This red-hot market demands bids without subjects, but that doesn't mean you should forgo an inspection! Indeed, with prices so high, knowing what you are getting into is as important as ever.
We've used Ted at least 3 times in the last year to do "Open House Inspections" on detached homes before putting in bids (we also used him a number of years ago to inspect our current home, a condo in a concrete high-rise).
No one is more thorough.
He checks everything, pokes and prods at anything suspicious and is not satisfied until he has answers. He will walk through the house with you, highlight problem areas and ensure you understand all the issues.
His reports are no mere checklist. He provides photo-documented reports with detailed comments, recommendations, priorities and rough cost estimates for remediation.
Even after we bought our home, he continued to be an invaluable resource for us.
Yes - Ted is more expensive than most. Yes - he takes more time than most. Yes - realtors whine and complain about this to no end.
But he is worth every penny. Quality takes time. And I can think of no better reference than the ire of a realtor.
I recommend Ted without hesitation. He will be on your side throughout the home buying process and beyond. He brings a wealth of knowledge, experience and competence to the table, and a commitment to details and advocacy for your benefit.
His advice will save you thousands (or at least reveal up front that thousands more may be needed *before* you buy). If you need a home inspector - this is your guy.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $1,100.00
- Company Response
Hi Shawn,
I’m happy to hear from you. With all the good things you've had to say I guess you've got everything under control. Oftentimes it's not that the house has problems, every house has problems, it's that you are made aware of them so you can either negotiate for them or take care of them once you own it. In some cases people have found that their prospective home has some serious problems but after evaluations and discussions on remediation costs and logistics homebuyers feel confident to close the deal. I'm very pleased that you commented on what constitutes a quality inspection. To be thorough and thoroughly understood requires time. When most inspectors are doing inspection turnarounds including the report in 4 hours or less, I'm happy to say I'll be there for 6 to 8 hours and more but then will spend another 10 hours or so composing a friendly but critical custom written report.
You are right about agents thinking they can discourage homebuyers from hiring me by saying things like: he charges too much, he's very nitpicky, he takes too long, etc. My client feedback, when agents are doing their best to discourage hiring me is: “yes that's exactly what we're looking for”.
The way for home inspectors to get hired these days is to be cheap, as home inspectors fees have been gradually rising, a new group of inspectors are anxious to gain market share by creating a race to the bottom. They are very successful and have made a leap into the elite categories on referral websites. Simply most homebuyers have no yardstick to measure the photo inclusive boilerplate service they get and will rate these inspectors 10 out of 10 or 5 stars. It's not hard to impress homebuyers with a little bit of building knowledge and obvious observations, thankfully for a lot of home inspectors, homebuyers don't have the depth of knowledge by which to measure their inspector’s competence or actual experience. One of the most important questions you could ask your inspector: do they have new home construction experience but also how many yrs, do they have any experience doing renovations, how many yrs? One of the biggest questions would be: do they have a sample inspection report?
Thanks again,
Happy Trails ...
Ted Gilmour