Focused Property Inspections

10/28/2026

North Carolina doesn't use an inspection contingency. Buyers pay a due diligence fee to the seller at signing, and it's non-refundable from that moment.

What you get for it is the due diligence period, a window to walk away for any reason and keep your earnest money. With the market back in balance, sellers are agreeing to two to four week windows again. That's time to inspect, get answers and negotiate.

How to use every day of it: fpi-web.com/nc-due-diligence-period-home-inspection

Clear reports, often same day. Book at fpi-web.com or call 984-444-2099.

10/27/2026

We're proud to see Certified Master Inspector® Matt Geren featured by Best of Raleigh.

In this new Q&A, Matt explains:

• Why luxury homes require experience with more complex systems
• Why even new construction should be independently inspected
• What homeowners should know about 11-month warranty inspections
• How sewer scopes, septic inspections, radon testing, and well-water testing can reveal concerns outside a standard inspection
• Why clear, objective communication matters as much as technical knowledge

Whether you're buying your first home, a custom luxury property, or new construction in the Triangle, this is a useful guide to making a more informed investment.

Read "Meet Matt Geren: Raleigh Home Inspections, Luxury Homes, and What Every Buyer Should Know":
https://bestofraleigh.com/blog/partner-profiles/meet-matt-geren-raleigh-home-inspections-luxury-homes-and-what-every-buyer-should-know

Thank you to Katie Griffin and Best of Raleigh for sharing Matt's story and the work our team does for North Carolina buyers.

From luxury properties to new construction, meet Matt Geren of Focused Property Inspections and discover what Triangle homebuyers should know before closing.

10/26/2026

On the coast, a few days of steady northeast wind can do what a named storm does: push sound water against the mainland and hold it there.

Houses on the New River, the White Oak, Bogue Sound and the Neuse can get wet underneath without a hurricane. That's why we look closely at the crawlspace and the flood vents, which are meant to let water in and out so it doesn't push on the foundation.

The Wilmington weather office flagged Oct. 26 to 28 for coastal flooding from tides alone.

What we check under the house: fpi-web.com/coastal-nc-crawlspace-flood-vents-northeast-wind

Book at fpi-web.com or call 984-444-2099.

10/23/2026

A lot of North Carolina homes built between 1950 and 1990 still have a Federal Pacific Stab-Lok or Zinsco panel.

Independent testing found those breakers often fail to trip at their rated current. A breaker that doesn't trip lets the wiring behind the walls overheat instead.

It's also an insurance question now. Many carriers decline, surcharge or non-renew homes with these panels, and some policies are written subject to inspection after closing. Knowing what's in the panel before you close matters.

More here: fpi-web.com/federal-pacific-electrical-panel-north-carolina

Book at fpi-web.com or call 984-444-2099.

10/21/2026

If you're PCSing to Camp Lejeune, the inspection belongs in the first few days of your due diligence period, not the last.

North Carolina gives buyers a due diligence window to walk away for any reason. Booking the inspection early leaves time to renegotiate or terminate before it closes. Request your VA Certificate of Eligibility before orders arrive, too.

One more change: since May 1, sheds and detached garages are largely outside the VA appraisal. The inspection still looks at them.

The full timeline: fpi-web.com/camp-lejeune-pcs-va-inspection-timeline

Book at fpi-web.com or call 984-444-2099.

10/20/2026

The inspector who teaches the class.

Matt Geren teaches the continuing education courses Triangle real estate agents take. He also inspects their clients' homes. Certified Master Inspector, Focused Property Inspections, Raleigh and the Triangle.

When the agent you trust books an inspector, this is the one they book.

fpi-web.com/nc/raleigh/ or 984-444-2099.

10/19/2026

If you bought new construction, there is a deadline on your calendar that nobody is going to remind you about.

Most builder warranties run twelve months from closing. An inspection at month eleven exists to use that window, and it works because a year of living in the house has revealed things the final walkthrough could not.

The house has been through a full cycle of seasons. It has settled. Grading has moved with a year of rain. Systems have run under real load rather than being switched on to confirm they turn on. Nail pops, drywall cracks, HVAC performance, drainage that turned out to slope the wrong way.

What makes it effective is not that the items are dramatic. It is that they arrive as a documented list while the builder is still obligated to address them.

One inspector. One report. Often same day.

Book at fpi-web.com or call 984-444-2099.

10/16/2026

Nearly every crawlspace has something on the ground. Far fewer have a barrier that is doing its job.

What working looks like is specific. The soil is fully covered with no bare patches. Seams overlap rather than butting together. The material runs up the piers and the perimeter wall instead of stopping at the dirt line. And it is fastened, not just laid down.

What failure looks like is torn sheeting from anyone who has crawled through, gaps around the perimeter where it was cut short, and sections that have shifted because nothing held them.

The honest test is not how it looks. It is what the framing above it reads on a moisture meter. A barrier that photographs well and leaves the joists damp is not a barrier.

Our own licensed inspectors. No subcontractors.

Book at fpi-web.com or call 984-444-2099.

10/14/2026

Radon has a reputation as a northern problem, which is a geology misunderstanding rather than a geography one.

Radon comes from uranium decaying in rock and soil. Granite produces it. Central North Carolina sits on the Piedmont, and elevated results here are common enough that testing is a normal part of due diligence rather than an unusual request.

It enters the same way everywhere: through cracks in a slab, up through crawlspace soil, and around utility penetrations, pulled in by the pressure difference between the house and the ground under it.

And it is one of the more solvable findings in a report. Mitigation is a fan and a vent pipe, it is routine work, and the cost is usually well under what buyers brace for. The expensive version is not testing.

One visit. Radon, water, septic and WDIR.

Book at fpi-web.com or call 984-444-2099.

10/13/2026

Paying top dollar for the house? Hire the best to inspect it.

A 4,000 square foot custom build has zoned HVAC, complex roof and flashing details, an encapsulated crawlspace and a lot more lot to drain. Those are the places a basic inspection skips past.

Matt Geren, Certified Master Inspector, covers all of it in one visit: home, radon, sewer scope, WDI, well and water, septic. Report the same day.

fpi-web.com/nc/raleigh/ or 984-444-2099.