AMERICAN HOME CONSULTANTS

I really hate giving this guy an F. He was punctual for both the inspection and reinspection and he seemed like a nice guy. However, I would not have bought this house were it not for his thumbs up. He was on the recommendation list provided by Coldwell Banker. He recommended reinforcement bolts on the deck and that the roof be re-membraned. Which the sellers did. So that was helpful. So he clearly knows what he's doing. The thing is, he spent a mere 45 minutes for 4 levels (a basement and 3 floors). I later find out an inspector should spend 30 min to an hour per level. He took 10 minutes on the reinspection, in which he checked if the sellers complied with the recommendations. I basically paid him over $12 a minute. A minute. To ok a house I regret buying. When we inspected the basement, there was water on the floor. I asked if this was a big deal. He said no, it should be an easy fix. I wish. These leaks have been the bane of my existence. I would not have bought this house had I known how bad it was. There were lots of other little things. A lot. But those are minor. The big blow was the basement. I should have known the house had more problems than the inspector found when the sellers accepted the request list the same day I sent it to them. Folks, find an inspector who are thorough and earns their pay.

The overall experience was awful, and it cost considerable time, money and heartache. We hired American Home Consultants (AHC) as they were recommended to us by our Real Estate broker, and as this was our first home purchase we accepted his advice. We actually used AHC twice - they first inspected a home that we bid on but did not end up buying. The inspectors showed up on time on both occasions with an impressive amount of gadgets on their belts - lasers, gauges, and tools. After the inspection of the home we received a detailed report of the status of the home. Overall, it was a very positive report, I still have it. It pointed out only minor things to repair or keep an eye on in the near future. Everything else was marked as "good". After we moved in, so many things went wrong - from the first day on. Things that a so-called "home inspector" should have EASILY been able to diagnose, I have now come to learn. Let me list all of things that went bad within 6 months: - on our FIRST shower, we found out that the 2nd floor shower drain leaked directly into the kitchen! (the bathroom is right above the kitchen). Water was dripping right through the can lights in the ceiling. We later learned that whole shower install was done by an amateur. It was fraught with problems in the drain and base that could have been detected, simply by pushing down on it. - the steam boiler that heats our home was cracked (we found out it was a pre-existing condition by the heating company who fixed it), it had to be replaced during a cold fall. There were signs of leakage and rust right in the casing of the unit. We had 3 days of no heat in November. Lucky pipes did not freeze. - the water heater was improperly installed and had to be replaced when the gas hookup was cracked. A PSEG technician who was randomly inspecting the neighborhood detected the leak with a special gun from outside our home! Boy were we surprised when he rang our bell out of nowhere! He hung a red tag on the water heater and shut it off. We thank God for him. - There was a newly installed slop sink in the basement, where the washing machine empties into it. On one of our first loads of laundry it backed up and gallons of water came rushing out onto the floor. A good rug was destroyed, several moving boxes got wet, and some panelling had to be taken off the walls. The plumber who fixed the sink said that the piping installed underneath the sink was wrong in every way, "done by a moron," he said. There was no elbow and the piping was strait and went uphill. It was sealed only with plumbers putty, not a bolt. This ridiculous situation would clearly have been detected by any halfway decent inspector. - There are other little problems throughout the house that are not as major, but still should have been pointed out. For example, there are several power outlets that are upside down. Three radiator valves leaked so bad that they had to be replaced, and here again there was enough evidence on the floor that the valves had been leaking. The gas BBQ in the back yard had been filled with charcoal briquettes and used in an inappropriate way, all of the internal gas components were melted and destroyed. It is hard to believe after reading all of that, but the house looked great, especially to inexperienced home owners like us. These issues were all not obvious to an untrained eye. "Untrained" being the key word there. We have come to understand that many of the issues were caused by the seller of the home. In an effort to make the house presentable for sale, the sellers tried to make many improvements and did these things themselves to save money, rather than hiring professionals. They knew the problems and covered them, deviously. But this situation is exactly what a trained inspector should be looking for. Exactly. Why else would they exist? I called AHC on numerous occasions about all of the problems we experienced and all of the issues they missed. They only had one reply and they said it over and over again - "we're not liable for any of our work, just look at the contract." Not even an apology. I have photos of everything I described above and can back that up with receipts for all of the contractors who had to come and fix everything. I cannot tell you how difficult that year was for us. Just imagine that we moved into our fist house that we had saved for years to buy - we put every penny we had into the down-payment. Coming up with additional funds to fix all of these problems - problems that should have been avoided - was a terrible burden to say the least. We still carry debt from it. Additionally, three weeks after moving in we had our first child. So it was difficult to have periods of no water, no heat, no washing machine with an infant in the house. We spend all of money on repairs and could not afford to furnish and decorate our new home. Our time was spent fixing, or in my case working an extra job to help meet the bills. I should have been home with my family. Please do not hire American Home Consultants, I implore you, they are crooks. Home inspections are required by law, and AHC has used that requirement as an opportunity to steal easy money. They are certainly not experts in every single facet of home constructions as they claim to be, in fact, quite the contrary. The only other piece advice I can give to first time home buyers - I have now learned that HVAC, Plumbing and Electrical contractors will also do home inspections for reasonable prices. If you have any specific concerns, please reach out to them because they are the real experts and will help you stay out of trouble. Spend a little upfront to save a ton later, trust me. I am happy to provide any additional information at your request.