Frequently Asked Questions

CaveatBuyer is a property intelligence platform. You enter an address, answer questions about who you are, and receive a personalized report analyzing the land, the house, and the neighborhood — calibrated to your specific situation.

The foundation of every report is public data: county assessor records, permit histories, environmental registries, flood maps, and similar government sources. Paid Intelligence Reports add proprietary findings built by CaveatBuyer — cross-source analysis that no individual database reveals.

Not a home inspection

CaveatBuyer reports are built from public records and data sources. We do not visit properties. We do not open walls, test systems, or physically examine anything. A CaveatBuyer report is not a home inspection and does not replace one.

We strongly recommend hiring a qualified, licensed home inspector before purchasing any property — regardless of what a CaveatBuyer report finds or doesn't find. A CaveatBuyer report is designed to help you ask better questions of your inspector, not to substitute for their expertise.

Not an appraisal

We do not provide opinions of property value. Any assessed values, tax figures, or comparable sale references in a CaveatBuyer report come from public records. They should not be used to determine market value, support a loan application, or substitute for a licensed appraisal.

Not legal, financial, or professional real estate advice

CaveatBuyer reports give you data and context. They are not recommendations to buy, sell, or avoid a property. Nothing in a CaveatBuyer report constitutes legal advice, financial advice, or professional real estate counsel.

Before making any real estate decision, consult the licensed professionals appropriate to your situation: a real estate agent or attorney, a financial advisor, a licensed inspector, or an environmental consultant.

Not a guarantee of property condition

Our findings reflect what public records showed at the time your report was generated. Records can be incomplete, delayed, or contain errors that are outside our control. A permit can be issued and not yet recorded. An assessor record may not reflect recent improvements. A finding in your report identifies something worth investigating — it is not a verdict.

The absence of a finding does not mean a condition doesn't exist. It means the condition didn't appear in the data sources we queried at the time of your report.

Not a consumer report under the FCRA

CaveatBuyer reports are not “consumer reports” as defined by the Fair Credit Reporting Act. CaveatBuyer is not a consumer reporting agency. Our reports may not be used — in whole or in part — as a factor in determining eligibility for credit, insurance, employment, housing, or any other FCRA-regulated purpose.

Accuracy depends on the accuracy and completeness of underlying public records, which vary by county and data type. We query the best available sources and surface what we find — but public data has real limitations.

What we do well: identifying patterns across records that individually look routine. A permit history gap, a county ownership discrepancy, a flood zone boundary that touches a corner of a parcel — these are the connections buyers typically miss.

What we can't do: fill in data that isn't there, verify conditions that aren't in any public record, or replace eyes on a property.

Foundation Reports (free) include findings built entirely from public data sources: county assessor records, permit histories, environmental databases, FEMA flood maps, and similar government sources. No registration required.

Intelligence Reports (paid) add CaveatBuyer's proprietary findings: products like Insurance Difficulty Score, Flip Detection, Renovation Completeness analysis, and Construction Disruption forecasts — analysis built from cross-source inference that no individual public database provides. Intelligence Reports also include full action plans, cost estimates, and “Why This Matters” context on every finding.

The free/paid line is the public/proprietary line. If a finding comes from a public source, it's free. If it comes from CaveatBuyer's own analysis, it's in the paid tier.

Yes. You may share your CaveatBuyer report with your agent, lender, inspector, attorney, or other professionals involved in your transaction.

CaveatBuyer reports may not be resold, commercially redistributed, or used as the basis for lending decisions, insurance underwriting, property valuation, or employment decisions. See our Terms of Service for full details.

We collect only what we need to run the service: your email address (if you create an account), property address(es), and the profile questions you answer before your report generates.

We do not sell your personal information. We do not serve advertising. We do not share your search history with real estate agents, lenders, or other third parties for marketing purposes.

For full details, see our Privacy Policy.