Stay away, their business is like legal highway robbery. I ordered a house and pest inspection. Basically $1000 for 10 minutes of "work". Pest inspection: looked at one door for 10 seconds, then said nope no termites here...that cost me $450. Oh you want to drill for mold/fungus? That'll be an extra $250. You want us to go on the roof? Go in the attic? That will be an extra $250. You want us to move that stuff to look what's behind? That's an extra $250. Charges you an arm and leg for everything. The cost of the inspection alone could (and did) have fixed 80% of the issues they found. For the areas they "inspected" they overlooked a lot of stuff and did a rudimentary job in 10 minutes. When I arrived they were already done and I made them go over the whole house again with me there and found numerous other issues they missed the first time. Imagine if I hadn't showed up at all and only had my real estate agent go with them? Not only that but the report is basically a generic report they copy and paste and use over and over and slightly customize it for your house adding in a few sentences here and there and they paste 1x1" photos they took which are so small that they are useless (at least include larger photos). I am sure I could have asked for the full sized photos but at this point it wasn't worth it. I bet it took them less than 2 hours to produce that report. This is not my first rodeo. I have read many home inspection reports and have had it done by another company previously. Arnest Inspections report was the least comprehensive report I have ever read. They gave me a quote of $2000 to fix a backdoor..lol you think it costs $2000 to replace a door? And not even the front door.. I wasn't born yesterday. Total rip off. STAY AWAY. read more

They were very kind to come out twice to our home to give a free inspection/estimate. And happily, we do not have termites. Thank you!!

Jim was a great person to work with. We needed him to come out to inspect work he had done years before and he scheduled a time with us quickly. He was very helpful and gave us a report soon after his visit. Definitely someone I would call in the future if we need...hopefully we won't, but with an old house I'm sure we'll have to sometime! read more

11/17/05 We hired these guys to repair some dry-rot on the frontt of our house. It took them months to even get us on their schedule, and then they didn't show up the day they were supposed to... no call, no message, nada. We chase them down, they eventually call back with some lame-ass excuse. This goes on for days. Lather, rinse, repeat. Frankly, I don't care how good a job they do, I would never hire them again. I have no patience for people who can't even pick up the phone and explain their absence. ---- Update 12/9/05 This company is a reliability nightmare... we've been constantly chasing the owner down, for weeks on end, about where his crew has disappeared to (if they even show up at all). The work they did on our deck stairs was really crappy, to the point that we made them replace a number of the boards. Even worse, the building inspector had to point out that there were missing brackets to load-bearing structural elements. (This was on a 2-story-tall brace that holds up our laundry room/bathroom.) Someone who does this work for a living should know this -- it was obvious even to me, and I am no Handy Andy. This nonsense has been going on for weeks... for a simple job that should have taken 4 days! The owner doesn't plan ahead, he doesn't have good relationships with his sub-contractors, and he doesn't have backups when things go wrong. ------ Update 1/23/06 Well, they finally got the repair work done in mid-December, but the stucco guy they hired to patch over their work was a complete incompetent moron. He put sand in the stucco, even though it was plainly obvious that the original stucco was smooth, and didn't even attempt to match the pattern of the existing wall. Seriously, it was so lame that we thought it was some sort of base coat until Arnest called to ask us for payment. We called Arnest to complain the work wasn't done right, and got some song and dance about how it looked fine to him. After meeting with him at the house -- a process that took days to arrange -- he admitted that it really didn't look OK to him, but that the one stucco guy in the city who was capable of doing the work was reall hard to schedule. We told him we didn't care how long it took, that we wanted it done right and we wouldn't pay him until we were happy. Finally, everything is done. Of course, they still haven't returned our house key or picked up the materials they're storing in our garage... grr. 4 months total to do a 4-day job. read more

Our realtor recommended we use James Arnest. We were thrilled that he was involved in our house purchase. He was personable, up-to-date in his knowledge base, and right on time even though he was driving to our new house from the East Bay. He sent a typed report to our agent and to both of us by email. His inspection was very thorough and accurate. He caught several MAJOR issues, including wet dirt contacting the foundation and a water leak from the shower into the basement, which the original inspector (Markoff, who is supposed to be some great inspector) had not mentioned at all. The shower leak resulted in a small reduction in sales price. At the inspection, Mr. Arnest spent quite a lot of time counseling us on various aspects of what should be done to improve the condition of the house. He was not rushed at all and his approach was very commonsensical. We are acting on many of his suggestions immediately, even the ones that did not warrant a section 1 rating. We liked him so much that we retained him to do our stucco and wood rot repairs. I would strongly advise a purchaser of a new Bay Area home to consider having him involved. It will protect you from unexpected surprises and you will learn a lot about your house. read more

My agent got Jim Arnest to do my inspection. He came with another guy and did a good job, gave me some advice and answered my questions. I was glad to have someone knowledgeable there to help me through it, since I'm a first time buyer. Later, I called him for a termite inspection on the same place, and even though he didn't have to do it, he gave me a HUGE discount on that versus what Terminix and everybody else charges. Also, nobody else even had availability to do it for weeks (I would have lost the house!)--while Jim was out there the very next day after I called. Don't even get me started on Terminix who screwed up my scheduling and stood me up after I took a whole morning off work for their two hour window. Forget anyone else for inspections, get Jim and you'll be glad. read more

