Manhattan buying is mostly apartment buying, and an apartment inspection asks different questions than a house inspection does.
In a co-op or condo, you are buying a unit inside someone else's building. The inspection separates what is yours to fix from what belongs to the building, because that distinction decides who pays.
Windows, floors, walls and ceilings, kitchen and bathroom fixtures, and evidence of prior leaks. Water staining on a ceiling in a Manhattan apartment is rarely cosmetic; it usually points upward to a unit or a riser.
Panel and outlet condition, visible supply and waste lines, radiators or PTAC and through-wall units, and ventilation. Pre-war apartments often carry electrical service that was sized for a fraction of modern load.
Radiator and riser condition, water pressure, and signs of building-wide issues that will eventually arrive as an assessment. These observations are what let you ask the managing agent the right questions before you commit.
Upper East Side, Upper West Side, Harlem, Washington Heights, Inwood, Chelsea, Midtown, Murray Hill, the East and West Village, Lower East Side, Tribeca, and Financial District.
An inspection report gives you documented facts during the window when you still have leverage. Every inspection comes with a written report within 24 hours.
Yes. Apartment inspections are scoped to the unit and to what is visible of the building systems serving it.
Yes. Pre-war apartments are common in Manhattan and carry specific electrical, plumbing and window conditions worth documenting.