HOMESPEK HOME INSPECTION SERVICES

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Overall, I was not impressed. I'll get to that part later. To begin, our inspector was Mark. He showed up early and began the inspection prior to my arrival on site. He was professional the entire time. He seemed to possess good knowledge of the inspection process. The inspection was an easy one since the property was on a slab, and it ended earlier than I had anticipated. In truth, it felt a little rushed. My fiancand eacute;e, myself and my Realtor followed Mark around asking questions throughout the entire inspection. He responded well to questions. Although the seller had listed that the chimney was in need of repair, Mark, a self-proclaimed chimney guy, said that we had no visible issue with the chimney. He also found several little things that we would not have been able to notice on our own. He briefly inspected the septic system on the property. It failed the flow test and he recommended that we have a septic company come out for further evaluation. After the inspection was complete, we sat down with Mark and filled out the required paperwork.. Mark promised that he would have the report to us by Sunday; however, it wasn't until Wednesday that we actually received it. This is where my frustration began. I called Homespek on Monday to find out where the report was. They said that they haven't been in contact with Mark, but that they will give him a call to find out what was going on. I never heard back from him or the company. I called again on Tuesday to inquire about the report. Again, they said that the inspectors mail the reports from their home computers and that they do not have access to the reports. The secretary said that she was going to give Mark a call again and tell him to call me. He never called. My Realtor sent him an inquiry emphasizing the necessity of this report. Neither Mark nor the office responded. I called them again on Wednesday for the third day in a row to find out what was going on with the report. A different secretary told me that they told Mark to call me. She apologized for him not contacting me over the past two days. She then informed me that she "can't force Mark to call me." Upset with this unprofessionalism, I told her that I was unhappy and that I wanted the report immediately. She said that she is going to find out what was going on. Thankfully, I received the report around noon. I don't understand what the delay in the report was. I also don't understand why this company cannot get in touch with their employees. As a professional, Mark should have responded sooner. Also, the office staff should have a tighter reign over their employees. Because of the whole report situation, I would not recommend Homespek in the future.

Mark arrived on time (he was, in fact, a bit early and proceeded to take a look at the exterior prior to our arrival with his snowshoes on). The house and yard were snow covered, so he was not able to inspect parts of the exterior. However, he has indicated that he is going to go by the home again shortly to check on the rest of the exterior. If this does occur and I receive images and information for all of the areas that were marked as incomplete due to snow cover, I'll likely bump the overall experience to an "A." I was around with Mark the entire time and he answered all of my questions as we went. He provided a number of insights about our home and his subsequent report included pictures and recommendations for the issues found. I also sent a list of about a dozen questions to Homespek via email, ranging from what downspout drainage he would recommend to whether we need insulation between our refrigerator and range, and he responded within a couple days. The main negative of the experience is that the person doing the radon test was late (I believe she did not arrive until the next day), which held up that report, but I didn't need to speak with them regarding radon anyway. Minor negatives are that I felt like the inspection might have gone slightly quickly (~2 hours for a 1756 sq ft home--I was expecting closer to 3 hours, though he didn't seem to be zipping through anywhere) and the report could have been a bit more thorough (the recommendations were a little vague in spots, which is why I sent the follow-up email that was answered satisfactorily).

I would not use this company again. They did provide the services requested, but the employees were rude, didn't respond promptly (or at all) to emails or phone calls and I had great difficulty obtaining copies of the inspection reports I paid for. Also, the inspector showed up several hours late for the inspection (but did call to say he was late, to his credit). Overall, the attitude of the employees seemed to be that they were doing me a favor by providing this service, rather than treating me as a paying customer. I was unimpressed by this lack of professionalism and poor attitude.

Homespek inspector Jesse Perry was very resposnive and professional, providing a detailed report with many pictures describing problem areas--this was especially important because I am an out-of state purchaser of the property. He also spent more than an hour discussing the report and findings with me, and provided several contacts to perform needed repairs. While his cost was higher than other inspectors recommended to me, I was very satisfied with the high quality report, insights, and recommendations Jesse provided.