My wife and I recently bought our first house. We did so when the housing market in our area was going absolutely ballistic, with houses going under contract within hours of going up on the market - we submitted multiple offers, all over asking price, that were rejected (not even countered). The entire process was incredibly stressful and nightmarish.
The only thing that wasn't stressful, the only person who we felt was in "our corner" throughout this entire process was not our agent, not our loan officer, but our inspector, Marc.
To put things in perspective, due to the nature of the housing market, we had inspections done on multiple houses, all with different inspectors, because we didn't find Marc until our last house we looked at. The other inspectors were random online finds, or suggestions from our broker, and not a single one of them seemed like they were looking out for me. But once Marc started looking through a house, it was like a huge burden had been lifted off our shoulders: we actually had someone who was making the process easier for us, rather than more difficult.
And don't think it's because Marc just rubber-stamped the house and assured us nothing was wrong. On the contrary, Marc's inspection report was not only longer and more detailed than any of the other inspections we got on other houses, but it was three times the length of the second-longest inspection. We felt at-ease with Marc because of how insanely thorough he was. He also provided us recommendations for some of the work that we needed done, and we were extremely happy with those contractors as well, for what it's worth.
Marc's inspections differed not only in size and level of detail, but in emphasis. While other inspectors we worked with focused on easy-to-spot cosmetic issues that could be fixed with some paint or a day's effort, Marc noticed things that nobody else noticed in any other houses that dealt with SAFETY. These were real issues that could put my family at risk, and Marc pointed out things that nobody else even thought to look at.
Marc didn't just take a look and print up a document for us. He walked us through every step of the way, answering all of our questions and giving us an understanding of the issues and how to handle them. I didn't only learn about what to look for in this particular house, but I learned a great deal about home ownership and maintenance to boot.
Like I said, we wound up buying the house that Marc inspected, and I'm sure that at least some part of that was due to how comfortable we felt with the level of scrutiny Marc brought to bear on the job. Since moving in, I've used the inspection report beyond the mere negotiating tactic that most inspection reports are (though it served that purpose well), I've actually used it as a honey-do checklist for fixing various things around the house. I feel like I've been able to use Marc's inspection report to turn my simple house purchase into a superhouse or something, like an impenetrable fortress of safety and equity.
I liked my broker, I liked my loan agent, I liked the specialty inspectors (e.g. sewer scope), I liked the contractors we've had do work on the house. I liked all of these people, but I LOVED InspectAbility. I cannot possibly recommend them highly enough.
After how difficult the home-buying process was for us as first-time home buyers, I hope I never, ever have to move and buy another house again. But if I do, Marc is the first person I'm calling, hands-down. read more
