SCOTT HOME SVC INC

Doug showed up, shook hands and greeted us warmly, then got right to work. He patiently and calmly walked us through literally every set of cracks, every misalignment, every anomalous feature of the home and yard, and explained in detail what they meant. Then we went inside. In each room, he spent time connecting a mistake or error made to a problem you could see, like the fact that the crawlspace wasn't properly sealed led to warping of the floors. Most amazingly, he didn't write down a thing while he went over the house with us, but at the end he took pictures of everything he discussed and not a thing was missing from the thorough report. For him, the story is so obvious from even the pictures and what he recalls that he can reconstruct a report quickly and easily. In 2 hours, we learned more about a 2000 square foot house than we believed possible for a lay person to understand, and it put us in a great negotiating position to have the seller complete repairs that could have become major annoyances for us down the line. You don't have to act on every single thing he points out; we went through his report and categorized things as "cosmetic or optional improvements", "future problems you'll deal with in any house", "opportunities for price concessions", and "seller needs to fix now". While Doug Scott can test your electrical outlets and make sure every detail of the house is working, that's not why you should hire him. If you want someone to just go down a checklist there are cheaper inspectors. However, I feel confident that this is the best money we will have spent on the home purchase; Doug gets to the heart of what is wrong with a house, both in the short and long term, and helps you put it into perspective so that you can make an informed decision. Doug works for you; not the seller, not your buyer's agent, and not anyone else in the transaction. In the end, you need him in your corner. Use him.