Southgate, Michigan
Looking for a Southgate home inspector? We do certified home, commercial, mold and radon inspections in Southgate, 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 Southgate 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 Southgate and across Wayne 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 Southgate 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 reportSouthgate housing stock
Southgate has roughly 13,177 housing units and about 71% of them are single-family detached. The year a house went up decides more about what an inspection turns up than almost anything else about it, which is why it is where we start rather than where we finish.
More of it dates from the 1950s than from any other decade — 4,532 homes, roughly 34% of the town.
The median owner-occupied home here is valued at $152,400. Around 588 homes sit in two-to-four unit buildings, where a shared roof, a shared wall and sometimes a shared furnace mean the report has to be clear about where one unit stops.
This is not a forecast for any one address. It is where a Southgate home inspector starts in a home of this age — and whatever we actually find, it goes in the report with photographs.
Housing figures: US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2022 five-year estimates.
When Southgate was built
83% of homes here run on utility gas, and 8 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 201 use bottled or LP gas.
Local knowledge
Southgate inspects houses before they are sold — but only the outside of them. That distinction is the single most useful thing on this page.
Since 2021 the City has required a Certificate of Compliance for home sales, and its resale inspection policy is explicit that all residential dwellings must have the exterior inspected prior to sale. The roof covering seen from the ground, the siding, the windows and doors, the grounds — those are what the City is looking at. The furnace, the wiring, the plumbing, the basement and the structure from inside are not part of it.
The housing makes that gap matter. Of roughly 13,177 units, about 34% date from the 1950s, 16% from the 1970s, 14% from the 1960s and 11% from the 1940s, with a median build year of 1961 and around 71% single-family detached. Most of these houses are sixty to eighty years old, and the parts most likely to need money are the ones the City does not examine.
There is also a separate department for it, and a specific escrow route if the seller does not want to make repairs. Both are covered below.
Before you buy
Two inspections, two purposes
This is the clearest example anywhere in this region of why a municipal inspection and a buyer’s inspection are not substitutes.
The City’s resale inspection policy states that all residential dwellings are required to have the exterior inspected prior to sale of the property, and that a Certificate of Compliance is valid for one sale or transfer, with a new inspection required each time the dwelling is sold or transferred. Inspection reports are issued within five business days by email, post or collection. Home Sale Inspections operates as its own department with its own inspector, and the City asks people not to route these enquiries through the Building Department.
Read the word exterior carefully. On a housing stock with a median build year of 1961, the items most likely to cost a new owner money are the heating system, the electrical service, the supply plumbing, the water heater and whatever is happening in the basement. None of those is inside the scope of the City’s inspection. A property can hold a valid Certificate of Compliance and still have a furnace at the end of its life.
That gap is exactly what a home buyer inspection fills: roof, structure, foundation, drainage, electrical, heating and cooling, plumbing and the accessible interior, photographed and written up with how urgent each finding is. In Southgate the two processes are unusually complementary, because the City has drawn its line so clearly.
As-is sales
Southgate has a documented process for what happens when a seller does not want to fix what the exterior inspection turns up, and it puts the obligation on the buyer.
The City sets out two options. The homeowner can make all necessary corrections to obtain the Certificate of Compliance. Or the property can be sold as-is — in which case the buyer can assume the repairs, but must place a set sum in escrow and sign an affidavit assuming violations along with an escrow agreement before closing, with that affidavit then used as the closing document. The City is clear that to avoid delays, either the certificate or the signed affidavit needs to be in hand before the closing date.
If your purchase is heading down that route, you are agreeing to inherit a specific list of exterior items and to fund them. The sensible order is to know what is on that list, and what each item actually involves, before you sign anything — and to know what condition the rest of the house is in, since none of it appears on the City’s list at all.
Fees and escrow amounts are set by the City and have changed before, so check the current figures with the Home Sales department rather than relying on a number you read somewhere.
Sixty years on
With about 34% of Southgate built in the 1950s and a median build year of 1961, most properties here are between sixty and seventy-five years old.
Roof coverings, furnaces, air conditioning, water heaters and windows all have service lives far shorter than that, so each has been replaced at least once or is running past its design life — and the electrical service and supply plumbing have had six decades to be extended, altered or partly renewed. Which is true for a particular house is not something the build year or an exterior inspection can tell you.
Water management is the one area where inside and outside meet, and it is worth attention here. We assess accessible grading around the building, gutters and downspouts and where they discharge, foundation conditions, the basement or crawlspace and sump equipment where present, documented as found. Radon testing and mold inspection and testing can be added to the same appointment.
The buried line
The City looks at the outside of the building. It does not look inside the pipe under the garden.
The private sewer lateral runs underground from the house to the public system and no visual inspection of any kind can see inside it. Six decades or more is ample time for tree roots to find a joint, for ground movement to displace a section, or for repairs to have been made that nobody now remembers. We will not name a material from a build year, because no authoritative source establishes what Southgate laterals are generally made of.
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. It is added to the same visit rather than booked separately.