We recently bought an old home that had significant dry rot damage on the outside of a bay window. I called Jim because he did the inspection for the original owner. As others have said, Jim is a great guy. He's also honest. He honored the original estimate on the previous owners' pest report, even though it was more than a year old. In addition, when it turned out the damage wasn't as extensive underneath the stucco as we feared, he lowered the price. That's a first for me in this ridiculous SF housing market where many contractors can name a price and get it. We are also very happy with the work. His team installed better ventilation on the bottom of the window so dry rot is not likely to be as big of a problem in the future. They also let us keep the scaffolding until we are able to get a painter to finish the job. read more

Emailed Arnest Inspections regarding a larvae looking bug that emerged from our dining table. Jim replied within an hour, immediately identified the creature, and put our minds at rest that we did not have a full on infestation over 5 more emails throughout the day. Clearly knowledgable, responsive, extremely helpful and could've easily tried to upsell with an inspection - but did not. Thank you Jim! read more

My real estate agent at Zephyr urged me to hire Jim Arnest on the grounds that he would be able to perform both the general inspection and the pest inspection at the same time. While this didn't strike me as a particularly good idea, I was in a bit of a desperate situation where both time and money were quickly running out and I did not have the luxury of choice. He showed up with his son and they poked around at a couple of problems I was already aware of, but aside from some minor dry rot on an exterior door casing and a bit of window trim, he reported a clean bill of health on the pest inspection. The speed with which this all progressed was somewhat startling as they were standing there with their hands out, waiting for their $800 check roughly 15 minutes after they'd arrived with no piece of equipment more sophisticated than a screwdriver in tow, but who am I to question a professional? Turns out, I definitely should have questioned everything, including my own eyes. The storms that ran through the bay area in December of 2014 revealed that the property I purchased because Arnest showed it to be wood pest free actually suffered from significant grading problems whereby a full half of the house's foundation was actually sitting at or below grade. To compound matters, the rear patio had been poured in such a way as to slope toward the foundation, so once water started pouring down from the sky for hours on end, a pool developed and the house flooded shortly thereafter. After the water subsided, my home was suddenly filled with tens of thousands of ants who appeared to be entering through the wall which had just taken on significant amounts of water, so I opened it up from the inside and discovered that this was not only not the first time this had happened, but that it was obviously a known condition as some very sloppy repairs had been made very recently. This house with the clean bill of health actually had a completely rotten sill plate thanks to the improper grading and no shear wall whatsoever--both of which subsequent inspectors have pointed out as glaring omissions I should take Arnest to court over. They also suggested getting my eyes checked as the severe grading issues are plainly visible from the street, and there are clear chalk lines highlighting the issue from previous inspections. What can I say? I'm an idiot for not seeing the problem myself and I'm an idiot for hiring Arnest. Unfortunately, the cost of litigating this particular matter would be at least as much as the $40K worth of repairs I'm now faced with making, and judging from the court records, Jim's legal strategy seems to involve dragging things out until the plaintiffs run out of money, so all I can really do is relay my experiences and recommend that you always get a second opinion from someone whose qualifications extend beyond "works across the street from the agent." Better yet, if you're home shopping, invest in a Zip Level and a cheap thermal camera, read the instruction manuals, and your own qualifications already extend beyond these clowns'. read more

Jim breezed through our home inspection. It was obvious to us that he did not have our best interests in mind while conducting his inspection, which he took all of 20 minutes to do for an 1800 sq foot house that is 95 years old and the many questions we had for him. I would advise against using Jim, especially if you are a first time home buyer and don't know the types of things to look out for. read more

I hired Jim Arnest to inspect a property I wanted to buy. He showed up 1.5 hours late with a lousy excuse. His report came back with several pages lifted straight from the building codes, and about 6 lines addressing what needed to be done. The $52K quote was mostly about seismic retrofitting in a 100 year old building.. He indicated there was wood beetle damage, but my Internet research showed wood beetles were inactive at the time of the year the property was inspected. The other repairs had already been committed to by the seller. To make matters worse, he failed to send me any reports, emailing them to my agent instead. As I had written my email address all over the place for him, I was surprised to have him tell my agent he had no way of contacting me. I contacted him upon hearing this, and got total silence. SHAME ON YOU!!!! No donut...no referrals...don't call this guy. $750 down the drain. read more

Arnest did both a termite and home inspection for us before the purchase of our house. He showed up on time and wrote a thorough report. We got both a hard copy as well as an emailed copy. 6 months after we purchased the house, we noticed water seeping into the garage from the back patio during heavy rain. The original inspection was done during dry season and Jim did indicate evidence of old water stains. Jim Arnest came by to take a look 15 minutes after I called him He gave me an assessment and assured me that it was not a big problem. He stopped by, unprompted, two days later and handed me a typed up addendum to the original home inspection report and did not charge me a dime ( I did not ask him to write anything up). This type of responsiveness and follow-up is really unheard of in the home construction world (I've hired and interviewed many home improvement contractors). read more

