Buying a House with Rose Colored Glasses On

There is a condition, sometimes called “rose colored glasses” that affects buyers of houses while they are looking at homes. One or more of the couple falls in love with the house, or rather the concept of the home. The view is an optimistic one, and it tends to ignore or discount the flaws that others might try to make visible to them.
The condition can be enhanced or helped along by a “sales person” who keeps telling them how great things can be, when you move in. Or they try to draw your attention to what paint and new wall paper can do when installed. They do not concentrate on what exists with its plusses and minuses, but rather call on your imagination to see what might be, down the road, of course with no flaws, hence the “rose colored glasses” that see the good, not the actual conditions. I know, I have worn the glasses myself once.
As a Home Inspector I run into this condition, usually affecting one of the two people when a couple is purchasing a house. On occasion, both buyers are under the spell and looking through the rose colored lenses.
I try as hard as I can to describe the conditions of the house and its systems. I try to get the attention of people who do not want to hear about defects. I try to overcome any suggestions from sales people that these items are only “cosmetic”. Most of the time I am successful in getting through to at least one of the two partners, in getting them to acknowledge the conditions as they exist. My role is not to be the devil’s advocate, but to ground the vision in reality by accurately describing the condition of the entire house and its’ needs. The last thing I want is for the rose color to wear off and someone to ask “why did I buy this place” or “what was I thinking of”?
My written report is often the best and final sobering thought in the process. If the house has few flaws and just needs a little TLC then the report will show it. If on the other hand it has a litany of problems, large in fact, the written word seems to have a sobering effect on folks when they read it. So it’s always a challenge when I "hear"the Rose Colored Glasses coming, to stay on my toes and do my very best, like I do every time. I inspect each one as if they were for my own son or daughter and that’s the best I can do!