Alongside it, the City’s Building Department handles permits for the work that follows — and its list of what needs one is broad, covering additions, electrical, HVAC, plumbing, renovations and residential work including fences, garages, water heaters, concrete, pools, re-roofs and windows. Commercial building inspections follow the CCPIA standard.
Local information from City of Southgate — Home Sales department and resale inspection policy · City of Southgate — Building Department · City of Southgate — multi-family rentals. Municipal requirements change — verify current details with the municipality.
Radon in Wayne County
Zone 3 is the lowest of the three EPA categories — the predicted average indoor level across the county is below 2 pCi/L. That puts Southgate at the calmer end of Michigan’s radon picture, which is worth saying out loud rather than glossing over. What a zone cannot tell you is anything about one house: 17% of tests actually run in Wayne County still came back at or above the EPA’s 4 pCi/L action level, which is about one in six. The zone describes a county. The only result that describes your basement is the one measured in it.
We place a continuous monitor for 48 hours and read the result on site — no mail-in kit, no lab wait. How radon testing works · Wayne County radon and inspection coverage
Zone from the EPA Map of Radon Zones. Elevated-result share from the Michigan Indoor Radon Program.
Why choose us
Five reasons people here pick us as their Southgate 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
Ora from Trademark did an incredible job with the inspection and sewer scope of the home I am in the process of buying. He was very thorough, explained everything to me from the start, and made it all super easy to understand which definitely helped to put me at ease a bit more. Highly recommend this company!
Mariah HartmanWestland, MIJim was prompt and thorough during the mold testing. Clearly gave us an explanation about mold and testing process he was going to conduct. Testing was followed by a written report. I would recommend everyone use a third party to test mold, independent from the company conducting remediation work. I would hire Trademark again and strongly recommend them.
Alberto PicconeNorthville, MICowboy “Jim” just did Mold Testing in my parents’ basement. He was Professional, explained the what, how and yet of everything to my Senior parents. Our results came back super quick. He even referred us to the resources on the Trademark website for me to use to fix the leaky basement. It’s 1 stop shopping with Trademark.
Becky JohnsonWayne, MIWhat happens
Questions
Yes. Since 2021 the City has required a Certificate of Compliance for home sales, and its resale inspection policy states that all residential dwellings are required to have the exterior inspected prior to sale of the property. Home Sale Inspections operates as its own department with its own inspector, and the City asks that these enquiries not be routed through the Building Department. Inspection reports are issued within five business days.
No, and this is the most important thing to understand about it. The City’s policy is that the exterior is inspected prior to sale. The heating system, the electrical service, the supply plumbing, the water heater and the basement are not within that scope. On a housing stock with a median build year of 1961, those are precisely the items most likely to cost a new owner money — so a property can hold a valid Certificate of Compliance and still have a furnace at the end of its life. That gap is what a buyer’s inspection fills.
For one sale or transfer. The City states that a Certificate of Compliance is valid for one sale or transfer of a dwelling and that a new inspection is required each time the dwelling is sold or transferred. So whatever certificate the seller holds from their own purchase does nothing for yours — a fresh exterior inspection happens for your transaction.
There is a documented as-is route, and it lands on the buyer. The City states the homeowner can either make all necessary corrections to obtain the Certificate of Compliance, or sell the property as-is — in which case the buyer can assume the repairs but must place a set sum in escrow and sign an affidavit assuming violations along with an escrow agreement before closing, with the affidavit then used as the closing document. Find out exactly what is on that list before you agree to it. Fees and escrow amounts are set by the City and have changed before, so confirm current figures with the Home Sales department.
Mostly postwar. Of roughly 13,177 housing units, about 34% date from the 1950s, 16% from the 1970s, 14% from the 1960s and 11% from the 1940s, with a median build year of 1961 and around 71% single-family detached. Most properties are therefore between sixty and seventy-five years old, which is well past the expected service life of an original roof covering, furnace, air conditioning condenser and water heater.
It is worth considering, and there is a specific reason here. The City’s resale inspection covers the exterior of the building — it does not look inside the buried lateral running from the house to the public system, and no visual inspection of any kind can. On a house of Southgate’s typical age that line has been in the ground sixty years or more. We would not guess a material from a build year and no authoritative source establishes what laterals here are generally made of. Putting a camera down the line documents roots, cracks, displaced joints, bellies or blockages where they exist, and is added to the same appointment.
Yes. You can book a Southgate home inspector with us seven days a week, and we cover the rest of Wayne County too.
A home inspection report reaches you within 24 hours. Commercial buildings are 24 to 72 hours depending on size, a radon result comes at the end of the 48-hour test, and mold samples come back from the lab in one to three business days.
More on cost, timing and what is included on the FAQ page.
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Claim the Hero DiscountNeed a Southgate home inspector and not sure we reach you? Call 734-331-3269 and we will tell you.
Permits, assessing and property records for Southgate are handled by Southgate, Michigan, not by us.
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Your local Southgate home inspector, seven days a week. Home inspection reports in 24 hours.
