just one good break?

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Thought those $30 home inspection walkthroughs were a scam until my buddy found $14k of knob and tube in a Hamilton bungalow | Canadian Housing Chat - Guest Forum