Sunshine Home Inspection

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We were from out of town, looking for a property in East Carrollton for our children to live in while attending the universities in New Orleans. After finding a home we wanted to buy, we met our Realtor at her office to prepare a written offer to send to the seller. When we arrived at her office, and BEFORE we had even signed the Offer to Buy documents, our Realtor announced she had ALREADY booked our Home Inspection appointment for the following week with Gurtler Brothers Home Inspection Company. Tired and anxious to get started on our 6 hour drive back home, we didn't object to her choosing and booking our General Inspection Company. Only in retrospect did I see WHAT A MISTAKE it was to allow our Realtor to choose our General Home Inspector for us. The better way is for a Realtor to provide the buyer with a list of names of Home Inspectors to choose from. And Sunshine Inspection Company should be number one on that list. If you are a perspective home buyer in New Orleans (especially if you are unfamiliar with New Orleans real estate) and your Realtor does not provide a list of choices of Inspection Companies for you, but instead recommends just one Inspection Company, you will be taking a foolish risk to go with the Inspection Company the Realtor recommends (unless it is Sunshine Inspections). The General Inspector of your home is the ONLY person who, IF SKILLED and IF HONEST, is going to provide you with an in-depth objective analysis of the house you want to buy. For most of us, a home purchase is the biggest financial transaction and investment we will ever make . So we need to take Home Inspections seriously! It is THE MOST important part of the Home Buying process: Priority #1. We should be zealous & scrupulous about exactly who is doing the Home Inspection: what his credentials are, what his potential "conflicts of interest"are, and what kind of "references " he can provide to us before we give him the job the job of our pre-purchase home inspection. Public online reviews are the best references a General Inspection Company can furnish to a prospective home buyer. To ensure with absolute certainty that your General Inspection is objective and complete, do NOT use an Inspection Company recommended by your Realtor (unless it is Sunshine Inspection). Your Realtor's recommendation to you of a General Inspection Co. is NOT a "reference". It's a referral that you should disregard. Do not be swayed by your Realtor telling you that he or she has referred hundreds of people over many years to a particular Inspection Company and everyone has been happy with it. Choosing the company that is going to do your General Inspection is NOT a job to outsource to anyone, ESPECIALLY your Realtor. Realtors are trained & prepared to help people buy and sell homes, NOT to serve as a "Clearinghouses" of Inspection, Contractors and other kinds of referrals. Get an Inspection Company by finding one on your own. Get an Inspection company who does not even know who your Realtor is when you are hire him. If you are grown up enough to buy a home, you have the ability to find an Inspection Company on your own and do not need to depend on your Realtor for this KEY person in your home buying process. Go online to read reviews, like Angie's List, or Google Reviews and let other consumers guide you, not your realtor. Respect the importance of your General Inspection. According to our Contract to Buy, like all buyers, we had a period of time (of "due diligence") to have Inspections done on this house we wanted, before closing on it. During this "due diligence" period, we, like all buyers who sign a standard home purchase contract, had the right to terminate the Contract (without even giving the seller a reason), if we changed our minds about buying it due to what we discover through the inspections. Our Realtor had set the Inspection Appointments up for TEN DAYS out from the day we sent our Offer to the seller. This TEN DAY delay ATE into the critical time of our "Due Diligence" period. Based on this house-we-wanted-to-buy's-appearance, we