home inspection?
We are buying a house and need to have it inspected prior to contract. We made an appointment with Heimer – any thoughts or other recs? We called Rand but they couldn’t do it soon enough. Any questions I should make sure to cover? Any advice? Thanks – first time home buyer here!
We are buying a house and need to have it inspected prior to contract. We made an appointment with Heimer – any thoughts or other recs? We called Rand but they couldn’t do it soon enough. Any questions I should make sure to cover? Any advice? Thanks – first time home buyer here!
Our advice Never , ever use Heimer – don’t be fool by their 100 pages report which is here only to cover themselves- and according to all the review I read the last few days, they need it.
if you have $950 to spend, go to see a medium – and keep the change.
We just used Aberdeen Building Consulting and were very happy with Matthew. He was very thorough and we ended up with a 50-page document (complete with pictures) of current problems, things to keep our eye out for in the future, and helpful tips on maintenance and repair.
Matthew Wynne
Aberdeen Building Consulting
877-492-9800
2inspect@optonline.net
Just wish we were as happy with the condition of the house…
We just used Aberdeen Building Consulting and were very happy with Matthew. He was very thorough and we ended up with a 50-page document (complete with pictures) of current problems, things to keep our eye out for in the future, and helpful tips on maintenance and repair.
Matthew Wynne
Aberdeen Building Consulting
877-492-9800
2inspect@optonline.net
Just wish we were as happy with the condition of the house…
I am a real estate agent so I meet a lot of “inspectorsâ€. I also do a lot of construction and own a brownstone so I know a bit about buildings and especially brownstones. And I can tell you I have never met a “home inspector†that new a heck of a lot. I think I met this Heimer guy in question… and he does do that ridiculous “privacy†bit (which usually manages to scare the pants off buyers of course!! Imagine someone looking at the boiler you are about to purchase and fastidiously jotting down notes in a “private†note pad?? I’d be terrified too!!). My guess… is that like all the others he doesn’t really know very much about construction or buildings so he is incapable of talking to you at the same time as he walks through the house.
I am shocked almost every time. On both sides. Really significant items that should be spoken about… like hmm… for instance… a “new†but LOUSY stucco job on the back wall almost never make the list. On the other hand… anything “old†no matter how well functioning and well made go on the list. That’s the general rule… new things (even lousy new things) are “good†and old things are “badâ€.
Once I stood in front of an “engineer†who spend about 10 minutes “warning†the buyers about the potential for mold (another scary word right?) because the bathroom didn’t have a fan and in the middle of that diatribe (it was a really terrifying dooms day type extrapolation about what was likely to be behind the walls…) the seller simply walked into the bathroom and turned the extremely obvious switch marked “fan†on. It was brilliant.
Oh!! “Codeâ€â€¦ geeze these guys come up with the most bizarre things to say about “Codeâ€. Ughh!! I am getting frustrating writing this.
Anyway… whoever you choose take it with a grain of salt… it’s a process learning about a building. More often there’s more then one opinion… I find a home design architect/ contractor type to have the most useful and accurate and pertinent commentary, suggestions… range of options… on brownstones.
How many prospective home owners got a reference to a home inspector or engineer from their real estate agent? I’ve read this so many freakin’ times on houseblogs and oldhouseweb it surprises me. It’s like getting a reference to a lawyer from a representative of the party you’re suing.
After the inspection is over, your relationship with the inspector is effectively over but he’ll still be beholding to the party who referred him for future business. It’s not even a good idea to get a reference from your own real estate attorney because it’s also in his or her best interests that the sale go through, especially if it’s a flat-rate closing fee.
A friend in Connecticut got an inspector through his agent. The inspector wrote up a few minor concerns, like no ridge vent, and gave him a nice folder full of pretty pictures and charts and professional-looking boilerplate.
I checked the place out just after he closed. What the inspector “missed” was that the entire extension under that questionably vented roof was blatantly amateur and illegal construction, from the undersized foundation to the reverse-pitched bathroom drain to the exposed BX laying in the dirt in the crawlspace. That was just for starters. He didn’t even notice that the brick chimney was pulling away from the house or that the drywall around it was waterlogged from outside moisture.
DO NOT use Heimer. Told me my roof was “good” and should last ten years. WRONG! Said my electric was up to snuff. WRONG! And when I got in contact with them to complain, instead of defending themselves, they just matter-of-factly sent me the information to make a claim against them…like it happens every day!
my lawyer told me NOT to use Heimer b/c they tend to be over the top about every little detail and cause manjor headaches for both buyer/seller once the report comes in and everyone has to negoiate back and forth to get things done in a timely manner – than the bank gets skittish and you can have a real nightmare on your hands
I also used Grobler a few weeks ago for my inspection in a 720 sq. foot Park Slope co-op and I highly recommend him.
We had the exact same experience as 6:28. Heimer’s contract expressly says that you’re not allowed to talk to the inspector while he’s doing the inspection. We chose them based on a post on this site that said the inspector walked them through the inspection and gave them helpful information about how things in the house worked and how they should be maintained, so we were very surprised and disappointed by our inspector’s refusal to speak to us.