Sometimes I am met at the door by the listing agent, who has the only key, and when the Realtor says, "You won't find anything here," I cringe.
Those are famous last words.
Walking into the newly-remodeled kitchen I noticed that they had the laundry appliances in the utility closet.
There was no door.
The first thing to catch my eye was the wide stackable, and the narrow opening between the new cabinet and doorway.
The stackable is 27" wide.
And that doorway opening measures a narrow 20 3/4"!
How do you get that unit out?
And notice the round valve on the wall beside the stackable, to the left?
That's the water main!
How do you get to it to turn off the water in the event of an emergency? I could not reach it.
Well, it's easy if you can shrink down to 8", but I will never be that narrow again in my life!
And the indoor shut-off valve to winterize the hose is behind that stackable! Good luck with that.
One more teensy issue is to the left of that 8" opening is the heat pump and water heater!
Notice the heat pump air filter at the bottom of the photo?
Reaching in I could reach that filter. Notice that it's longer than necessary, that the cover has been removed?
That's so you can pull the filter out and put in a new one!
If, and that's IF, your arm is as long as mine.
My arm span is 6'8", so my arm is longer than the average bear. That helped me when I played college basketball, and helps me reach to replace this filter!
But most people don't have such an arm length.
However, I notice that the hip bone is connected to the leg bone.
If you want to repair or get that water heater out, or the heat pump unit, the kitchen counter top and cabinet has to come out.
That's so you can remove the stackable.
That's so you can get in to repair or remove the water heater, or heat pump.
Do the sellers know this? Of course! They remodeled the kitchen!
And they want to sell that design to someone else.
My recommendation: famous last words are famous last words. This issue is important, but certainly not the only one found with this house! I go into a house to observe and report. I don't go in ready to judge or criticize or complain, or even suggest what to do. My clients were a little surprised to see this. And my analysis was reported to them. Where they go from here is up to them. But remember, the house is the house! The home inspector finds what the home has ready for him find! Very few houses say, "You won't find anything here..." Just sayin'.
Jay Markanich Real Estate Inspections, LLC 
Based in Bristow, serving all of Northern Virginia.
Office (703) 330-6388 Cell (703) 585-7560
