Like most inspectors, when I read one of these articles I find myself asking how many of the significant defects I would've caught (or missed). In this case, most of the really significant defects were not discovered until the drywall was opened, and most of the easily visible defects, if reported pro forma, would not be of much help to a buyer making a purchasing decision. ___________ IMO, the real question at these flippers is how to report what you cannot see, but strongly suspect: that a lot of the *visible* work is substandard and was likely never permitted or inspected, and there may be a lot more of the same which can *not* be discovered during your inspection. And IMO about all you can do is include an explanation of the fact that "when you are buying this property you are 'buying' the responsibility for any existing 'invisible' code violations", and document sufficient number of visible defects to justify expressing a high level of concern that this will prove to be a real problem down the road.