I found Ted Gilmour after a long search of calling up different home inspectors to see how they would go about inspecting the home we were interested in. Ted was the only one who seemed willing to spend basically the entire day inspecting the house, and the next day writing a report that is basically a users manual for your house. Yes, Ted does charge about twice as much as other home inspectors, but he also puts in more than four times the amount of time and work as most other inspectors out there - so by the hour he is actually a lot cheaper. As other reviewers have said, this is a classic example of getting what you pay for. I would also argue that Ted's inspections are very likely to pay for themselves. In our case he inspected every inch of drywall with a powerful flashlight and around every potential problem area with a moisture sensor, finding in the process two areas where patchwork had been done that would have otherwise gone unnoticed, but which showed evidence of water damage inside the walls next to two windows. This provided us with some negotiating leverage which brought the sellers down by well over what we paid for the inspection. It also gave us the peace of mind that there truly were no other large and costly repairs lurking around the corner after taking possession of the house. Another reason it is absolutely worth it to hire Ted to inspect your house is that at the end of tagging along with him for a day, you will have a comprehensive understanding of the house and all its issues, maintenance concerns, strengths, weaknesses, etc. I know some inspectors like to do the entire inspection by themselves and explain their findings to you in an hour or so once they are done. Ted actually encourages you to accompany him for the entire inspection and teaches/shows you everything you need to know about your potential new house, which is a huge advantage, especially for a first time home buyer. There are many other things that could be said about Ted's exceptional level of service, but I think one of his most significant qualities is his loyalty to the customer. He truly does not get any referrals from realtors; he is not a smooth salesperson like they are - he is not going to sugar-coat anything or operate under the pretence that ignorance is bliss if you have found a home you love. After getting to know Ted over the two days that he spends with his clients, I am confident that he will give you the straight goods every time, and based off the most thorough inspection you can get.
- Approximate cost of services:
- $1,000.00
- Company Response
Hi Joe,
Thanks for the comprehensive account of your inspection experience.
With all the excellent looking inspection services available, and at half my inspection fee. I'm surprised I get any cold calls at all. Most of my work comes from satisfied client referrals. In fact when people do contact me they simply book me, no discussion about my fee because they know from their friend or family experience that I work very hard for my clients and it’s more than a fair price which is; as you mention, one half the average going rate per hour with 4 times the amount of work. Before I book them, I do give them a hard quote, just to make sure we're on the same page. They want an excellent inspection and a few hundred extra dollars does not factor in their decision.
Real estate agents control their homebuyers by suggesting a home inspection only cost $3-$500. When a professional in the industry tells you what a service costs you are mighty reluctant to go with anything outside of that. So a $1000 inspection looks outrageous but that's only because their repulsion at paying that exceeds their curiosity to discover why. Yup your real estate agent has planted a bomb in your head that will go off if you entertain paying more than $500 for a measly home inspection. Oh the shame of even entertaining such a choice.
Nonbelievers cannot understand the difference between what I call a professional home inspection and the average 3 to 5 hour home inspection turnaround- that's the industry standard. That standard is designed to get a superficial exposure of the house while providing what appears to be discoveries of the true condition of the home. Now the homebuyer can proceed with the purchase, with “confidence”. That's what real estate agents have trained inspectors to offer: cheap, quick turnarounds so the agent can tidy up the loose ends faster and remove subjects.
When real estate agents are not my primary concern, I inform all players, I will be there for the best part of the day so I'm not being pushed out the door after 3 hours. The more time spent in the discovery process will uncover a considerable volume of deficiencies and suspicions, I will use the time to verify or hunt down a cause for the discovered anomalies. If you don't spend the time in the discovery process you have very little information in which to formulate cause, generally an inspection detects effects. I don't believe showing or telling people the discovered defects is what an inspection is all about. If you don't demonstrate what caused a defect then the client will have very little understanding of what to do with it; what would be involved to make repair and how to prevent it from happening again. Yes, I would say inspectors believe their job is to point out bad things, I believe an inspector's job is to involve the client in the discovery and to discuss solutions. Some homebuyers might think they don't want to know anything except whether they should buy the house are not, there are plenty of inspectors who will do just that and mostly to the affirmative.
Being involved in the inspection can actually be fun, the time just flies by.Happy trails...
Ted Gilmour