So here is how a single item in a house can tell you more about the house you're aboutt to buy. 

A lot of times, buyers ask how old the hot water tank is.  They ask because they want to know how long it will be before they have to replace it. However, there is a lot more a hot water tank can tell you about the rest of the house.  

So, before i go on, this isn't science, or professional knowledge.  This is based on hunches. And even in this profession, we have hunches that we use all the time  because...our clients value our opinion.


So lets take a look at a couple of examples. 

This is house number one. Tenanted.  The house doesnt show well.  The hot water tank was 3 years old.

Here is house number two. Vacant. Shows extremely well.  New paint, new flooring, and new appliances. Hot water was 17 years old. 

Typcially, a hot water tank has a shelf life of about 10 years. 12 max with meticulous maintenance. 

But walking around furthermore, house number 2 had a deteriorating roof and condensing windows.

Lets go back to house number one. Roof was 10 years old, which is just shy of the half way mark, newer windows, and upon the inspection we found a pleasant surprise that the owner upgrade all the electrical to today's standard.

So....why a hot water tank?

A hot water tank is the cheapest and the most imortant mechanic of a household.  The cost and effort to replace a hot water tank is minimal. So looking at the hot water tanks provides me with a representation on how the rest of the house is maintained.   If a seller had resources to upgrade the cosmetic items of a home before the hot water tank, this should be raising questions on the rest of the mechanics of the household, as well the quality of these 'renovations.'  


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