Called Jim this morning, and he was out at my place about 4 hours later. Told him what my tenants had told me, and he did a very complete inspection and gave me an honest answer (which was that I didn't need to do anything). To top it off, he didn't even charge me for the visit. All the other places I had called had a $75 fee just to give a consult. Jim's great...professional and honest. read more

I hired Arnest to do a pest inspection on a property I was in contract for and he was on time, incredibly thorough, and provided a very detailed report complete with photos. As he was performing the inspection he took the time to answers all of my (many) questions. Jim also has extensive construction experience and pointed out several structural defects about the property that many pest inspectors may not have noticed. In general, I am very impressed with all facets of Jim's work (and the rest of the Arnest team: his wife and son) and wouldn't hesitate to hire him again. read more

Had a great experience with Arnest Inspection. Needed an inspection for my refinance - they were able to come out within the week and showed up right on time. Very professional and knowledgeable - would definitely recommend them and use them if needed in the future. read more

What a nice guy!!! Called him about a wasp nest and he sbowed up fee hours later and checked it out. He was not only competent but just one hell of a nice guy. Very professional and friendly. We didn't actually have a neat, he didn't even charge us for the consultation. read more

Jim did a home inspection for us today and did a great job. He was prompt, friendly, thorough, and the price was competitive. Make sure you bring a check since he doesn't take credit cards. read more

I have used Jim Arnest and his crew many times over 10 years and he is stellar! He is easy going, reliable, honest and his crew is hardworking. He works through any project in a calm fashion and is always available to take your call when you have questions. I highly recommend Jim and his team and will continue to use his outstanding services. read more

I would not hire Arnest inspections again nor can I recommend them. Despite that, here is my balanced review as there were some positives. My real estate agent hired Arnest to do a pest inspection during escrow. The house is old so we wanted to be sure we knew what issues we might have down the road. Jim and his son came to the property and walked inside and around for about 10 minutes and then asked for a $1200 check. I felt this was egregious, but this is what my real estate agent said was standard. My agent asked that Arnest drill some test holes to check for wood damage which Jim then tried to charge me another $300 to do. Thankfully, my agent told him to do it as part of the inspection. The test holes found some wood damage which Arnest wrote up in a report. After the house closed, we wanted to have the damaged wood repaired. I don't have a lot of experience with contractors so I hired him to get the work done quickly. I thought it would be better to have the person who inspected the work do the repairs. I asked Jim point blank if the repairs would return the building to its current state. He said yes. To his credit, the one positive is that his team started and completed the work quickly - $10K in wood damage repairs in a little over a week. Unfortunately, Jim and I do not seem to agree on the finished result. His team put stucco over the wood so that it matches the house, but his team does not paint over the stucco. This of course means that I have lots of grey patches on my white house and it looks terrible. To him, this constitutes a finished job. While on the job, his crew were loud (playing music, starting construction without giving notice to the tenants) and disruptive (they made a mess blocking my tenant's front door). My tenants have a new baby and you can believe I received complaints from them. I have tried to work with Arnest to get the job finished and they won't even make decent recommendations for someone who can finish the job. At this point, I cannot recommend Arnest Inspections and I hope you find someone who will treat their customers better than they did. read more

These guys were great. They came when they said they would, did what they said they would do, and everyone I spoke with on the phone or in person was really friendly. They also charged less than a third of what the inspector had estimated. Thank you Arnest Termite Control! Hooray! read more

I have to agree with my colleague, Jim writes the best reports out there. I sell a lot of real estate in San Francisco and I've found Arnest to be the most consistent, most reliable inspector in the business. I've read the other reviews here and I felt it necessary to say something positive about a company thats well respected in our offices. read more

Jim was great. He has the experience to look at the situation and determine what needs to be done. We had others come and their view was to blindly rip and replace, where Jim's was a combination of open up, treat, inspect, treat, and replace whats was needed. It took time, but I think we solved the problem without blindly throwing new wood at the situation. read more

Jim was a nice enough guy but bulldogged through an inspection for me. He was recommende by my real-estate agent. Knowing I was a first time home buyer, he did not seem to have my best interests in mind when inspecting. I have since learned enough on my own to basically inspect a house and can say that he missed and did not share correct findings. Down to the fact that my house has nob and tube. I had questions during the inspections , but he was more than happy to gloss right through them. this was 3 years ago, but seeing the name pop up now, i was compelled to write... read more

I decided to call Jim from his good Yelp reviews, and was very pleased. I had a previous home termite inspection from an agent-recommendation, and the guy just did a visual inspection: no crawling around, no lifting up the insulation to look under it, etc. Jim looked in places that I never considered, and recommended his son's company to treat the appropriate area. I'm very happy with everything they did, and I felt I got a good amount of service for the cost. read more

Great job....very concerned about flying termites, came out ASAP and relieved our concerns that it was probably just swarming because of the rain since he did a complete check and so no evidence of damage or rot. A big relief off our minds and the price is right ! Thanks read more