Use this on your phone when you walk your next house. Flag what you see room by room, and it adds up 2026 expected repair costs as you go. Save or email your results so you can compare houses later and walk into the offer conversation with real numbers.
The ranges match my St. Louis repair cost guide. For what to look at in each room, see the walkthrough checklist.
Walk it system by system and flag what you see as you go. Start with the expensive items: the age on the furnace, AC and water heater data plates, the electrical panel brand, signs of water in the basement, foundation cracks, the roof from the ground, and the mortar on brick walls. The tool puts a 2026 expected cost range on each flag and totals them, so you leave the showing with a repair budget instead of a feeling. Then get contractor quotes for the big items before you write the offer. What to look for in each room →
The items that change what the house is worth to you: HVAC and water heater age, a Federal Pacific or Zinsco panel, basement water (white efflorescence, staining at the floor line), horizontal or stair-step foundation cracks, roof wear you can see from the ground, and soft or crumbling mortar on brick. Cosmetic items can wait. The room-by-room walkthrough checklist →
Look at the data plate on the unit; the manufacture date is printed there or encoded in the serial number, often in the first four characters. Furnaces over 15 years and AC condensers over 12 are nearing the end of their service life. Tank water heaters usually last 8 to 12 years. Mechanical systems on the checklist →
For an offer, start with the midpoint. Asking for the top of a range looks like cherry-picking; the midpoint is defensible and harder for a seller to reject. Then replace the range with real contractor quotes as soon as you have them. How repair costs become an offer →
The sewer lateral, the inside of the electrical panel and parts of the attic. Plan on a sewer scope during the inspection on every St. Louis home, whatever its age. It runs $150 to $300, and clay laterals crack and collapse underground where no walkthrough can see them. 2026 expected repair costs → Where to find the sewer cleanout →
Price it in when you can see it at the showing and have a reasonable cost, like an old furnace or failed tuckpointing. Wait for the inspection when the issue only shows up once the inspector gets into a system, or when a discounted offer would lose a competitive deal. Price it in or wait →
No. It helps you spot and budget for issues before you write an offer. A licensed home inspector, plus a sewer scope on every home, still decides what’s really there.
They’re 2026 expected costs for St. Louis, the same ranges as my repair cost guide. You still need quotes from licensed contractors for your house, but a range is a great place to start a budget.
Open it on your phone as you tour. Tap each area of the house, flag what you see, and the tool totals the repair ranges as you go.
Save or email the report from each showing to yourself and your agent. Side by side, two houses at the same price can carry very different repair budgets, and that difference belongs in what you offer.
Get contractor quotes on the two or three biggest items, decide which ones go into your offer price and which you’ll raise after the inspection, and send me the report if you want a second opinion on what I’d do next. Ask me what I’d do next →