Lansing is a different housing market from West Michigan, and it is worth being direct about that. As the state capital it has a deep stock of pre-war and early post-war housing, a substantial rental sector, and neighborhoods where the age of the buildings is measured in generations rather than decades.
Older urban housing rewards a methodical inspection. Knob and tube wiring survives in more Lansing homes than most buyers expect, often partially replaced, which is the most difficult version to assess and the one insurers ask about. Galvanized supply piping and early drain materials are common. Foundations may be block or fieldstone with the movement and moisture history that comes with a century of Michigan freeze-thaw. Roofs frequently carry more than one layer of shingles, which hides the decking underneath and shortens the life of everything above it.
Houses that have spent time as rentals need particular care. Landlord maintenance is functional rather than thorough by design, and the gap between working and properly done is where an inspection earns its fee.
Lansing is in Ingham County, which the EPA places in Radon Zone 2 with a predicted average indoor level between 2 and 4 pCi/L. Given the number of usable basements in Lansing housing, a radon test is a sensible part of the process.
