A quality home inspection requires time and expertise, but there are certain components of a home that you don't necessarily need to hire a professional to inspect. Several components that you may want to know how to inspect on your own include smoke alarms, carbon monoxide alarms, and backflow presenters. Knowing what to expect out of a home can help you plan for the future but mitigating at least some of the risk of costly surprises. Life expectancy of certain home components, such as electrical systems, pluming, and decking, plays a huge role in estimating the cost of future repairs if you are looking to buy a house.