We scheduled an inspection, and they didn't quote a price at the time. A couple days later when I asked for a price quote they quoted $1,950 for the inspection. I checked with other well known reputable inspection companies and one quoted $1,250 and the other $1,300. When I came back and emailed them that they are charging $700 more than the industry average for this same property, they're response was this: "Tom just reviewed the property again and felt that we had actually under quoted for the home and the guest house, and the liability Tom Is choosing not to do the inspection based on the fact that felt we were over charging." They just canceled the appointment Friday at 5pm, when the inspection was scheduled for the following Monday!!! I did not ask them to cancel, and was not rude to them. They left me hanging with no inspection 1 business day before our previously scheduled appointment. They also knew we have only a few days left of our short contingency, and absolutely could care less. They are rude, arrogant, do not care about the transaction, the client, or anything, and think they provide some kind of excellent service other do not. I have worked with them 2 times before and they are nothing more than average at best. Literally because they have an infrared camera they think they are superior. A lot of other inspectors have that, and we already did a full mold and moisture. Horrible, horrible, horrible. read more

Advanced Building Inspections - They cc emailed my client and tried to badmouth me bc I tried to negotiate a better price?? They really don't care!! - Home Inspectors Near Me - Calabasas, California

I am a property manager in the West Side area. One of our tenants, who has absolutely no ownership in the property, called Advanced Building Inspections to order an unauthorized inspection which included various common areas of the building. This was ordered without any authorization or approval from ownership or the property manager. An inspector by the name of Tom De Spain trespassed onto the property and created a thorough inspection report on the tenant's behalf. This included entering our crawl space under the building, opening electrical boxes in addition to many other common areas outside of the tenant's unit. It should be noted that he also left the electrical box cover wide-open upon completion of his unauthorized inspection. It is extremely unprofessional and intrusive to conduct a thorough building inspection without any approval or authorization from ownership or management. This is also very dangerous as there could be precautions that one may not know about unless consulting with the property manager. It is absolutely shocking that this inspector did not even feel the need to contact us before trespassing. It became evidently clear that this inspector and/or Advanced Building Inspections would take any job presented to them without skipping a beat. This is truly frightening. I would avoid hiring at all costs. read more

Advanced Building Inspections helped us on short notice and a relatively undesirable work day for most people (the day after Thanksgiving). Tom and his partner were nothing but punctual, polite, and professional. They were very comprehensive and we feel no stone was left unturned for the 1800 square foot home we are buying. Unfortunately for us, they found plenty of work for a house built in the 1950s. At the end of the inspection, they demonstrated their embrace of technology by showing a presentation of their findings on iPads. This was very appreciated and everything was discussed in a straight forward manor that anyone not familiar with codes and rules would understand. The full report was conveniently digitally delivered on sunday. I would definitely recommend this company to anyone looking for a great inspecjton service. read more

I'm a real estate agent and multiple property owner. I've been working with The whole De Spain clan for almost 20 years now. Most of my clients end up using them for their inspections. I want it to be said up front that these guys are general inspectors. They do not do Termite, Mold, or Sewer. Those are specialized inspections and your real estate agent should get someone different for those tasks. Having said that, Advanced building inspections always goes above and beyond. They are knowledgeable, timely, reliable, and thorough. As the saying goes, cream rises to the top and these guys are at the top of their game. I've never been disappointed and have never received nasty calls from clients down the road. Highly recommend! read more

My husband and I used Advanced Building Inspections for a condo that we opened escrow on. We had a very smooth and positive experience working with them. They were timely, professional, efficient and very communicative- all qualities that made this inspection period much easier to glide through. Much appreciated! read more

Never, never, never contact this company!!!! Absolutely disappointed. Completely unprofessional service!!! Tom and his guy did a condo inspection for me. They were very nice and respectful. 2 weeks after I bought my property I found out that I have a problem with my A/C. I went back to the report and it says that everything is OK. I called 4 different companies to inspect my A/C unit and I found out that Tom and his guy inspected the wrong unit!!!! He inspected my neighbor's A/C unit instead of mine!!!! It took me 2 month to deal with my Home Warranty. I had to replace the whole unit (not even the condenser - everything inside the condo and on the roof). When I've opened the A/C cover inside the condo it was so much DUST and RUST!!! Considering that Tom and his guy inspected the wrong unit on the roof, it looks that inside the condo they did not even check the system. I called their office 3 times!! Every time I left a voice message. No one ever called me back!!! Those people are not professional and not willing to take responsibility for their mistakes!!! Never, never, never contact this company!!!! read more

