HomePro Inspections

Run away from this company!!! Home Pro Inspections of Jacksonville Florida has provided me with the single most negative customer experience I have ever had. I hired Home Pro to inspect a house I was in the process of buying. The house was being sold “as is” so I needed to understand everything going on in the house to be certain of any issues. During the inspection, conducted by Jeffrey Smith, I called out specifically wood dust that was in the lanai. My real estate agent also asked about the dust. I wanted to know what was causing it and was it something to be concerned about. Jeff inspected the dust and concluded it presented no sign of termites and was therefore “Nothing to worry about.” That is a direct quote. The inspection concluded and I ended up buying the house. After a month or so I was in the process of removing the roof on the lanai when I came upon a massive infestation of Carpenter Ants in exactly the spot where the wood dust had accumulated. Ultimately, I would learn this infestation compromised an entire wall of the house. I have had the wall repaired, the house has been sprayed extensively to remove all the ants, but there is still interior work such as rewiring, sheet rock and finish work to be completed. I estimate the costs of fully rectifying this damage will be in excessive of $25,000. I contacted Home Pro about the infestation immediately upon discovering it. Their website and my interaction with Jeff had suggested that Home Pro was fully insured against these types of issues. I spoke to Mr. Ryan Wagner at Home Pro. He refused to come back out and inspect the damage. On the basis of one email he concluded that Home Pro was without liability and would in no way help. He told me I could perhaps recover the costs of having a company come to deal with the infestation. That had already been accomplished by Nadar’s, an excellent local company. That was the extent of what Home Pro was prepared to do I went through my agent and real estate broker at Watson Reality, another excellent local company, asking them to reach out to the owner of the company Wally Conway. Apparently, Wally told the Watson broker that my only recourse against Home Pro was to take them to court. In subsequent direct communication between myself and Wally I informed him that it was not too late for him to do the right thing. But if he failed to face up to the fact that his company utterly failed me in identifying a huge issue with my house, I would be compelled to warn other consumers of the deficiencies of Home Pro and its dealings. I informed him that I would carry this to the pages of Google Review, Angie’s list, among others, and that I would let every real estate agent I could contact know how shoddily his company was acting. I was then informed by Mr. Wagner that I should apply for relief under the insurance program offered by Residential Warranty Services. I had reviewed the RWS policy associated with my inspection previously. It had clearly carved out inspector oversight/failure as an uninsurable claim type. Basically, their warranty was for incursions/issues post-inspection. I received a phone call from Mr. Lane Clegg from RWS Insurance asking me to make a claim for compensation. I pointed out that his company’s insurance did not cover the circumstance. He acknowledged this but urged me to apply regardless. I received that same day a letter from Mr. Mark Cohen a lawyer in Boulder Colorado who identified himself as “Special Council” for RWS and a legal advisor of sorts for Wally and Home Pro. In this letter Mr. Cohen threatened me with a defamation suit if I in any way spoke out about my experience with Wally or Home Pro. He cited two cases PETE SESSA & ASSOCIATES v. BRENDA SCHAFFER and ANGIES LIST, as well as CRAIG PECH, ERIE INSURANCE EXCHANGE v. TERRI RACINE, ABC INSURANCE COMPANY as precedent for a claim that Wally and Home Pro would have against me if I shared my experience with other consumers. Both of these cases are irrelevant to the circumstance. I replied to Mr. Cohen and enquired about this unsolicited communication with me and what it said about RWS, Wally and Home Pro. He declined further communication. In an effort to bring the matter to a close I followed up and made an application for coverage under the RWS insurance. Unsurprisingly I was informed by a Mr. P. Nathan Thornberry that RWS had determined that there was no fault on Wally’s or Home Pro’s part. In what I can say was one of the most outrageous comments ever to pass in a commercial dispute Mr. Thornberry actually said that Home Pro should be “praised” for their excellent work. Aside, of course, from missing the ant village living in my wall I suppose. In ongoing emails with Mr. Thornberry, I continue to be threatened with legal action were I to relate the details of these discussions with Mr. Thornberry, Wally, Mark Cohen, and Home Pro. The simple fact is that “Truth” is a perfect defense against defamation. Everything I have relayed above is the truth. It is basic gaslighting. Always appear to be reasonable, insinuate ill-intent, suggest that redress is just around the corner. It is laughable and sad that this company prances to protect Wally from the consequences of his company’s failings. In closing, my experience is that this is a terrible company that does not stand behind its work. When caught out they threaten legal action if you are going to expose them. My advice is to find another company to inspect your house.

Fred Sargent was very thorough and polite. I was very pleased with his attention to detail. He found multiple items that I will have to have repaired which resulted in the seller giving me a credit to be applied at closing.

On time and on point. You can find less expensive, but doubtful you'll find more comprehensive. I haven't had the necessity to use their follow up services, but they gave me 62 pages of information to help decide whether I want to purchase the home I had under contract. Only suggestion I could make would to be more specific on repair/replacement cost on issues they find with the property. "Minor" and "Major" (under/over $1000) really don't help determine what expenses might be incurred to rectify problems found during the inspection.

HomePro did an inspection on our new construction home. The builder conducted their own inspection prior, but our inspector Larry found several items that they missed. The builder agreed to fix those items so it was well worth our money spent. I was out of state during the inspection so Larry called me after and explained all of the issues over the phone and had the report to me the same day.

They did a great job and they're still available to me for questions.

Great very informative, thorough, worked with me on several date changes.

They did a really good job. They were kind of expensive but for what he did the price was okay. I was satisfied with the service. They were professional, he was thorough, he answered all my questions that I had and he even pointed out things that I wouldn't have considered looking at. I feel like he went a step above and beyond.

