Bay Home Inspections LLC

As a matter of background, I've had experiences with two other home inspectors, and by far, Mr. Bender is head and shoulders above the others. I researched Angie's List and decided to choose Mr. Bender based on 3 criteria: 1.) Substantial number of positive ratings; 2.) Very high ratings, and; 3.) Very competitive pricing. Based upon those 3 factors and everything I read, I believed Mr. Bender to be my best choice. When I originally called Mr. Bender, he answered the phone, as he did with subsequent calls, something many others don't do. I'm certain if he is stuck in a hot attic, he won't answer his phone, but that apparently is the exception and not his policy. I scheduled a home inspection, wind mitigation inspection and a 4-Point inspection on a bank owned AS IS property. On the day of the inspection, I arrived at the house before the scheduled time and found him and his assistant waiting for me. The fact he was punctual says much about him and his respect for his client's time. Mr. Bender explained the inspection process and advised that it would take approx. 2 1/2 hours. Well, that was an understatement. He and his assistant took over 4 hours because the house had so many issues. I observed Mr. Bender throughout the entire inspection process and found him and his assistant to be extremely thorough, far exceeding my expectations in every possible way. I say that because I'm a meticulous person and definitely didn't expect such high attention to detail, unlike my previous home inspections. I received the feeling that he and his assistant conducted the inspection as if they were doing it for themselves; simply an outstanding job.At the end of the inspection, and because of the many serious deficiencies found, I had serious doubts about purchasing the home. Sensing my doubts, I could not believe what Mr. Bender told me: He said just pay for the home inspection, and if you decide to purchase the home, then you can mail me the additional $55 for the other two inspection reports. He could have just as easily accepted my check for the full amount since that was for the agreed upon inspections. I can't say more about his honesty and caring for other people's money. Then came Mr. Bender's inspection report. As thorough as the inspection was, the report was even more so, thorough and detailed, documenting all deficiencies discovered with associated photographs. Based upon Mr. Bender's exceptional report, I was able to obtain a substantial reduction in the home's price. He also provided referrals, answered follow-up questions and above all, provided his professional opinion, something I highly respect because of his obvious vast knowledge & experience. Mr. Bender's integrity, honesty and professionalism is beyond reproach, and I would highly recommend him to everyone who needs a home inspection.

The inspection team showed up early to the property and began inspecting the outside of the residence. I was on-site for the inspection. The team was very thorough and excercised exceptional dilligence in explaining every issue in detail. Mike Bender and his associate Jen do outstanding work, are extremely detail oriented, professional, courteous and take great pride in the level of customer service they provide. A great exerpience and would highly recommend them to anyone who wants an exceptional inspection at a great price.

I needed a roof inspection and wind mitigation inspection in a hurry since I was applying for new property insurance and it had to be done by the end of the month. Thinking that I had surely put it off for too long, I called Mr. Bender with Bay Home Inspections and he assured me that he would get it done and have the paperwork ready to go in time. He was true to his word and all of the paperwork has been submitted. Aside from that, Mr. Bender was very professional and knowledgeable. He shared a lot of information with me and I really appreciated that. Would definitely recommend him to anyone needing these services.

He arrived prompty, very personable, nice guy, very scientific, easy towork with, explained everything precisely, good listener, answered allmy questions. Completed his work quickly, thoroughly, every detail,but in a relaxed manner. He was excellent. I would never use anyoneelse. Even offered me names of an electrician, a plumber, and ahandyman/carpenter that he trusted.

Even thought there was a family emergency, Michael contacted me to re-schedule the early appointment for later in the day and inspected my roof that day. He was very professional, friendly and courteous. I had the report in my email that evening.

Mike and Jennifer arrived at the new home site prior to the scheduled appointment. They immediately began working. Mike inspected the outer home and Jennifer inspected the inside. All of the appliances were turned on to ensure they performed properly. Every nook and cranny of the home and in ground pool were checked. Afterwards, Jennifer gave us a verbal assessment of the interior. The one problem area that she discovered was a door hung incorrectly, and she gave my husband instructions for repairing it. Mike walked around the perimeter of the house with my spouse, and pointed out problems he had discovered. Additionally, both Mike and Jennifer gave my spouse and I preventative maintenance instruction and recommended a "pool school" to instruct us in basic pool maintenance and care. The normal price of the home inspection is $335.00 and an additional $35.00 for the pool's inspection. Mike gave us a deal and only charged us for the home inspection! Mike had informed us that we would receive the written inspection report in two days; however, he contacted us the same evening and emailed us and our realtor the report on the same day! His report was very thorough. We were quite pleased with the professionalism and quality of service we received! We highly recommend Bay Home Inspections!

