Question Regarding Inspection Report

[J Hurwitz]

Hello good people,

I'm in the inspection period for my first home purchase.  The inspection report came back yesterday and it identified a few items I'm not sure how to react to.  How concerned should I be about the following?

• One of the closets "has exposed asbestos material on ductwork that should be professionally encapsulated or removed."
• "The electrical service to the house is outdated and needs to be upgraded/replaced by a licensed electrician to 200 amps with each unit having 100 amp circuit breakers along with an owner’s meter/panel for the common circuits (instead of the old fuse panels)."
• "The second floor unit thermostat is not working and the tenant said they have not used the heating system for over five years."  (For context, the house is in the Northeast and there are very cold winters)
• "The two chimneys need to be repaired and re-pointed by a licensed mason."
• "The second floor bathroom exhaust fan appears it may venting into the attic space and needs to be re-routed to the exterior."

I'm talking with my realtor soon to go over the severity of these items.  However, I'm conscious that (1) the home inspector's job is to point out as many problems with the property as possible, and (2) my realtor is incentivized to make the deal go through.  Any unbiased third-party opinions would be greatly appreciated!

[Karen Margrave]

Though there's not a lot of items listed, the ones that are, are costly.  The asbestos could require abatement. The wiring definitely could be a health/safety hazard if it's that old. You definitely want to get real bids from licensed electrician, and HVAC person. Nobody has lived in a house without using heat, therefore; that means they're using portable heaters or the fireplace (which is unsafe) You didn't give the details of where the house is, what the offer is, what the ARV would be, etc. You need hard numbers, and until you have them, you can't make a decision.