Another important thing to do that is often overlooked is to have the house checked for mold. My wife and I moved into a house that although was a recent remodel, had mold growing in the crawl space. My wife developed asthma and it took us several months and lots of doctor visits before we figured out what was the issue. After having my wife stay with friends for a couple weeks and making significant recovery we knew the house was the issue. Fortunately it was a rental and the landlord was cooperative about letting us out of the lease. (It would have been a real nightmare had we bought the house!) But now any offer I would write to purchase would have a provision for a mold and environmental inspection. And I highly recommend that to anyone buying a property.
