Guides for buyers and owners.
What an inspection finding means, how long a roof or a water heater lasts, what to check in an older home, and how to get ready to sell. Each guide ends with how Joysts helps.
Inspections & buying
Understanding your home inspection report
A good inspection report is dense: dozens of pages, hundreds of observations, and no obvious priority order. Here is how to make sense of it, and how to keep it useful long after closing.
Read more →New homeowner: your first 90 days
The first few months in a new home set up everything that follows. Beyond the boxes, a little organization now saves real money and stress later. Here is where to start.
Read more →4-point and wind-mitigation inspections
In Florida and other storm-prone states, the insurer often wants its own short reports on top of the home inspection. They are not the same thing, and they answer different questions.
Read more →Well and septic inspections
Many rural and older homes have their own water well and septic system. A standard home inspection often looks at them only briefly, so buyers usually order separate inspections.
Read more →Buying a condo or co-op
When you buy a condo or co-op, you also buy into the building and the association that runs it. The building's documents matter as much as the unit itself.
Read more →Crawl spaces and termite reports
Many homes in the Southeast sit on a crawl space, and lenders often ask for a termite report. Together they tell you more about moisture and wood damage than any other part of the inspection.
Read more →Systems & maintenance
When to replace your water heater
A failing water heater is rarely a surprise, unless you have lost track of how old it is. Here is how to know when replacement is coming, and how to plan for it instead of reacting to a flooded floor.
Read more →How long a roof lasts (and how to budget for it)
A roof replacement is one of the largest single costs of owning a home, and one of the most predictable, if you know the roof’s age. Here is how long roofs typically last and how to plan for the bill before it is urgent.
Read more →A simple seasonal maintenance routine
Most home problems are cheaper to prevent than to fix, and prevention is mostly a matter of doing small things on a schedule. Here is a simple seasonal schedule, and how to keep it tied to the systems your home has.
Read more →Risk & older homes
Do you need flood insurance?
Standard homeowners insurance does not cover flooding, a surprise many owners only discover after water is in the basement. Here is how to think about whether flood insurance is worth it for your home.
Read more →What to check in an older home
The year a home was built tells you a lot about what may be in it. Certain materials and methods were standard in their era and are now known concerns. Here is what to check.
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