assumed it had no major problems that the Inspection would uncover, and so we waited out this 10 days without concern about using up our critical "due diligence" time---which was the ONLY TIME PERIOD we would ever have TO CHANGE OUR MINDS about buying this $326,000 home we had chosen; the only time we could walk away from the deal by canceling the contract. Our Realtor was telling us it was a good buy, a good house. We didn't know that General Inspection companies can come out to do inspections in less than 10 days. But when I finally woke up and decided it would be a good idea to get a second Inspection after Gurtler Brothers Inspection, I found Sunshine on Angie's List, and Sunshine Inspection went out to do this second inspection the next day (less than 24 hours) after I called them! This prompt service from Sunshine was a life saver for us, because, by the time I realized we had MAJOR problems with this beautiful looking home, our "Due Diligence" period (when we could get out of the contract to buy this problem-filled home) had almost run out! During our Realtor-Recommended Gurtler General Home Inspection, the Gurtler Inspector talked briefly from time to time with us while doing his Inspection, told us that "overall" it looked like a "great" home, promised us his complete written report by email within two days, and said that if we had any followup questions after we received & read his report, we could ONLY email questions to him, and NOT talk by phone to him at all. It was not until FIVE DAYS LATER (not the 2 days promised) that we received the emailed written Gurtler Inspection Report! A 5-day turnaround time for a General Inspection report may be the norm for Gurtler Brothers Inspection Company, but 2-3 days is the customary time. After waiting for 4 days for this Gurtler Report, we noticed that although we were told we could NOT get our questions answered by phone, some other printed materials of Gurtler's said we were free to call our Inspector anytime after the inspection and as much as we needed to. So I called their office to ask just this one question: WHEN is our General Inspection Report going to be sent to us ? (because we are running out of our "Due Diligence" time). All I got was a voicemail recording telling me to leave a message, which I did. No one from Gurtler's ever called me back. On the other hand, Sunshine's Inspection Report was emailed to us in less than 24 hours after the Inspection was done, & Thomas Kelting of Sunshine told me of a major problem he discovered BEFORE he even left the property after the inspection. Thomas had an in depth phone conversation with my husband the next day, about one hour after we received his emailed Inspection Report, answering all of my husband's questions with great care and conscientiousness. Compared to Gurtler's Report, THE SUNSHINE INSPECTION REPORT WAS MORE THOROUGH, HAD BETTER PICTURES, CONTAINED MORE IMPORTANT & SUBSTANTIAL INFORMATION, AND WAS BETTER ORGANIZED WHICH MADE FOR EASIER READING AND UNDERSTANDING OF THE INFORMATION, THAN THE GURTLER INSPECTION REPORT. Sunshine Inspection Report informed us of ACTIVE (HOT) knob and tube wiring in this home. Sunshine told us about the risks of having this type of active wiring: electrocution, fire. Gurtler Report said "there is knob and tube wiring but it is INACTIVE." Sunshine even included a clear picture of the red hot wire glowing in the dark! We decided that this home, with $30,000-$40,000 worth of repairs needed (discovered through Sunshine Inspection Report, our Termite Inspection, and a Foundation Repair Specialist whom I hired to give me an estimate) was too much for us to handle on top of the $326,000 purchase price. We proceeded to exercise our contractual right to cancel our contract to buy that house, just before our time to do so was about to run out. Thanks to Thomas at Sunshine we were saved from a very bad real estate purchase. We got a new realtor (whom I trust and like as much as I do Thomas Kelting at Sunshine). My new Realtor-Traci Kessler at Dwell Realty in Metarie). -Carol Layman, Attorney at Law, Licensed to practice Law in Texas and Oklahoma

