Inspection Report Decoder Skill

Inspection reports bury a $15,000 foundation note between forty comments about caulk — everything is written in the same alarmed font. This skill triages: what threatens the deal, what's a negotiation line, what's Saturday-morning maintenance — with cost ranges, because a finding without a number can't be negotiated.

What This Skill Produces

• The triage — 🔴 walk-risk / 🟡 negotiate / 🟢 cosmetic-or-maintenance, every finding placed
• Cost ranges — order-of-magnitude repair estimates per meaningful finding, stated as ranges with the "get a specialist quote" flag where warranted
• The seller ask-list — repairs vs credits, ranked by leverage, with the deadline noted
• Inspector follow-ups — the questions to ask while you still can

Required Inputs

Ask for these only if not provided:

• The report (paste the findings; photos' captions help)
• The deal context — price, market temperature (multiple offers?), objection/resolution deadline
• The house basics — age, region (cost ranges and typical failure modes vary), how long you plan to stay
• Your risk appetite — first home stretched thin vs experienced renovator changes the triage

Framework

1. The big five get found first: foundation/structural movement, roof (age + active leaks), electrical (panel type, aluminum branch wiring), plumbing (supply material, sewer line), water intrusion/grading. Everything else waits.
2. Cost ranges honestly: wide ranges with the driver named ("panel replacement: low thousands; if service upgrade needed, more — electrician quote required"). A specialist-quote flag beats a false-precision number.
3. Age vs defect: a 19-year-old roof on a 20-year design life is pricing information, not a defect the seller "hid" — decode which findings are negotiation-legitimate vs already-in-the-price.
4. Negotiate credits over repairs where possible — the seller's rushed contractor is nobody's friend; state the tradeoff.