Bay Area Home Inspections

Overall extremely pleased with Dean Alm's service, would recommend and/or use again in the future in the Napa area. From our first contact, Dean was very communicative and first reached out to us by telephone and then was very responsive in subsequent communication via email. Scheduling was straightforward/flexible and I appreciate that he only tries to do 1 home inspection per day so he can be at his best/use his full attention at each job. He took a zillion photos and documented every little detail of the house and forwarded those immediately after the inspection. We were very pleased with the 14 page report and it was issued 2 days after the inspection, so that was a nice turnaround time /exactly within expectations. Report is clear and well documented with photos and detailed explanations.

I'm in a bit of a rush to determine everything I need to do to sell my first home, and ended up calling based on a reference from a realtor, emailing just in case I had the wrong number, and using Angie's List to contact Frank Casillas not realizing that it was the same person that had been recommended to me. Despite what must have seemed a ridiculous amount of contact, Frank was pleasant and was able to confirm an appointment with me for about one week after we spoke on the phone. On the day of the inspection, Frank arrived promptly as scheduled and let me know how the process would go. He let me follow him around and answered any questions I asked about what he was doing, and when I asked for his opinion on a few things he was quick to give it. Before he left, he wrote down his notes and talked through them with me. I really appreciated it when Frank pointed out that while he was recommending several repairs and upgrades, the important thing to remember was disclosure -- there are very few things I need to do to legally sell the house as long as I disclose any issues to the buyer. I have a low budget and tight time frame, so it was refreshing to realize that although a real estate agent might urge you to make serious renovations to sell at a higher price, that does not make sense for me. Common sense when you think about it, but this is my first home-selling rodeo and it was nice to be informed about my options. The following day, I received the detailed report via email, complete with color photos. If I'm able to make any of the improvements/repairs that he suggests, I can arrange for him to come back out to reinspect. Overall it was a really easy and painless experience, and well worth the money to know what condition my house is in (and that my ex-husband was wrong about pretty much everything...perhaps I should have paid Frank more!).

Frank Casillas was available within only 3 days of my call. He and assistant arrived right on time the day of. They were a very efficient, courteous and professional team. They were here for nearly 3 hours and walked me along through each aspect of the inspection. When I was with one of them and the other saw something specvific I needed to see they used their little two way radio to call me to that part of the house. They made suggestions and recommendations for ways to go about some needed repairs and pointed out things I would have been totally unaware of. Frank has also made himself available to consult on details from the final report. I was very impressed with the thoroughness of the report, excellent color photos and it was available online as a 65 page pdf in one day. The cost was very fair and Frank even took a look at the little outbuilding in our backyard, which he did not have to do. I would highly recommend this company for a new buyer or for current owners to get a full understanding of what is going on with their home.

Overall, it went very well. They were very patient and they explained the details throughout the inspection. They provided the inspection report in less than 24 hours.

Frank was there on time and very thorough. He warmly invited both of us to trail behind him and ask any questions. He patiently explained why he was doing what he was doing, what he found and why it was good or a potential problem. He answered all our questions and provided recommendations for potential solutions. Frank's written report with pictures was delivered via email the next morning. Frank also provided references for other contractors which we have used and found to be very informative and sharing. Frank continues to be available for any questions that we have and we appreciate his attitude, knowledge and guidance.

I should disclaim that this is the first time my husband and I have ever been close enough to purchasing a home to order an inspection (we've been shopping for more than 12 months). We used friend's referrals to find them. We needed the inspection in a hurry because we wanted it before going into contract on this as-is house (we wanted to know what we were getting ourselves into). They were able to squeeze us in in two days. Frank and Jeff performed the inspection. They were at the house before we were and promptly introduced themselves. They were polite, courteous and very thorough. We walked through the inspection with them and they took their time explaining what they saw and what was going on the report. They let us climb the ladder to see the attic for ourselves and were very patient with us first-timers. The report was e-mailed to us promptly in PDF format and included the photos they took. This has been particularly helpful as we shop lenders. We called them back with a question a few weeks after the inspection and they remembered us and the house and were happy to answer the question. Due to the state of the house, we've had a few additional inspections done and nobody has been able to find something they missed. They also gave us a discount as it was the first time they had worked with our real estate agent. We feel we got our money worth from this inspection and if the deal falls through and we need another inspection, we will use them again.