Domicile Consulting LLC

Extremely detailed and thorough.

On time and very thorough.

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We signed a contract on our new home on Sunday, and I needed to have a home inspection performed quickly. I called Domicile on Monday, and they were able to perform the home inspection the following day. Chris was the inspector. He arrived early to the appointment and reviewed the contract with me. He then got to work. He spent almost 4 hours inspecting the home, providing me thorough updates along the way. He was polite, professional, extremely knowledgeable, and incredibly patient as he explained the home's issues to me (over the whining/crying of my two small children). He then provided me with an extemely detailed report and summary with many pictures pinpointing the issues. This will be a very useful document that I plan on using over the next few months as I start to address the issues in the home. He was FANTASTIC. I selected Domicile after reading some of the reports on Angie's List, and I was not disappointed. Chris made the inspection process a breeze. I highly recommend him. Fabulous!!

Ross was great. We are first-time homebuyers, and Ross made the inspection process very easy. He thoroughly inspected every room in the house and gave us helpful tips along the way.

My husband and I were looking to buy an 1898 brick fixer-upper and asked Daniel Cullen to inspect it for us. He was very thorough and found a number of things that needed work (as we expected, given the age of the house). He was very punctual and professional, and we respected his assessment of the house. Based on his inspection, we did decide to buy the house, but we felt like we knew exactly what we were getting into. His online reporting and payment system is also very convenient. We were very pleased with every aspect of the experience with Domicile Consulting.

We asked Dan Cullen at Domicile to perform a full inspection of our three-unit condo building. We primarily wanted some outside, objective guidance on how to deal with masonry/waterproofing issues but we also wanted the inspection done in order to help us build a "to-do" list of future projects. Dan did a walk through of the entire property with all three condo owners and then prepared a 16-page written report for us complete with pictures. It was a great learning experience for all of us and the report will help us with getting bids and working with potential service providers.

Without a doubt, whether purchasing a home or looking to have major repairs done, the level of detail provided by Domicile and Ross is extremely helpful. Simply, you should NOT make any major decisions without calling up these guys.

Ross arrived on time for the appointment. After taking a look around the condo and looking at my heating & air conditioning unit, he said a full energy audit would be overkill for me and he didn't want to sell me something I didn't need. (He also declined to charge me for his visit.) He was certain that airflow was my only real issue, and he recommended a local HVAC company. (I subsequently hired the company he recommended to replace my HVAC unit, and couldn't have been more pleased with their work.) A few weeks later, Ross followed up with me by e-mail to see how things were going and whether I needed anything further.

He came out initially just to say hello and give the condo board a quick overview of the building. We liked what he had to say and contracted him for the work after speaking with many other inspectors. The work was done on-time and we ended up paying less than we expect, which was a treat. Afterwards, he was available for additional consultation and actually brought by a masonry contractor that he knows at a later date at no extra charge to give us an estimate on some work that needs to be completed.

We recently purchased an old home in Wilmette and all I've ever heard about old homes were how drafty and energy inefficient they are. Plus, I have an interest in "environmentally friendly" products and was interested to find out more about energy efficent items such as tankless water heaters, solar power, etc. I worked with Ross Neag and he was a pleasure to work with. He promptly returned any emails/phone calls and you could tell he really loved doing his job. He was prompt, professional and really took the time to throughly walk through the house (several times) to find things, including an inspection of our basement crawl space which our building inspector hadn't even done. He did the inspection on a Thursday and by Monday I had a detailed report indicating that, while our home didn't have any major problems (bad boiler, leaky windows, etc.) there were many small areas that were taking away the heat/air conditioning from our house. He even pointed out a building inspection item or two. What I really liked about it was that he did this detailed report, but there was no "hard sell' to do things such as buy new air conditioners, etc. They just point out things such as areas of poor insulation, cracks that can be sealed, airtight recessed can inserts, etc. that will help prevent energy loss. Ross then followed up with another home visit just to go over the findings and make sure that I understood anything. He sent me a list of recommended contractors for some of the items we need to do, but was also honest in telling us that we can do some of the things such as sealing cracks ourselves.

It was amazing! We learned so much about our house. Ross Neag of Domicile could not present himself in a more genuine, honest and professional way. He performed several tests on our house, used sophisticated equipment to see within our walls and was thorough at looking at house. Afterward, Ross sat down with us and explained his findings. He did so in a very positive way and was practical with his advise. We learned: Our appliances eat up much more energy than what new appliance would. We have an entire wall without insulation which is both a place to lose energy and is also a risk of fire spread from the basement to the 2nd floor. Our home after the inspection had little pieces of blue tape everywhere that indicated a place of energy loss. Many were easy fixes. As a result of his findings, we replaced our appliances, filled our empty wall with insulation, took care of the little fixes ourselves. We believe we have done what's necessary to qualify for energy star rated not to mention the piece of mind that comes with doing our little part to save energy. I would suggest to all homeowners that you have an energy audit. You'll learn a ton about your home and how it works. I would further suggest hiring Domicile and Ross Neag to perform the work. You won't find more caring individuals in this industry. I really felt that they had my best interest in mind. The entire engagement was a joy, educational, worth every penny and suggested for anyone that cares about their home and wants to take good care of their investment.

