Ted did the home inspection for our first single family house just a few days ago. We highly recommend Ted to anyone who are looking for home inspection. The difference between Ted and some other inspectors is that he is an independent home inspector. He does not work with any realtors. The price looks high, but the hourly rate is very low. He spent maybe double the normal inspection time (in our case, from 9:30 to 5pm) to check the house very thoroughly. Then he spent another day to work on the customized report (not software generated) and another 2+ hours to go through the report with us. Plus, he is so willing to help us to answer any ongoing questions by phone calls and emails from renovation plans to even our insurance questionnaire. Do the math! The price is definitely reasonable considering all the services we got. We're very happy to have him to inspect our house. Since this is our first house and it is an old house (32 years), we have almost no knowledge about it. Thanks Ted, we have a much clear picture about what we are getting and have a better idea how to improve our house in the next few years. Note that English is not our first language. Although many house-related words are out of our vocabulary, Ted is very patient on explaining them to us. Thanks Ted. A big thumb up. Emily & Daniel
- Approximate cost of services:
- $1,375.00
- What could this company do to improve their services?
- Any advice to offer fellow homeowners facing a similar project?
- Company Response
Hi Emily & Daniel,
Yes, incredible as it sounds, the 2 issues you site are unbelievable. Independence from Real Estate Agents and their referral practices of rewarding some of the worst inspection companies with referral work. They may have great credentials and even endorsements but the bottom line is they know that if the sale is not successful they are taking a great risk with future referrals. The other critical issue; in a typical 3-4 & ocasionally 5 hour industry inspection turn around there simply isn't enough time to do a thorough investigation while filling in a checklist style boilerplate, computer generated reporting system. Speed might be necessary in some transactions but if your real estate agent is properly advising you, you should book your inspection immediately following an accepted offer, you may well need extra time to get repair/replacement estimates before proceeding to subject removal. If you suspect the agents are conspiring to railroad you, you could well be right. No one tells you what the rules are or what your rights are, your home inspector may be your only friend unless the inspector is dependent on realtor referrals. By the way some inspection companies claim to be independent, in these cases independent meaning they do not work for a franchise inspection company. There are many deceptions, subtle deceptions in this industry, do your inspector shopping early. Ask what they did prior to becoming a home inspector, not many have yrs of industry trade experience. You cannot substitute experience for classroom time.
Happy trails...
Ted Gilmour