Whether it's your first home, or one in a series of many you will own throughout your life, the process of buying a home can be stressful.

While a professional home inspection is supposed to give you peace of mind, it can sometimes have the opposite effect as you go through pages and pages of report data, photographs and recommendations that the inspector includes in your report. Here's how to make sense of your report, by focusing on the things that really matter in a home inspection.

Keep in mind that no home is perfect.  The issues which are a cause for concern include:

1. Safety hazards
2. Major deficiencies

Some commonly found safety hazards include missing or faulty Ground-Fault-Circuit-Interrupter (GFCI) protection.  GFCI protection against personal shock should be present for receptacles in potential "wet" areas, such as kitchens, bathrooms, and the exterior of the home.  If absent or faulty, these should be repaired immediately for your safety.  Fortunately, this does not require re-wiring of the home, and should not be a major expense.  Other important electrical safety items include: proper hot/neutral polarity and proper grounding.

Some examples of major deficiencies include: structural problems; heating and air conditioning systems not working properly; roof problems; water heater problems.

What appears to be a serious problem can be sometimes be corrected inexpensively. Most sellers are fairly honest and will want to work with you to remedy an issue which is uncovered during an inspection.

Please be aware that that sellers are under no obligation to repair items mentioned in your home inspection report. Since no home is perfect, try to keep everything in perspective and before long, your dream of home ownership can become a reality.