Since I recently inherited an older double shotgun house in the Marigny, I wanted a full home inspection done to know what required attention. I contacted Sunshine Inspections after searching through Angie's List. Mr. Keitling showed up well in advance to the scheduled time to begin the inspection early. He recommended that I follow him throughout the entire process, if I had the time, so he could explain absolutely everything in detail - this alone was worth the price paid! He explained everything, told me what I could fix/improve on my own or what I should have contracted out. He was extremely professional, documented everything with audio notes, took plenty of pictures, and used his iPad to ensure everything was covered. He took almost 5 hours to evaluate the entire double shotgun house! Later that night around 9pm, I received a PDF document with all of his notes, pictures, and comments. Highly recommended!

Thomas arrived at the property before the scheduled appointment, and he had already performed 80% of the inspection of the exterior of the property. Once I had arrived, he informed me of the various issues that he had come across. Once he finished the exterior, he went into each unit and performed a comprehensive inspection. Fortunately, he did not find any major issues. However, he found many small-medium sized issues that I proposed to the seller in the buyer's inspection response. I'm glad that I found him on Google, as he did an excellent job for a good price. Also, I highly recommend adding the optional Pipe Scope services as well. Those individuals found a significant issue with the pipes that, luckily for me, the buyer is willing to fix.

The job was done exceptionally. He went over and above to make sure everything was inspected, working or noted in the report. He explained the entire process and findings with me personally and in his report. He acted truly independent from any builder or contractor so if you want a true report on a property, I'd recommend them.

As I sais, he came on time and met my son. I live out of town so I was not there. But my son stayed the whole time and was very pleased with the service. Plus, I got the report I think within one day so I was very happy.

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My husband and I are moving long distance to New Orleans, so we were not able to be there for the inspection. However, the level of detail in the report and the inspector's willingness to talk with us about his findings and suggestions made me very comfortable. I would definitely recommend Sunshine Home Inspection

Went great. He was punctual and performed a proper home inspection. He was able to tell the grade of the foundation and condition of the roof. He noted some problems in the house (one of them pretty significant). It didn't seem at all as if he was simply going through the motions.

Thomas answered the first time I called and was very nice and friendly. He was able to schedule an inspection two days later, much sooner than other companies I called. He arrived on time, was extremely personable, took his time explaining everything through the inspection, and gave us a detailed report with photos in less than 24 hours. Would definitely recommend to friends.

Very positive experience - thorough inspection, great level of detail and discretionary effort. Inspector showed up early and got to work. He caught me up on everything he had already inspected when I arrived. He was exceptionally knowledgable, professional, and friendly. I will use this inspection company again in the future and would recommend to others.

It took him nearly 2 hours. It was a thorough inspection. He was very professional and dedicated. I got my money's worth, may be 100 times more. Thank you Mr. Kelting.

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Thomas was great. The price that he charged for the inspection was about $200 less than the inspection that I had on my last home. He charged $450 for an inspection on a 220 sq ft, two-story home. I also had him do a mold test (for an extra charge). He did the inspection on a Sunday, which was much easier for me than taking time off from work to do the inspection. He also arrived early, so I wouldn't have to wait around while he looked at the exterior of my house. He explained things so that they were easy to understand and his report was also easy to understand and came with pictures, which was great. I've emailed him a couple of times since the report was done with questions about the house and he followed up with me and provided good tips and useful information.

To begin, Mr. Kelting arrived early to get started with the process, thus saving me valuable time. He performed a very detailed and quality job in a timely manner. Mr. Kelting was very professional throughout the entire process. He was very knowledgeable on all aspects of the home inspection. I would recommend him to anyone seeking a home inspection.

The inspection went great. Thomas was very accommodating to our time constraints and was thorough and professional. He inspected every corner of the house, explaining everything he found along the way. After accommodating our last min appointment, he arrived early and even worked through a steady rain!. The accompanying inspection report (which usually takes days to get) was received in-full the next evening. The entire staff was courteous and helpful. Pricing was competitive- though I would've paid more to know I'm receiving quality service that I got here. I have and will continue to highly recommend this company .

Mr. Kelting was very easy to work with. His inspection report, which was sent the same day as the inspection, was extremely thorough and easy to understand. He was very easy to reach by phone and was more then willing to discuss the report and any questions I had after the inspection had been completed. I would highly recommend Sunshine Home Inspection.

Mr. Thomas was very professional, prompt and knowledgeable. He was available over the phone and email and even came out the day after Thanksgiving and did an excellent job. He was very thorough pointing out every detail, above and beyond what I could've thought of. His report was detailed and delivered within two hours of the inspection - included pictures and all we talked about during the inspection. He checked the roof, the attic and even under the property. I feel confident in the suggestions he made.Honest, efficient, very pleasant and fair price. Could not be more satisfied with the service. Definitely recommend Sunshine Home Inspection!

Sunshine home inspection prompt with the time. Excellent job with expecting my home and gave some good pointers on things to fix in the home and how to do it. He was very knowledgeable and professional. What a great job for the price. I would highly recommend Sunshine for any home inspection and I will use them in the future. Couldn't be any better!