Shiawassee Township, Michigan
Looking for a Shiawassee Township home inspector? We do certified home, commercial, mold and radon inspections in Shiawassee Township, seven days a week. Home inspection reports come back in 24 hours.
Schedule your inspectionCall 734-331-3269
Services
For buyers, sellers, and homeowners keeping an eye on the place they already own. On new construction we also do pre-drywall inspections and 11-month builder’s warranty inspections. Our certified inspectors walk every major system in your Shiawassee Township home and tell you plainly what they found — then put it in a photo-rich digital report within 24 hours.
Following the InterNACHI Standards of Practice:
Included free with every home buyer inspection— and none of them require us to sell your information.
SatisfactionIf you are unhappy with your inspector on the day of the inspection, before you have seen your report, tell us and we will make it right — or you owe us nothing.
30-Day WarrantyA free 30-day Guard home warranty trial, negotiated for you with no obligation. Activate it whenever you are ready.
$100 OffThe buyer’s protection guarantee: if the first home we inspect for you does not make it to the closing table, for any reason, we take $100 off any further home buyer inspection within 30 days of the original.
Optional services at an additional cost — not part of a standard inspection. Tap one to see what it covers.
A camera down the main sewer line, watching its condition from the inside — roots, breaks, bellies and blockages no visual inspection can find. More about sewer scope inspections
The wood-destroying organism report VA buyers are typically asked to provide, on the federal NPMA-33 form. Carried out during the same visit. More about Veterans WDO inspections
Up to five air samples sent to an accredited laboratory, added to the same appointment rather than booked as a second visit. More about mold inspection and testing
View a sample report
Offices, retail, multifamily and warehouses in Shiawassee Township and across Shiawassee County. Know what condition a building is in before you sign — or stay ahead of problems in the one you already own. Reports in 24 to 72 hours depending on size.
Following the CCPIA commercial standards:
Commonly added to a commercial inspection at additional cost.
Commercial laterals are longer, older and carry more. A camera is the only way to see the condition of the one you are buying. More about sewer scope inspections
Air samples to an accredited laboratory, which matters most in buildings that have sat empty or had a roof or plumbing leak. More about mold inspection and testing
View a sample report
Add either to a Shiawassee Township home or commercial inspection, or book it on its own. We test and we never remediate, so there is nothing to sell you on the back of a result — the number you get is just the number.
Radon measured in house on a professional continuous monitor; mold samples to an accredited laboratory:
The other things worth testing while somebody is already there.
Carried out after remediation on the treated area and the areas next to it, to confirm what was found. More about mold inspection and testing
A damp basement can have several causes, and the buried sewer line is the one a visual inspection cannot check. A scope rules it in or out. More about sewer scope inspections
View a sample reportShiawassee Township housing stock
Shiawassee Township has roughly 1,118 housing units and about 95% of them are single-family detached. Housing that went up mostly in one era has mostly one era’s problems — which is genuinely useful to know before you buy, because it tells you what to look at first.
Most of it went up in the years before 1940 — 320 homes, around 29% of the town. At 95% single-family it is almost entirely detached houses, so the inspection is nearly always of a whole building rather than one unit inside one.
The median owner-occupied home here is valued at $167,200. 90% are owner-occupied, which is high even for this area.
None of this is a prediction about a particular house. It is where a Shiawassee Township home inspector starts looking in a home of this age, and what we photograph and write up either way.
Housing figures: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2022 five-year estimates.
When Shiawassee Township was built
47% of homes here run on utility gas, and 55 still heat with oil. If yours is one of them, the tank is the thing to ask about — where it is, and whether it was ever buried. Another 378 use bottled or LP gas.
Local knowledge
Shiawassee Township runs its own show. According to Shiawassee County’s own jurisdiction list, this township handles zoning, building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing locally — all five — where a good many of its neighbors hand some or all of that to the county.
That is genuinely useful to know, because it means the answers about a property here are held locally rather than at a county counter. It also means the office you need is a small one. The township hall opens Mondays from nine until twelve. Gather your questions and ask them in a single visit rather than discovering them one at a time across three weeks of Monday mornings.
The second thing to know is about money, and it catches people out. The Township states plainly that it cannot accept credit card or electronic payments, and that postmarks are not accepted. Cash, check or money order, arriving in time — not posted in time. If you are used to paying everything online at the last minute, that habit will cost you here.
And a housekeeping point that matters more than it sounds. The township hall has a Bancroft mailing address, but Bancroft is a separate village with its own government and its own rules. A Bancroft postal address does not put a property in the village. Confirm which municipality an address actually sits in before you rely on anything you have been told about permits or taxes.
The housing has two peaks: about 320 of roughly 1,118 units predate 1940, and another 260 went up in the 1970s. At 95% detached, this is rural single-family country, and outbuildings come with the territory.
Before you buy
Permits
Shiawassee County publishes a jurisdiction list setting out, community by community, whether zoning, building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing are handled locally, by the county, or by the state. Shiawassee Township is local on all five.
