Every year, hundreds of thousands of homes change hands in Texas. Buyers tour the house, fall in love with the kitchen, imagine their furniture in the living room — and then make the biggest financial decision of their lives based on listing photos and a property tax record.
We decided to look at the other side: what do licensed home inspectors actually find when they crawl through the attic, open the electrical panel, and test every faucet?
The Dataset
HomeFax has compiled 132,000 professional home inspections conducted across DFW, Austin/San Antonio, and Houston between 2015 and 2026. Every inspection was performed by a licensed TREC inspector following Texas Standards of Practice. This is not a survey or a sample — it's the actual inspection data.
What We Found
The Average Texas Home Has Issues
Of the inspections where we have detailed findings data, the results are sobering:
- The average inspection identifies 15-25 individual findings across structural, electrical, HVAC, plumbing, and appliance systems
- Most properties have at least one deficiency — meaning something that "adversely and materially affects the performance of a system or component"
- Safety concerns appear in roughly 1 out of 3 inspections — these include fire hazards, electrical dangers, and structural risks
Foundation Problems Are More Common Than You Think
Texas is famous for foundation issues, and the data confirms it. Foundation-related findings — including differential movement, cracks in grade beams, and inadequate drainage — appear consistently across all three markets. The expansive clay soils in DFW and Central Texas make this particularly prevalent.
What this means for buyers: Never skip the foundation section of an inspection report. If an inspector notes "evidence of differential movement" or "multiple fractures in foundation perimeter grade beam," you're looking at a potential $10,000-$50,000 repair.
Your HVAC Is Probably Older Than You Think
Equipment age is one of the most overlooked factors in home buying. Our data shows:
- The average AC condenser in inspected homes is 10-12 years old — approaching the end of its typical 15-20 year lifespan
- Water heaters average 8-10 years — with a typical life expectancy of 10-15 years
- Homes with R22 refrigerant still in use are a ticking time bomb — R22 was phased out in 2020, and replacement refrigerant costs have skyrocketed
Electrical Panels Tell a Story
Panel manufacturer, amperage, and safety protection status vary widely across Texas homes. Our data frequently shows:
- Missing GFCI protection in garages, kitchens, and bathrooms — a safety concern in older homes
- Missing AFCI protection on bedroom circuits — required by newer building codes but absent in many pre-2014 homes
- Panels from problematic manufacturers that are known for reliability issues
The Roof Is More Than Just Shingles
Roof findings are among the most common in Texas inspections, driven by our extreme weather:
- Missing or damaged shingles from hail and wind
- Improperly installed flashing
- Inadequate attic ventilation leading to premature aging
- Missing or damaged drip edge
Why This Data Matters
Here's the thing: all of this information exists. Every time a home is inspected, a licensed professional documents every finding, every deficiency, every piece of equipment. But until now, that data disappeared into a filing cabinet or a PDF on someone's computer.
HomeFax changes that. We've built the first property intelligence platform based on actual inspection data — not public records, not tax assessments, not algorithmic estimates. Real findings from real inspectors who were actually inside the house.
What You Can Do
1. Search any address at HomeFax to see if we have inspection data on file
2. Check the Home Health Score to get a quick read on property condition
3. Review deficiency details to understand exactly what was found and how serious it is
4. Compare equipment age against typical lifespans to budget for upcoming replacements
The biggest purchase of your life deserves more than a Zillow estimate. It deserves the truth about what's inside the walls.
HomeFax has 81,000+ properties indexed across Texas with 132,000+ inspections on file. Data sourced from licensed TREC inspectors.