Here are two introductory books for home inspectors, both at the same price. The Home Inspection Manual by Alfred Daniel is written primarily for prospective homeowners who want to avoid the cost of hiring a home inspector prior to making an offer to purchase. Residential Building Systems Inspection is a reprint of HUD Rehabilitation Guideline II. It's a bargain. Mr. Daniel's book isn't. Residential Building Systems Inspection is extremely well organized, pithy, and informative. It's broken into two parts. One part covers interior and exterior architectural inspection; another covers systems inspection. An architectural inspection includes the site (drainage, outbuildings, landscaping), building exterior (foundation, cladding, windows and doors, roofs—by pitch and material—gutters, and chimneys), and interiors from basement to attic. Major systems considered are structural