I wish I had hired (or known about) Dan at the time I bought my place a few years ago. Like many eager first-time buyers, I had enlisted my realtor's home inspection contact, a larger, well-known Chicago operation (that starts with an "I"), which spent less time on inspecting my entire place, charged more than double and identified only very superficial issues. Our condo building was experiencing water leakage in certain spots. I was very impressed with Dan's responsiveness, thoroughness and the value of his work. He walked all three of us condo owners around the building, providing thoughtful comments and suggestions while educating us on roofing and masonry work. It's clear that he's been in the business a long time and knows when he sees quality vs. shoddy workmanship. He's very knowledgable about city standards and the frequent short-cuts condo builders are taking these days. Throughout the entire two hours he spent with us, he carefully took notes and pictures to document problem areas that needed to be addressed. He brought with him, a whole set of tools, including a moisture sensor that highlighted damp areas within walls. Within a week after his visit, we received a highly-detailed report complete with carefully marked color photos, which I was able to pass to candidates for the resulting masonry and roofing work. His report became a quick measure for assessing candidates, and I believe gave us the ability to set expectations with these vendors. What I really appreciate was his bottomless patience for our follow-up questions through phone and email, his courtesy, thoughtfulness and responsiveness as we asked him questions about pricing (how one vendor priced vs. another), product detail, questions to ask vendors, etc. He always told us to never hesitate to contact him to weigh in. In addition, he spoke to our vendors and helped us "translate" technical terminology. We received Dan's name through a masonry company we hired. Many of the vendors we interviewed were familiar with his work. When I receive outstanding and quality service like this--which is hard to come by, I will continue to be a loyal customer. Like any other good service provider for larger investments, trust is important and securing long-term relationships are key. I have recommended Dan to my friends and know when I buy a home next year, there's no question I'll hire him. I highly recommend Dan to home buyers and those in need of major repair. For a reasonable fee, get a sense of security, recommendations for how to apply your dollars on repairs, and better appreciation for craftsmanship of your home. He's probably a builder's nightmare, but gives home owners peace of mind.

We discovered that our condo had a water leak that was likely due to masonry issues. We received numerous quotes that were all across the board in terms of scope and fees. Not being masons ourselves, we were unsure of how to proceed. Our real estate agent suggested that we bring Domicile Consulting in to help us understand the quotes and guide us through the process. That turned out to be the best thing we could've done. They examined our roof and masonry and then reviewed all of the quotes. Fortunately, the least expensive quote was the quote that they said was the most appropriate for our building. All of the other quotes didn't address the problem and would've cost us $5k to $20k more. They also brought their infrared camera and told us that we had a water problem in another corner of our place that needed to get fixed, which sure enough was wet when we tore the drywall out. We have since had our masonry repaired by the company they suggested and we have not noticed a water problem since.

Very well. Ross found us a lot of buildings within our parameters, was very straightforward, no hard-sell. We weren't able to find something in our price range, and then work got too busy to do any more site visits. We plan to call him again when things slow down. Ross was a sharp contrast from our previous realtor, a guy named Ira Becker, who was terrible. Ira was a hard-seller who almost talked us into giving him money down on a building we couldn't afford and couldn't get a loan for. Ross gave us exactly what we asked for, and we expect to make a purchase through him in the near future.

I can say with 100% certainty that I was completely satisfied with the work of Domicile Consulting. Dan Cullen was a true professional and went out of his way to provide the best report possible. I felt he was extremely knowledgeable and very attentive to small details that the average person doesn't notice. After reading his reports and evaluating the problems, I felt extremely confident that I was making a smart decision and that I had full knowledge of the problems I might encounter. His inspection didn't just tell me what was wrong right now, it told me what the trouble areas may be 3 years from now. In addition to being a true professional, Dan was also a very good guy. I felt very comfortable working with him and had no problems at any time asking him questions. When making such an important decision, it is nice to have a person like Dan looking out for your best interests. I would recommend Dan to anyone buying a new home and I will certainly use him again if/when I buy a new home.

Dan was recommended to us by a friend. He was incredibly thorough, detailed reports and photos. Very professional in all aspects.

Dan came out and immediately began inspecting the outside of the building pointing out both good points and points of concern. He was very knowledgeable of items above and beyond what most inspectors are licensed for. Ironically he pointed out concerns on the outside that would lead to potential problems on the inside, and when we went inside there was evidence of the specific problem he pointed out.

Dan is our hero. Thanks to his eye opening comments, we did not buy the house and consider the fee for his service the best money spent in the entire home buying process. His manner is knowledgeable and professional, straight-forward and hands-on. His website supports his professional attitude with a bit of bio and it allows you to view his availability and schedule an inspection, as well as pay for it by credit card if you prefer. He answered all of our questions without making us feel stupid or naive and gave us good ballpark estimations for what we could expect to spend on repairs. His report contained a photo for almost every line item. As an added bonus, he allowed us to video him while he worked and gave us explanations.

From being able to schedule online at Dan's website to getting excellent report with plenty of supporting photographs it was a pleasure working with Dan. On this property Dan focused on only the major building items I was concerned about. I appreciated this flexibility.

Our overall experience was wonderful! He arrived on time and promptly responded to phone calls. Dan was very thorough, provided detailed descriptions and advice as he conducted his inspection, and provided a very detailed report that included digital photos. Later, I contacted him for more advice on home maintenance and service providers, and he was very willing to provide additional information. He was worth every penny and more!!