Home/Home Inspection/College Park, MD
Home inspection
Home Inspection in College Park, MD
A Lakeland bungalow built for a lakeside resort and a Calvert Hills colonial from the 1920s get the same walkthrough, then a report ranked by what to handle first.
Read client reviews Licensed and insured inspectors Serving College Park and all of Prince George's County
What we check in a College Park home
The inspection follows the same 12 areas, from the roof down to the grounds, within the agreed scope and safe access available. It is visual and non-invasive: finishes are not removed, and personal belongings are not moved. Select an area to see what is checked.
- Range, oven and wall oven run normally
- Dishwasher, disposer and microwave run
- Kitchen exhaust fan and the dryer vent exit
- Service entrance, meter and main disconnect
- Panels, breakers, grounding and bonding
- Sampled outlets and switches; GFCI, AFCI, smoke and CO detectors
- Siding, flashing, trim, eaves, soffits and fascia
- Every exterior door and a sample of windows
- Walkways, driveway, stoops, porches, decks and railings
- Foundation walls, slabs and the basement
- Any accessible crawlspace
- Signs of movement, water penetration and wood touching soil
- Vehicle door and opener on their normal controls
- Auto reverse and photo eye safety sensors
- Walls, ceiling, floor and the fire door into the house
- Grading and drainage at the foundation
- Retaining walls and vegetation against the house
- Downspout discharge, walkways, driveway and steps
- Heating and cooling run on their normal controls
- Energy source, method and thermostat location noted
- Visible ducts, filter, condensate drainage and equipment condition
- Floors, walls, ceilings, stairs and railings
- A sample of doors and windows opened and closed
- Accessible attic: insulation depth, ventilation and framing; fireplace and damper
- Sink, faucet, drain and disposer run
- Dishwasher connection checked for leaks
- Cabinets, drawers, counters, floors, walls, ceiling and exhaust fan
- Main water and fuel shut-offs located
- Water heater, its venting and TPR valve; pipe materials
- Every toilet flushed; every sink, tub and shower run
- Coverings, flashing, vents, skylights and chimney
- Gutters, downspouts, eaves and rake
- Roof structure from inside the attic where accessible
- Visible framing, beams, posts and joists
- Masonry walls and the chimney structure
- Settlement signs: cracks, out of square openings, unlevel floors
Every inspection follows a written standard of practice. Need additional testing? Explore radon testing, termite inspection, mold testing and water testing, then confirm your selected services and timing when booking.
Add a package to the inspection
Three packages built around the home inspection. Package prices are for the add-on services only and are added to the inspection price. The savings are against booking the same services one by one.
Home Essentials
The perfect starting point
Home Advantage
Most popular for homebuyers
Home Enhanced
The ultimate peace of mind
Warranties must be requested when you book, not after the inspection. Radon and thermal imaging can also be added on their own. Read more about each package.
What a home inspection actually involves
No jargon, no surprises. Here is the whole visit, start to finish, so you know what you are booking before you book it.
You book, we confirm
Online or by phone, in a few minutes. Your agent can book for you. Add radon, termite or a package at the same time, and we confirm the appointment with you before the visit.
The walk-around
Roof, siding, grading, decks, the garage and the grounds first. The inspector photographs what they find as they go, so the report shows you exactly where each item is.
Systems and accessible spaces
The inspector checks accessible electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling components and operates equipment with normal controls when conditions allow. The report identifies areas that could not be inspected and any recommended follow-up.
The walkthrough and the report
You see the main findings in the house itself. The written report follows online with photos, priorities and what to do about each item.
College Park, streetcar suburb to campus
College Park grew up around the Maryland Agricultural College, chartered in 1856 and later renamed the University of Maryland, with a streetcar line pulling neighborhoods like Berwyn, Branchville, Lakeland and Calvert Hills into being between the 1890s and the 1900s. Those early sections and the newer streets that filled in after the city's 1945 incorporation call for different questions during an inspection.
Cory House, College Park. Photo: Blacktupelo, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Streetcar-suburb houses, layer by layer
A house in one of College Park's earliest neighborhoods may have a porch enclosure, a rear addition or a finished lower level completed after its original construction, so the inspection follows each change to where it meets the older framing. The inspector checks the foundation and any crawlspace for cracking or staining, reads the electrical panel and a sample of outlets for age, and traces the roof, gutters and grading around the house for how water actually moves past the foundation.
College Park's own history places Branchville's post office at 1867 and puts Berwyn's and Lakeland's development around 1891, with Calvert Hills following in 1907, so a house's actual section often predicts its era better than its street.
Additions, porches, and garage conversions
Old Town and Daniels Park mix original construction with additions, enclosed porches and garages converted into living space over the decades since the neighborhoods were platted. The inspection reads each of those changes on its own: the framing where an addition ties into the original roof, the garage door and its automatic opener tested on normal controls if the garage still functions as one, and the attic insulation and ventilation wherever access allows a look.
College Park incorporated as a town in 1945, nearly a century after the Maryland Agricultural College's 1856 founding, and today issues its own building permits separate from Prince George's County.
Home inspections around College Park
College Park sits in Prince George's County, and the same inspectors cover the whole county. Every place below has its own page.
College Park home inspection, no jargon
What College Park buyers ask about permits, rentals, and older streets.
College Park issues its own permits. Does that change a permit history report?
It changes where the record actually comes from. Since College Park incorporated in 1945, the city has kept its own permit records separately from Prince George's County, so a report on a College Park address is pulled from city files rather than the county's. For work older than the city's own records, the county or state archives may still hold something worth checking.
What does the inspection look for in an older Berwyn or Branchville house?
The electrical panel and a sample of outlets get a close look for age-related wear, since original wiring in a streetcar-era house has often been extended rather than fully replaced. The inspector also follows any addition to where its framing meets the original structure, checks the foundation and crawlspace for cracking or staining, and reads the roof covering from the eaves for its actual condition.
I'm buying a rental property near the University of Maryland campus. Does having tenants change the inspection?
The visit still covers the same systems and structure; what changes is coordinating access. Ask the current owner or property manager for maintenance records and to arrange entry with any tenants in advance, since some rooms may need scheduling around their day. The inspection itself does not depend on whether a unit is owner-occupied or rented out.
Lakeland started out as a lakeside resort. Does that affect anything for an inspection today?
Not the resort history itself, but the low, level ground near the old lake area is worth the same attention any low-lying lot gets: grading and surface drainage around the foundation, and how downspouts and gutters carry water away from the house. The inspector checks that everywhere in College Park, regardless of a neighborhood's original purpose.
Do I need to attend the College Park inspection myself?
No, though you are welcome to. Some buyers come for the whole visit, others only for the walkthrough at the end, and some skip it entirely and read the report online afterward with its photos. The walkthrough tends to answer the most questions in the least time, since the inspector can point directly at anything found.
Explore Our Inspection Reports
- HD Photography
- Commentary & Recommendations
- Grading Scale
- Repair, Safety & Maintenance