Tom came out for the home inspection. We really like Tom. Super thorough. Fair price. My architect, my window and doors contractor, both impressed with Tom. Why the 3 stars? Well, I had to change my entire sewer line. The first thing my general contractor's plumber said to me after returning from the crawl space was that the house needed a new sewer line. He had photos of blistering throughout the property's sewer line, some as long as 2 feet long. When he flushed the toilet that morning, rust color water filled the bowl. And what was included in my home inspection report from Advanced Building Inspections about the sewer line? Well, there was a sentence about some visble corrosion on the exterior of the pipes, but no leaks. Also a CYA blurb about the need to hire a tradesman to further investigate. Well, the plumber that we had already scheduled who inspected at the same time as the home inspection wrote on his report that the cast iron sewer pipes were old, but in good condition. Which is why my whole face turned white that first day of construction. $3000 worth of sewer replacement work later, I really wish Tom had taken a photo of the corrosion so that my husband and I would have seen the scope of the damage. Me and my THREE YEARS of construction management work experience wrongly assumed that the corrosion was minimal and mostly at joins. Moral of the story boys and girls: NEVER ASSUME. Next time I buy a property, I'll crawl and investigate in addition to hiring Tom or a different qualified home inspector. I really want to give this business FIVE stars. He took photos of everything, documented so much, hair line cracks on windows and other very small details I didn't notice. And yet, no photo of 2 feet long blisters on sewer line. I really, really don't get it. I think it should say something that I'm still giving this place THREE STARS. They did an otherwise fantastic job. read more

Tom and Bob of Advanced Building Inspections performed the inspection on our first home. Both gentlemen were friendly, engaged, and extremely knowledgeable and helpful. Not being much of a handyman myself, I appreciated their insight and patience as well as their attention to detail. Their final report was full of images and easily digestible information which made negotiating with the seller very smooth. Could not recommend more highly read more

I had a very short time-frame to inspect a building I was thinking of buying. My agent Steve Nemeth recommended ABI. They were able to accommodate my tight deadline. I was very happy when THREE guys -- Tom, his son Tom and a third person Rick -- came to do the inspection. They were very thorough and at the end of the inspection already had a slide-show ready to show all the problems. They weren't afraid to show me all the issues that made this deal a no-go (some inspectors want to make the agent happy by fudging). As to the other reviewer who complained about not knowing the condition of the sewer line -- HIRE A SEWER LINE INSPECTOR with a camera (as I did). Building inspectors don't do that; not ABI's fault. Anyway, their price was very reasonable, the job was thorough. I will use them again. read more

Tom DeSpain is the best inspector I have ever worked with, hands downs! He is very thorough and not an alarmist. Would definitely recommend!

Tom and his team are top notch building inspectors. My husband and I are buying in Topanga Canyon which can be a very difficult place to begin with because of all the illegal building, forrest conditions and wacky homes. Tom was able to schedule an appointment fast, did a great job investigating the house, gave us some really great advice and referrals in the area. He is very thorough, spent time to make sure we understood his report and easy to work with. He explains everything very well. We would 1000% use him again. read more

I'm a real estate broker and have been using Advanced for my general inspection for the past 3 years. In my business it's important to have a team ready that I trust and I know is looking out for my buyers. I've been doing this long enough to know that these guys are the best in the business. My clients all love them, I've referred them to other agents and I will change my schedule around to accommodate them in order to make sure I know I'm able to use the best...although they are usually the accommodating ones. They don't miss a thing and they are always happy to follow up and answer any questions. To the reviewer who gave them 3 stars because of the sewer issue, I would always advise my clients to get an additional sewer inspector at the beginning as it is out of the range of the general inspection. It's not them missing anything it's just not what they do. I cannot recommend them more highly. Good people and great at what they do. read more

You cannot go wrong with ABI! Tom and Bob have inspected two very different homes for us when we have been in escrow. Plan to be with them for about 3 hours (for a ~1500sqft home). First they thoroughly inspected and tested pretty much EVERYTHING, then they uploaded their many high quality pictures onto one iPad and walked us through each picture giving us a summary and allowing ample time to ask and receive layman-understandable answers, then later that night (or next day depending on appointment schedule) they sent us the full color report with the same pictures and a complete narrative, which clearly indicated which areas were safety concerns, etc. Really NICE people too! read more

I am so glad I hired these guys for a property I bought in Malibu. There were so many things that had me concerned but after my inspection the guys went over everything with me and listened to all my concerns. In the end I ended up saving so much money and I could not be more happy. Now living in my dream home I highly recommend them and will definitely be using them on a rental property I plan to purchase. So thankful I was referred to them by a top player in the real estate business that I knew I could trust. read more

I am a realtor and have been using Advanced for about a year. I continue to be impressed with how thorough their reports are; they really are the best that I've found and I've probably tried upwards of 20 inspection companies. Tom is always super responsive to questions, prompt and professional. Highly recommend. read more