HOME PROBE INC

This company performed my home inspection and did not detect that my furnace was venting into a "Capped Chimney flue" posing a serious health risk to my family of CO2. Reached out when replacing the furnace once this was detected and spoke with the Director of Operations and he noted that they were not responsible for making sure the furnace venting worked and flowed correctly. The report even notes that the furnace was fine to keep using until replacement was needed. I noted that the presence of only one open fireplace flue and no divider wall could be seen from the roof or the base of the chimney on a one story home. He said he was sympathetic but would not do anything to advice on the situation because they had seen 300 houses since then. Extremely unprofessional or unwilling to work with a customer after they collected their payment. Would not recommend using them if you are looking for a complete and thorough inspection.

The inspection turned up that the heat pump was not functioning, and the home could not be cooled. This fact was completely absent from the "key factors" page, which only mentioned that the HVAC system was old and would need to be replaced at an unpredictable time. I argued for 10 minutes with the operations manager, Ken Booth, about the fact that "nearing end of life expectancy" isn't the same as "not functioning" and that 'at an unpredictable time' is not the same as "service immediately" both of which he adamantly denied. I'm sure I signed a document that relieves them of any liability for such a blunder, which is why he denied something so obviously true. In short, the summary didn't reflect the actual findings. If you don't know anything about the various systems in your home, go somewhere else because apparently Home Probe will force you to read a 50 page report and determine for yourself what will be a major issue, since they aren't going to put it in the key factors at the front of the report.

Like other reviews, expensive issues were missed that were miraculously were not covered by the Home Probe "guarantee" despite being explicitly described in it. You have a choice in home inspectors, so get a different one that will do it right and stand by their "guarantee" if they miss something explicitly stipulated in the agreement.

Review My wife and I purchased a home recently and hired home-probe to do the inspection. The report came back with some issues as all homes have them but nothing alarming. Within less than a week after closing we had roof leaks, pipe leaks in the crawl space and other issues with the house which cost us over $27,000 to fix. I addressed the issue with Melanie at Home-probe and she sent another inspector out to get a 2nd opinión. Miraculously this Inspector concurred with the previous Inspector who did his report. Melanie’s solution to the problem was giving me my money back for the cost to do the inspection. This also came with a stipulation that I was satisfied with the work. I declined so I can freely write what my horrible experience was using Home-probe for inspecting my home. To make matters worst, Melanie closed the call by saying “I believe you just had bad luck”. My suggestion to anyone using a home inspection company is to have all questions in writing and get the response back in writing. Companies need to be aware that referral sources they receive (Realty companies for example) read these reviews and don’t want to be associated with companies that treat clients the way I was treated. At this point my wife and I are stuck with two homes and may potentially foreclose on one of them due to this issue. 77

Nate was extremely thorough and answered all of our questions to the point of staying much later than the inspection was scheduled. He crawled every inch of a hard to reach crawl space and found a bunch of structural and mold issues hiding in there. Would highly recommend. I especially liked how he walked us thru a draft of the report before leaving to answer some preliminary questions.

J.R. Prince is great. He was very thorough in his inspection. He also took took time to answer my questions during the entire process and point out items that I should be aware of as a new buyer.

I used Home-Probe to do a pre-listing inspection 2 months ago. Jessica took my initial call and answered all of my questions to make sure I had a good understanding of their services. Mark Kinzie did the inspection and he was friendly, thorough, professional, and honest. I used Home-Probe again about 2 weeks ago to do a home and radon inspection on my newly purchased house. D.V. Caitlin did an excellent job and I felt confident knowing what repairs needed to be done. I'd recommend Home-Probe to anyone!

They were incredible thorough and professional. It was impressive what they caught and how well they communicated those issues. Taking the time to answer each question and recommend actions. Highly recommend this company!

My inspector was early and very helpful with explaining things around the condo to me. He pointed out a lot of things in the unit that I should be paying attention to, but was not aware of before! I would definitely use Home Probe again!

Nate B. was absolutely fantastic! He provided thorough feedback on his inspection, was very willing to share his knowledge, and was just overall enjoyable person. Because we're first time home buyers, we were terrified to get stuck with a house that has a lot of issues, and after this inspection I feel a lot more comfortable with what needs to be addressed. Nate exceeded our expectations, and I would highly recommend him and Home Probe, Inc.!

Nate Bradley with Home Probe was personable friendly and professional. He went through the entire home with a fine tooth comb. Even with me walking with him and talking too much he didn't miss a step! I've used another inspection company once before. It was easy to see that Home Probe was the most thorough when comparing the two. They are indeed pricey, but I felt like I got what I paid for and I am purchasing my home with confidence.

