Comstock Park sits along the Grand River just north of the city, and proximity to a major river is the single most useful thing to know about a house here before you look at it.
Low-lying property carries a higher water table, and a higher water table puts more demand on everything that keeps a basement dry. We look at sump pump age and condition, whether a battery or water-powered backup exists, where the discharge line terminates and whether it is likely to freeze in January, and at the physical evidence on foundation walls: staining lines, efflorescence, rust marks on stored items, and the tell-tale tide line that tells you how high water has actually reached. We also ask the questions that the disclosure sometimes does not answer, and we report what we can see rather than what we are told.
The housing itself is a mix of post-war stock and later infill, with the usual mid-century concerns: service panels carrying more than they were designed for, furnaces on their second or third replacement, and roofs that have been through more Michigan winters than the shingles were rated for.
Kent County is EPA Radon Zone 2, predicted average between 2 and 4 pCi/L. In a house with a below-grade living space, testing is worth doing.