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They did very good work.They were able to locate that the leaking was coming from my window. He showed me exactly where the problem was located and took pictures. He made sure the contractor that fixed it got the picture so they could perform the repair accurately.

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The Home Pro Inspection Team is awesome! Specifically Austin Barbour and Allen Schimmelmann were great to work with and very thorough.  Austin in particular saved us tens of thousands of dollars on a home we were already under contract on.  His inspection was so in depth that we ended up pulling our offer and voiding the contract on the property.  At that point we were back to square one looking for a new home and luckily we found another that we also had Home pro inspect.  This time Allen had a better time of it and found only minor issues.  Home Pro was sympathetic to the fact that we had to get another inspection, and gave us a $50 credit! If you plan on buying a home, a home inspection is a must, and the team at Home Pro is the best there is in the Jacksonville Area.

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I decided to go with home pro because they were highly recommend by my real estate agent and of course angie's list. My inspector, Allen, arrived about 15 minutes prior to our appointment and went right to work. He was very well mannered and worked very efficiently. I had a three bedroom townhouse inspected and the whole process only took about 2 hrs. Overall I'm very satisfied with the service and will definitely be using home pro again.

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I was so very happy I chose this provider. This was my very first home inspection on my own and the experience was fantastic. I did not rate the cost since I have no idea what the average is, but after the service it did not matter. I close on my new home July 1, 2015 and they made this very stress free and easy for me. I was able to get scheduled immediately and the lady who scheduled the appointment was very friendly, explanatory and patient. I first chose the 5 star package but changed my mind due to my financial situation at the time. I was given no grief for this change. Larry was my inspector and he was not only early to the property but beat me which never happens. He was very professional, friendly and made sure I understood everything he was doing. He also had a great personality :) I highly recommend this company for your inspections needs!
Marcie :)

I view the home inspection as an important part of the home buying process.  The home was a  mid 6 figure ranch style in San Marco area of Jacksonville.  It had been vacant for several months with no one living there.  Most of the inspection went as they typically do with a few things pointed out that needed fixing.  Mostly routine maintenance items.  Except the flooring.  The home was build in the 70's and had beautiful parkay floors that had been recently (like in the last few months) refinished.
There was one particular spot in middle of the living room floor that had a large dark spot.  I specifically asked the inspector about this and he said it was likely due to a rug being in that area and preventing the wood from fading.  I didn't buy it because this room could not ever get direct sunlight and the shape of the spot was not uniform.  I didn't suspect anything wrong but it just didn't seem right.  He made no attempt at further inspection of the wood or flooring.
 We accepted the inspection and proceeded to close on the house.  Two weeks prior to close, about a month after the inspection and past the time to back out without losing our earnest money, I had a flooring contractor come out for a different reason.  I wanted to get a head start on updating another room with wood flooring.  The contractor told me they could not install any wood flooring because there was a serious moisture problem in the house coming through the slab.  He showed me the moisture readings in person on his detection device.  The readings were the highest around the spot referenced earlier.
I called Homepro and Wally Conway himself came out.  I had the realtor and the flooring contractor present to avoid he said, she said.  The realtor confirmed we questioned the inspector about the spot. The contractor showed everyone the moisture problems in the flooring.  Wally denied all of it.  Would not accept any responsibility for his inspector.  He told us all that he "guaranteed" there was no slab leak and in his 30 years experience there was no moisture problem.  I asked for that in writing and he declined to do that.  Homepro only offered to refund my inspection fee IF i would sign away any liability for their inspection.  I can't do the conversation justice on this review but Mr. Conway was disrespectful and his demeanor was a mix of used car salesman and politician.  Would never answer any questions with a yes or no.  Would take no responsibility for his inspectors lack of follow thru.  The realtor and contractor both said they had never seen anyone in this line of work behave in such an unprofessional manner.  He was so belligerent we actually had to ask him to leave the property.
The problem now was this.  I loved the home and would have bought it anyway.  BUT I have now lost all negotiating leverage as we were past the point of accepting the inspection.  So I could lose $10k of earnest money or risk an unknown amount on repairs.  Once the seller is made aware of an issue at an inspection they must disclose this to future buyers so there is some motivation to fix or negotiate the problem.  I PAID for the inspection for this very purpose.  To find potential problems with the home so we could work with the seller to fix before buying.
Fast forward 3 months.  All moved and one day we see a small spot of water about the size of a quarter on the floor.  Plumber scopes the drain and sure enough we have a broken/collapsed sewer pipe under the house.  Had to rip up the floors in 3 rooms and a hallway (which had new tile we installed a month prior).  Obviously had to replace the flooring as well.  Cost me $25,000.
It was very clear to me that Wally likes to have a grand public persona.  His ego and opinion of himself are much more important that standing behind his work or that of his company.  The inspectors working for him may very well be qualified and good at what they do.  However, IF you have a problem and they make a mistake, you cannot count on them making it right or admitting any fault.
I would have posted this earlier but was not on Angie's List at the time.  I have left similar reviews on other sites to warn against dealing with Homepro Inspections.

I'm currently getting estimates for pressure washing my exterior of my house, A/C duct cleaning, and full house cleaning service.  I was very happy with their services when I used them in the past and expect to use them in the future.  About 3 years ago I hired them to clean look at my grout that had never been sealed throughout most of my house  that I thought could never be restored.  They spent days researching a way to restore the grout without destroying it.  We ultimately ended up laying down hard wood floors.  I was very impressed with the time and efforts they put into researching this for me.

Doug was excellant. Very knowledgeable. Very thorough. Very patient explaining everything as he went. This was well worth the money. I would use Florida Home Pro again and ask for Doug.