I was surprised to see the previous negative reviews of Bob Wellborn's work with Texas Home Inspection. My experience with him was the polar opposite!
My wife and I were buying a fairly large house, representing a large investment for us, and we wanted to be really sure that we got a thorough inspection in order to avoid potential large repair costs down the road. In other words, we wanted to make sure we weren't buying a money pit.
She reached out to her network (mostly professional women) and asked if "anybody knew of a good, thorough home inspector." A good friend of hers responded back that Bob was the most thorough she had come across and she trusted his work.
When I first spoke with him, he informed me that some real estate agents don't prefer to recommend him for their deals because if there is a problem with the house, he will likely find it and let people know, for better or for worse. Chuckling, he said that he's the first person they call when they need an inspection for a home they're buying themselves. That alone says a lot and meshes with some of the previous reviews of his work, to boot.
He was easy to schedule with, showed up on time, and spent a full (hot) day crawling around in the house. He delivered to us a very thorough inspection report within just a couple days and I was impressed with the overall document quality. Every house has problems. His inspection was a nice and detailed listing of them. I got the impression he did not miss many things, being fairly handy myself. On that same note - being fairly handy myself - I don't think he was a BSer at all. Everything he noted seemed pretty factual to me.
We wound up buying it so I will use his inspection report as a general "to do" list over the years to come. Most of the stuff on there can wait a year or two to be fixed without posing any risk to the home.
Moreover - and most importantly - Bob identified a couple of moderate problems with the house. I think most inspectors would have found the first one, but few would have noticed the second one, a questionable structural design in the attic that was in need of reinforcement. Without repair, a section of the roof would likely have caved or shifted over time.
So here's the moral of my Bob story. If you want a good, thorough inspection and aren't afraid to see a house's "warts," call Bob. If you want a feel good inspection (what's the point?), call somebody else. read more