For a rural township of this size that is a real commitment, and it changes how you should approach a purchase. The permit history for the property, the zoning that applies to it, and the inspection records for any trade work are all held by the township rather than scattered across county departments.
The flip side is availability. A three-hour weekly window is not much, so the sensible move is to write everything down before you go: what zoning applies, what permits exist for the address, whether any outbuilding was permitted, and whether any work has an open or unresolved inspection.
That last question is worth asking specifically. On a township that does its own trade inspections, an unfinished permit is a local record, and it is a much easier thing to discover before closing than to untangle afterwards.
A home inspection is not a code inspection or a permit search, and we do not present it as one. What we do is establish what is physically there and what condition it is in, and flag work that looks as though it was done without the benefit of a permit — which on housing this old is a common finding and a fair thing to raise. A buyer’s inspection gives you the specifics to take to the township.
Taxes
The Township publishes a plain explanation of the winter tax bill, and it is worth reading before you own property here, because the mechanics are stricter than most people are used to.
Winter taxes ran from the first of December through to the seventeenth of February. After that date the bill picks up an administrative fee, one percent interest and a three percent penalty through to the second of March. And then on the third of March the debt leaves the township altogether and becomes payable to the Shiawassee County Treasurer, with a four percent administrative fee and one percent interest per month.
Two details make that cliff easier to fall off than it looks. The Township cannot accept credit card or electronic payments — it is cash, check or money order. And postmarks are not accepted, so a check posted on the due date is late.
There is a drop box at the hall, and the Township publishes extra opening dates around the deadlines, including the last day to pay without penalty. If you are buying here, put those dates somewhere you will actually see them.
None of this is what a home inspection covers. We raise it because it is the kind of local mechanic that is free to learn in advance and expensive to learn late, and because a new owner arriving from a city with an online payment portal will not expect it.
Assessments
Most assessors publish the outcome. The Shiawassee Township assessor publishes some of the working: an agricultural land value roll, a commercial economic condition factor roll, an overall ECF study, a land determinations study, and current-year ECF and land figures.
The economic condition factor is one of the multipliers that turns a cost-based calculation into an assessed value, so a township putting its studies on the website is offering more transparency than it has to. We have not read those studies and we are not going to characterize what is in them — only to point out that they are there, and that if you ever want to understand or challenge a valuation, that is where the reasoning lives.
The Board of Review holds an organizational meeting in early March and then hears appeals over two days, including an evening session that runs to nine o’clock. An evening sitting is a small kindness to owners who work, and it is the sort of detail worth knowing exists.
For a buyer the practical point is simpler: the assessment on a property is not a valuation of its condition. What we find on an inspection — a roof at the end of its life, a failing lateral, a foundation with a water history — has no bearing on what the township thinks the property is worth, and the two should not be confused.
The housing
About 320 units here predate 1940 and about 260 date from the 1970s, with the decades either side of that thinly filled. Those are two very different inspections.
On the older houses the questions are about accumulated change: electrical rebuilt in stages by different hands, with mixed wiring types meeting in the same box, ungrounded receptacles, undersized or overfilled panels and overfused circuits. Plumbing renewed in part rather than in whole, so the material transitions at the joins are where trouble concentrates. Several generations of roof covering. Heating equipment several replacements from the original.
Foundations from that era are usually stone or early block, and their condition depends far more on how water has been managed around the building than on how they were built.
The 1970s houses are now past fifty. That brings its own list: aluminum branch wiring is a live question in homes of that period and we report it where we find it, original service capacity is often the constraint on modern electrical loads, and roof, heating and water heating equipment will be several replacements deep.
At 95% detached on rural land, outbuildings are common and they deserve proper attention rather than a glance. Pole barns, detached garages and workshops frequently carry their own electrical supply, their own roof and structural questions, and are very often where informal work has accumulated over the decades. We inspect them as part of the property, not as an afterthought.
Radon testing and mold inspection and testing can be added to any visit, and commercial building inspections to the CCPIA standard are available for commercial property.
Water and waste
The Township publishes nothing about water supply or waste water. There is no water department page, no sewer department, and no guidance about wells or septic systems.
On a rural township that is 95% detached houses it would be easy to assume most properties are on a private well and a septic system, and easy to be wrong about a specific address. So we are not going to assert it. Get the answer in writing for the parcel you are buying.
Take well and septic questions to the county health department. A septic evaluation is specialist work carried out by or through them, and it answers questions no visual inspection can — whether a drainfield is failing, and the true condition of the tank. On rural property it needs arranging early, because it runs to its own timetable. A water test on a private well belongs in the same conversation, and is worth repeating after any well work.
What we inspect is the building and everything from the house side of the system inward: the accessible supply and drain lines, the vent arrangements we can see, how fixtures behave when the system is loaded, and the visible condition of any pump, pressure tank and treatment equipment.