We hired Bay Homes to inspect a vacation home that we wanted to buy in St. Pete Beach. We selected them to do our inspection mostly due to favorable evaluations that we read on Angies List.We were not disappointed!! Michael and Jennifer came early and had already been checking out the exterior of the house when we arrived. The house was built in the 1920?s and this type of home Is a speciality of Michael?s. By the time they were finished inspecting we knew a lot more about potential problems in the home!! From the problems found during the inspection we were able to negotiate some repayment for repairs. We were provided with an online link to the report. That was nice to have as we could share it with whomever we wanted as well as easily print hard copies as needed. Initially there were some missing photos in the report due to malfunction of one of the cameras used during inspection. Fortunatley this was corrected almost immediately! We had a complete report without them, but it was nice that Michael worked to get those photos included. The inspection revealed live termite activity, although no actual insects were observed. This was even though the sellers had a contract with Terminex for several years. Two different companies were called in and guess what? Bay Homes was right--there were insects present. We were glad that this was discovered in advance, otherwise we might have had an unpleasant surprise waiting for us. Now, due to a low appraisal we?re not certain that we will end up owning this home. If we end up buying something else we will definitely be in touch with Bay Homes to perform an inspection on the next home we make an offer on.

Excellent. Report received right away.

Mr. Bender and his associate arrived early at the house and did an awesome job. They were meticulous in their search for flaws and discrepancies and were always ready to explain what they found. Following their inspection, they took us on a tour of exactly what they were planning to document in their report. Mr. Bender completed the report the very next day, complete with many photos and detailed findings. I would highly recommend Bay Home Inspections to anyone needing such services and would use them again if needed.

We are absolutely impressed by the quality of service offered by Michael Bender and team. We were able to secure an appointment at short notice without a problem. My husband met Michael personally and he only had great things to say about him. He and his team were friendly, professional, hard-working and extremely thorough. He did the inspection on a Thursday and we had the inspection report by Saturday morning. The report was so detailed and comprehensive and extremely informative. As an added bonus, his price is very reasonable. Needless to say, we would recommend Michael in a heart beat to anyone who needs home inspection.

Michael performed the inspection and filled out the Roof Condition Certificate (CIT RCF-1 02 11 rev). All I had to do was forward the certificate by email to my insurance agent. It was all very easy. Michael was very professional and the service was reasonably priced. I will use him again if I ever need another type of home inspection.

inspectioreat Mr. Bender and his associate were a pleasure to work with; they would stop and explain things when I had questions. The inspection report was through and informative. He creates a website with your home inspection on it, with pictures and descriptions of items that should be addressed or just observed. Great job. Thanks Anthony Fridella

I have no caveats to offer. The two inspectors were professional, courteous, punctual, and thorough. The final price was exactly as quoted. The day after the inspection they delivered a very comprehensive inspection report with photos of all problem areas. There was a sad ending: the seller refused to renegotiate and the house still sits empty.

The entire experience was very professional---from my phone call to make an appointment, through the inspection and finally the report.

I was referred to Bay Area Home Inspection by my realtor who knew their reputation as thier #1 choice for someone needing a specialized home inspection for an older, historic-type home. I was happy to find out that I would actually be dealing with the owners of the company. Not only was were Michael and Jennifer friendly and honest, but I felt compeled to offer (and did offer) to pay EXTRA for their service, since I felt it far exceeded the normal amount of time for an inspection and far exceeded my expectations. I was politely refused because they guarantee their quoted price. The pictures taken during the inspection, as well as the detailed report, helped us to better understand the nature of the hidden problems with the home. As a result of Michael and Jennifer's report & the careful wording of our contract, there was enough substantiation that we were able to cancel our contract for the home purchase AND still retain our earnest deposit. I will always recommend their services, and, when we find another potential home again, we will absolutely be using Michael and Jennifer. It is a rare finding to meet service professionals who are honest, friendly, talented, and also so fairly priced. We are grateful and would be happy to speak with any potential customers to recommend their services. Christine Miller

Michael and his wife were on-site 45 minutes early and had already started the outside inspection prior to our arrival. They were very professional and courteous making little conversation initially to focus on the job. Once finished, they reviewed their findings. The details that they reviewed were more than sufficient to assist us in making our decision. The final report was e-mailed to us that same night to assist with our time-sensitive requirements. They were extremely knowledgeable in construction not only with what was required, but what caused many of he deficiencies. Unfortunately, we're still shopping for a new house and will certainly use this wonderful team again. GREAT JOB!!!

Mr. Bender and his associate were extremely knowledgable and helpful during the process of getting a house inspected for purchase. The amount of time they spent ensuring that I was fully informed of all issues with the home was refreshing and helpful. Mr. Bender has an old world idea of exemplary customer service and it was wonderful to do business with his company. I would not only recommend Bay Home Inspections LLC for all of your home inspection services but I fully intend to utilize them for all of mine in the future. In addition, during the initial scheduling of the appointment there was some minor confusion between dates. Mr. Bender was open minded and flexible and agreed to finish the work and the report on the days required. He also did more work not required in an effort to assist us with future inspection needs by completing a wind mitigation inspection and holding it on file for the future.