Rael did a great job.  He was at the house for a few hours.  I followed him around the condo and he answered all my questions.  He even went in our hard-to-access crawl space to look at the furnace.  He gave a very detailed report that we were able to use in our repair negotiations.  I've since discovered (from the handyman) that there was a leak under the kitchen sink that wasn't in the report.  However, it was behind some cleaning products, and I know the inspectors aren't expected to move things around in the house to conduct the inspection.

unknown

The appointment went perfectly. ?William arrived early. ?Did the entire inspection without being rushed. ?He was there for at least 3 hours, and busy the entire time. ?Went over and above. ?Climbed onto the roof, found a couple of small issues there. ?Climbed into the crawlspace, which was not an easy thing to do, and went through that to find a couple of issues. ?Very professional, and I am very happy with the services performed.

The appointment went perfectly.  William arrived early.  Did the entire inspection without being rushed.  He was there for at least 3 hours, and busy the entire time.  Went over and above.  Climbed onto the roof, found a couple of small issues there.  Climbed into the crawlspace, which was not an easy thing to do, and went through that to find a couple of issues.  Very professional, and I am very happy with the services performed.

The inspector was on time and very thorough.  He had a check list and inspected all parts of the home.  For areas that were difficult to get to (roof) he had binoculars and was able to see and identify some issues with the shingles.
He delivered the report that evening.  The radon report was delivered three days later (to allow time for the test to collect information).

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I had a home inspection with Mark Kinzie. He was thorough, thoughtful, and explained everything to me in terms I could understand without talking down to me. Excellent experience. 
He arrive right on time, was exceedingly professional and friendly. Answered all of my questions (and I had a lot!). 
The inspection report was thorough, accurate, and arrived in a timely manner.

Great!  I got an inspection and an education about my soon to be new house.  It is really a great way to get familiarized with the home.  Nate was great!

After some confusion with Fannie May, and getting a home de-winterized,
we contacted Home Probe when our previous inspector was unable to make
the new date. They were wonderful, and were able to schedule an
inspection when we needed it. Once scheduled, we were emailed a bio of
the inspector that would be doing the job. That was very interesting and
useful, and inspired confidence.
Marla McKinney was the lady
that did the work, and she was patient ( explaining things as she went,
adapting to the issues with furnace), and very complete. I have have had
many homes inspected in other states, and was quite familiar with both
good inspectors, and bad ones. Ian I am very pleased to say that Marla
was one of the good ones.
Marla walked us through the results onsite, pointing out the various good points, and bad, of the house. She answered all the questions we had, and we will be happy to use them again.

I have purchased several homes over the years and this is the second condominium, so I have some familiarity with what home inspections should include.  This one was so short on information it was worthless to me. In fact, the report contained a scant 2 items needing repair that any untrained person would have noted:  a dripping faucet and some missing grout in 1 of the 2 bathrooms.  Noting these items should not have required the hefty fee or trained expertise of a home inspector; anyone would have observed and noted them.  However, several salient items that should have been noticed and noted were overlooked. These include shoe molding that is very loose, water damaged and almost breaks when opening the door from the living room to the balcony, a door on the sink cabinet that does not close and stays open at least 3 inches, a window in one of the two bedrooms that is open at least 1 inch from the top and will not close, the master bedroom overhead light that is inoperable (part of ceiling fan that works but the light will not turn on with switch or remote), and a jacuzzi tub that has a horribly damaged finish and will cost $300 to be refinished. Needless to say, I paid for a home inspection fee and received a PDF of a standardized form with numerous disclaimers, superfluous unhelpful attachments for home buyers and homeowners (again, standardized documents that are not customized in any way), and most importantly, no actual useful information on which to have a dialogue about needed repairs with the seller.  Now I will spend additional countless hours and money to secure services of vendors to repair these items that were overlooked in this drive-by, half-done home inspection.

Home Probe was excellent to work with, and while they were a little more pricy than other quotes, they were well worth it.
The inspector (who also happened to be the owner of Home Probe) was punctual and professional through the entire 3-hour long inspection.  
He was great working with my wife's parents who happened to be in town and with lack of anything better to do, came to the inspection.  He even offered that they could call with any questions!
His inspection was comprehensive, and seemed to set the appropriate tone for the issues he found, identifying which issues were critical and which were just worth noting.  Photos in the report were great, and he offered that we could call with questions on their findings or on maintenance or upkeep questions for the entire time we own the house.
He found extensive problems with one of the bathrooms and documented them well which has been very helpful negotiating with the seller.

unknown

Was referred to Home Probe by my agent and scheduling was smooth.  Once I got my home inspection time set up my inspector Gregg showed up early to the appointment and greeted me with a friendly smile.  He did a great job in pointing out any issues that I didn't even see.  He was also very educational on what was the problem and what needs to be addressed.  Gregg did an amazing job with my home inspection.  I would highly recommend his company and ask for Gregg again.

The inspection was terrible, and by that I don't mean the inspector.  He found all kinds of things wrong with the house, but that's exactly why he was there. 
The inspector's name was Greg Hall, and he did an excellent job.  Highly recommended.