Surface water matters more on a septic property than most buyers expect. A drainfield working in ground that is also receiving every downspout and a sump discharge is being asked to do two jobs at once. We report where the downspouts terminate, where any sump discharges, whether there is a backup arrangement, and how the ground falls away from the building.
The buried line
Whatever a property here drains to, the line running out from the building belongs to the owner, and no visual inspection reaches inside it.
On a farmhouse predating 1940 that pipe may be the oldest untouched component on the whole property. On a 1970s house it is past fifty. We will not name a material from a build year, because nothing published establishes what lines here are generally made of, and a guess in a report is worse than no statement at all.
A sewer camera inspection records what is actually inside: roots, cracks, displaced joints, bellies or blockages where they exist, and a clear run where they do not. On a septic property it documents the building drain out to the tank — the owner’s pipe, and the part a septic evaluation does not examine.
That gap is the whole point on rural property. A septic evaluation looks at the tank and the field. The run between the house and the tank is nobody’s job by default, and on a lot with mature trees it is exactly where roots go.
A camera inspection is added to the same appointment rather than booked separately, and we deliver a full written report with photographs, generally the same day. You can read what our clients say, browse answers to common questions, or get in touch about a specific address in Shiawassee Township.
Local information from Shiawassee County — 2026 Jurisdiction List (zoning, building and trades by community) · Shiawassee Township — explanation of the winter property tax bill · Shiawassee Township — Assessor, Board of Review and published studies · Shiawassee Township — township website. Municipal requirements change — verify current details with the municipality.
Why choose us
Five reasons people here pick us as their Shiawassee Township home inspector.
Family owned since 2009, more than 16,000 inspections completed and over 2,000 five-star reviews across Michigan. We also handle home buyer inspections, commercial building inspections, mold testing and radon testing.
We do not sell mold remediation or radon mitigation, so there is nothing to gain from a result that comes back bad. The number you get is just the number.
Radon, mold, sewer scope and wood-destroying organism inspections go on the same appointment as the home inspection rather than costing you a second morning.
Most people do, and it is the most useful hour of the whole purchase. Ask anything while we are standing in front of it.
InterNACHI and CCPIA certified, with four Certified Master Inspectors and National Home Inspector Examination passes on the team — none of which Michigan requires. The standards we inspect to are published and you can hold the work against them.
Including weekends, because inspection windows sit on closing dates and closing dates do not care what day it is.
Reviews
I recently hired Trademark for a full home inspection on a new purchase, including sewer scope and radon testing. It was a phenomenal experience from beginning to end. Our inspector, Mitch, did a fantastic job explaining all the findings, and the digital report with photos and videos was superb. Would definitely recommend without hesitation.
Salina HamiltonOak Park, MIWe had Mitch inspect our prospective house and he was amazing. He was thorough, patient to answer my questions and provide feedback on what areas he would recommend having a follow up expert and why. The office was responsive and I was able to book multiple services to be done in the same visit (inspection, radon test, sewer scope).
Chris PlaweckiOak Park, MIThis is one of the finest companies I have come across - that means serious customer service and professionalism. Justin was the inspector and he was very thorough yet very kind to answers all the questions that came in my mind during inspection. He took enough time, no rush, and a very detailed inspection was conducted. Extremely competitive pricing and timing from the company. 100% recommend to anyone looking for any kind of property inspection!!
Chirag R MiyaniMichiganWhat happens
Questions
Not necessarily. The township hall itself has a Bancroft mailing address, but Bancroft is a separate village with its own government. Confirm which municipality the address actually sits in before relying on anything about permits or taxes.
The township does. Shiawassee County’s jurisdiction list shows this township as local on all five functions — zoning, building, electrical, mechanical and plumbing — rather than handing them to the county.
Mondays from nine until twelve, except holidays, with a few extra published dates around the tax deadlines. Write your questions down and ask them in one visit.
No. The Township states it cannot accept credit card or electronic payments — cash, check or money order only. There is a drop box at the hall.
No. The Township states plainly that postmarks are not accepted, so a payment has to arrive by the deadline rather than merely be sent by it.
After the February cut-off the bill picks up an administrative fee, interest and a penalty for a couple of weeks. Then in early March it transfers to the Shiawassee County Treasurer with a larger administrative fee and monthly interest.
We will not assume. The Township publishes nothing about water or waste water, and while private systems are likely on rural land, that is not a substitute for confirming it for the specific parcel. Take well and septic questions to the county health department.
Yes, as part of the property rather than as an afterthought. They often have their own electrical supply and their own roof and structural questions, and they are frequently where informal work has built up over the years.
More on cost, timing and what is included on the FAQ page.
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Claim the Hero DiscountNeed a Shiawassee Township home inspector and not sure we reach you? Call 734-331-3269 and we will tell you.
From the blog
October 22, 2017
February 24, 2026
December 1, 2017
Your local Shiawassee Township home inspector, seven days a week. Home inspection reports in 24 hours.
