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I would avoid Housemasters. They spend much effort touting their "limited" guarantee. This is their main selling point. After using them and reading the fine print, I discovered that the limited guarantee was so limited that it may as well not exist. Their inspection, like many others, rates every item on the house as Satisfactory, Fair, Poor, or NA. The limited guarantee covers a few major items and only if they are rated by the inspector as Satisfactory. When our inspection came back, all of the items covered by the limited guarantee were rated as fair. According to our Housemaster inspection, almost nothing in the house was Satisfactory. Therefore, we had no guarantee on any item that was inspected.
We used Rich for an inspection last week and he was great - very friendly, informative and thorough.
Earlier in the year we used Criterium-Tauscher Chronacher and we were very disappointed. The inspector never said a word to us (even though he was working for us, not the seller), flew through the house in 25 minutes and was exceptionally vague in his report (which we received three days later). Everything in the report said "may or may not be...." which really doesn't help when making a gigantic purchase.
I am looking for a good house inspector. does anyone have any recommendations?
my realtor has one inspector, but my friend has warned me not to go with the realtor's inspector as he says the house will pass with flying colors and to find one on my own so if there are any flaws i will know.
whereas the realtor says to only find someone who is good enough as there are many bad house inspectors who don't do their job properly.
the only problem i noticed during the viewing was some mold outside the bathroom door. i am attaching a picture of that. please let me know what you think.
I would suspect this is the wall where the supply pipes are. Is that correct? I say this because the bubbled paint/drywall further up the wall would most likely occur if there's a leak in the supply lines. Also, it would be very difficult for shower spray to make it around the corner. Given that water seeks the lowest point don't be surprised to find the drywall (both sides), studs, stud bay sill plate, and floor to be severely water damaged; possibly rotting; definitely molded.
I wouldn't ask the seller to repair because you won't know if it were repaired or cosmetically covered. Just the fact that it wasn't cosmetically covered before being put up for sale indicates any requested repair won't be done in a good workmanship-like manner.
You can always find an inspector through the American Society of Home Inspectors (American Society of Home Inspectors, ASHI) which is a professional organization. I found an excellent inspector who seem very qualified and thorough from the website:
John Weiburg P.E., ACI from Greenlink Home Inspections - (516) 603-5770
Rodanhomeinspections.com did mine and WOW when I say comprehensive... He left no stone unturned and was very honest about the property. He is fully licensed and certified, came within hours on a Sunday afternoon (!) when I called him. Steve will do any inspection I ever need in the future as well. 631.650.5600
He's very down to earth which makes it all the more bearable. He answered all my questions and then some, which I needed and appreciated greatly as a first time home buyer.
I liked Pete Wilson, 631-758-4173. He was very thorough, including climbing on the roof to inspect the shingles and flashing, which not all of them will do. He uncovered structural issues and recommeded we get a structural engineer to look at them. This led us to Tausher/Cronacher, which I see that others have recommended.
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