I hired Bay Home Inspections to complete the home inspection, pest inspection, and wind mitigation for our first home purchase in mid- January. We had a great experience with this company. We found Bay Home on Angie's List after searching the companies with the most positive reviews. Michael Bender, the owner/inspector, answered every email and phone call right away. He scheduled with us right away, and the prices he quoted over the phone were the prices we paid. The prices we paid were average, and when we combined the three options, Mr. Bender gave us a small discount. :) We were able to have the inspection and wind mitigation done in the same day, and Bay Home took care of contacting a third party for our pest inspection. Normally, the pest inspection could have been done at the same time, but due to limited availability, we had to wait for an appointment on another day. The inspection reports were sent to us a couple of hours after the appointment. Our home inspection was about 10-12 pages, and included approximately 25 photos of the home and questionable areas. Our wind mitigation was also the same length, and included an additional 20 or so pictures of the roof. I can't say enough positive things about Mr. Bender and his company, Bay Home. You will be very satisfied if you choose him!

Michael was very quick to respond to my phone calls and emails, flexible with scheduling, and up-front about costs. Both the seller's agent and our buyer's agent were extremely impressed with how thorough Michael and his wife were- they spent several hours scouring the house for even the smallest areas of concern. Having not mentioned there was a crawlspace, we were unsure if we should pay extra for Michael to inspect it. Michael even was honest that he didn't expect there would be anything under there and he wasn't sure if it'd be worth our money, but we wanted to cover all of our bases and asked him to do it anyway. He was very flexible- suited up, spent an additional hour inspecting the crawlspace, and then spent a good 30 minutes explaining everything to us. We asked a lot of questions as first time home buyers, and we were very comfortable with Michael and his wife. Not only did they answer everything we asked in a way we could understand, they gave suggestions on what we could do to improve the home, and told us we could call them in the future if we had any questions or needed recommendations for other home projects.We received our inspection report the following day, and our wind mitigation report the day after. The wind mitigation report saved us over $1000 on our homeowners insurance premium! We were thrilled with Michael and his company. We will definitely recommend them to everyone we know!

‘Beyond Satisfaction’ is the phrase that comes to my mind to describe the performance of Bay Home Inspections’ Michael Bender and his assistant Jennifer. They gave absolutely clear estimates with elementary details over phone. They arrived right on time and completed the work in 2.5 hours. Michael went above and beyond in explaining everything in detail about the property, particularly on the specific questions I asked to learn more about it. Both of them worked diligently taking pictures and detailed notes. Michael is very knowledgeable and didn’t mind at all to spend as much time needed to explain things in detail to my satisfaction. He even fixed few problems with stoppers in bathroom sinks. His rates are extremely reasonable and certain items were covered free of cost as ‘thank you for the business’. When asked about his fees to do a re-inspection after certain things are fixed, he advised me against that as he thought, that would be a waste of my money as the problems weren’t as complicated to require a re-inspection. His report wasn’t due until two business days after the inspection but he delivered a very detailed report with everything in it within one business day including but not limited to pictures, problems, levels of seriousness, recommended remedy etc. I have nothing but praise for Bay Home Inspections on price, quality, experience, professionalism, responsiveness, and enjoyment. Bay Home Inspections has exceeded the value for money by many fold. Do not think twice to hire Bay Home Inspections if you ever need a home inspector.

Michael (and his wife) were extremely professional, punctual and friendly. They worked as a team to do a complete analysis of the house, inside and out, and they gave a web-based inspection result that was clear and easy to read as well as share with concerned parties. While most home inspectors might have done less than half of what these two did for us, when we purchased our home we knew EXACTLY what we were getting into. As a result, we were able to provide a list of concerns to the homeowners and get issues addressed long before closing. I would highly recommend this company to anyone in need of this type of stellar service.

We were moving into a new house and as usual were in a rush to get everything done in time for closing. We got this person from AL and Michael was able to do the work within a couple of days. We have used his report to guide a few of the things we needed done on the house after we moved in.

Wonderful. We really know what we are getting into with the house.

I definitely recommend Bay Home Inspection for all your home inspection needs.

Michael from Bay Home Inspection was great. He was very courteous, prompt and very thorough. Him and his partner showed up on time on a rainy day. They spent a good five hours scouring every nook and cranny of my soon to be new home. They inspected, the roof (although it was raining and the house is three stories tall), he inspected the pool, spa, dock and even seawall. He also did a wind mitigation. He seemed very knowledgeable. They inspected the home carefully and explained everything thoroughly. Michael walked with me for about 1/2 an hour around the house showing me the good and the ugly about the house. I am very impressed with Michael's professionalism and I am especially impressed with the way the report was delivered. He made a full report available to me online with detailed pictures and suggestions for repairs. Very comprehensive and clean. I have used several inspectors over the years and Michael from Bay Home Inspections is by far the best. If you need a home inspection look no further: Michael is your man.