Ask Kyle Before you buy
You don’t just buy the home, you buy what’s wrong with it. I spent 11 years in construction, and this is what I look for before a client signs anything.
15 answers from 6 of my videos
Yes. I want everybody to do an inspection, even on a brand new home. We had a new home built for my office and still had it inspected, and that inspection got us a $30,000 credit we never would have found otherwise. Inspectors vary as much as agents do, so hire a good one.
Yes. A property disclosure statement does not supersede an inspection, because the seller only answers to the best of their knowledge. You won’t always get one either: on a rental or a probate sale, there usually isn’t one.
Everything that makes a home expensive is invisible on a Saturday afternoon. The showing sells you the new kitchen, fresh paint and good lighting, which are surface level. The things that cost you are behind the walls, under the yard and in the permit history.
It can become your problem. Take a big patio out back that everyone assumes was always there: if it was never permitted, the city can make you rip it out and do it properly. If you start work and a neighbour complains, the city can put a stop work order on you, so make sure your agent asks what was and wasn’t permitted.
Go deeperUnpermitted suites and renovations
The city can shut it down, and you lose the rental income you may have qualified for your mortgage with. Unauthorized suites often lack proper fire separation, panels or exits, so a fire or an injury can mean your insurance won’t cover you. And if you sign the seller’s material latent defect form, it’s been disclosed to you and it’s your responsibility.
11:53Hear me say it at 11:53NEVER Buy a Home Before Checking ThisSeptember 2026 · 16:50 long12:21Hear me say it at 12:21NEVER Buy a Home Before Checking ThisSeptember 2026 · 16:50 longGo deeperUnpermitted suites and renovations
On any detached home, ask if the scan has been done and look at the certificate. If a tank is found after you buy and you didn’t have the right clause in the contract, fixing it is on you. If the oil has leached into the soil, you have to remedy all of it, even where it has spread into the neighbour’s yard.
Go deeperPoly-B, oil tanks and hidden costs
Get a professional opinion, and in most cases I have my clients walk away unless we’re getting a massive credit. The bigger issue is insurance: some insurers will decline the policy outright, while others want a higher water deductible, a plumbing report or a deadline to replace it. A house you can’t insure is one someone can’t finance, which makes it hard to sell.
5:25Hear me say it at 5:25NEVER Buy a Home Before Checking ThisSeptember 2026 · 16:50 long
7:31Hear me say it at 7:31These Homes Are Practically WORTHLESS Now In BC!September 2026 · 16:45 longGo deeperPoly-B, oil tanks and hidden costs
Ask what fixed means. New copper fittings are great, but they don’t change the pipe, and lining it with a chemical coating doesn’t stop it failing. A full re-pipe with PEX or copper generally restores insurance eligibility, and a re-piped older house can have better plumbing than a newer one that’s never been touched.
FreeThe Red Flag ReportEverything I look for before a client buys, for a condo, townhouse, duplex or detached home.Get the Red Flag Report →Find out what the heating pipe is made of, because poly-B was also used in radiant floor systems. If it’s in the slab, a normal re-pipe doesn’t solve it, and the system often gets abandoned in place, so you need a whole new heat source too. I just had buyers who couldn’t do the open concept renovation they wanted because adding forced air ducting changed their plans.
Not to live in it: undisturbed asbestos inside a wall isn’t doing anything to anybody, and in most Vancouver houses it’s in the drywall mud, floor tile and textured ceilings. The cost lands the day you renovate. When I covered this in September 2026, WorkSafeBC required a hazardous materials survey before any renovation on a pre-1990 home and the City of Vancouver wouldn’t issue a building permit without it, so check the current rules before you plan work.
That’s the window where three separate problems can land on the same house: asbestos in anything before 1990, poly-B in its heavy years, and no rain screen, from before rain screen walls became the standard. From the sidewalk it just looks like a nice 90s place somebody kept up. The one to be careful with is the untouched original, one owner since new.
11:48Hear me say it at 11:48These Homes Are Practically WORTHLESS Now In BC!September 2026 · 16:45 long13:27Hear me say it at 13:27These Homes Are Practically WORTHLESS Now In BC!September 2026 · 16:45 longGo deeperLeaky condos and rainscreen
Not if the work’s been done. A house in that window that’s had the re-pipe, had the envelope done and has a hazmat survey on file isn’t a risk, it’s the opposite: somebody else already paid for all three. And inspection findings can still be negotiated on price, so don’t let them scare you off.
They’re envelope items, and they don’t announce themselves. A skylight is a hole through your roof that relies on flashing for decades, so check the underside of the curb in the attic for dark staining. On a roof deck, find the drains and ask when the membrane was last done, because a brand new surface can sit on a membrane that’s 20 years old.
Separate envelope problems from annoyances. A soaker tub you never use or a barn door on a bedroom is personal, but a skylight, a roof deck or integrated appliances near end of life get flagged by the next buyer’s inspector and become a negotiation. I wouldn’t walk away from a house over the small stuff; I’d walk away from a price that assumes the big items are free.
The house may be beautiful, but the land is what people really care about. Parts of the city sit on old peat bogs, where foundations can shift and floors slope, and stabilizing them can be very expensive. I’d also be wary of irregular lots, narrow frontages and corner lots on busy roads, because they shrink your buyer pool and your development potential.
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If your question is about your own home or your own contract, the honest answer depends on the paperwork. Bring it to me and I’ll tell you what I see.
