The Home Detective

Robert is FANTASTIC!!! The regulations that a typical home inspector must work by are not as thorough as most home buyers would prefer...luckily Robert is not quite typical. He is thorough to a T exploring the home from basement to chimney top. I would hire him for every home I look to buy in my future. Very confident and happy with his work.

I can’t say enough good things about Robert (the Home Detective); he’s the best! I’m a first time home owner and I wanted the most thorough, detailed inspector I could find. I got him! Robert is incredibly thorough, generous with his time and knowledge, and kind. I really value that he aims to be both an inspector and an educator. While going through the inspection he taught me all kinds of things I need to know about my house and various ways to maintain and improve it. But, his generosity didn’t end there: he sent along a very detailed report for me to use in the buying process, several documents helping to map out what home maintenance will involve, and informally recommended electricians, plumbers, and window stores that he knows and trusts. I even called him a few days later to talk through a few questions that had come up while negotiating with the seller and he gave me another 45 minutes of his time and expertise. I would absolutely recommend him to friends and family and will certainly hope to use him again, should I ever need another home inspector.

Bob was amazing. Going above and beyond. Checking every window, outlet, etc. He was very thorough and I feel 100 percent confident about my home purchase. He also showed me how to operate things, gave me tips, recommendations, and took as long as he felt was needed to do a first class job.

My husband and I were both very impressed by Robert’s knowledge and professionalism. He is very meticulous in his work and really had our best interest at heart. This is our second time buying a home and our first inspectors wasn’t nearly half as thorough as Robert. We are brand new to the area as my husband just got transferred (US Navy) and he was kind enough to send us a list on things to do in the neighborhood. Overall, Robert did a magnificent job and we will definitely hire him again if the need ever arises. In addition, we will definitely recommend him to our friends!

Best Inspector Ever! Robert spent close to 4 hours in my mom's house revealing the good, the bad and the ugly (the too many of these luckily). He gave expert advice along the way how to enhance the value and best protect the home with lots of great tips that I will be applying to my own home! I highly recommend Robert Goldberg of The Home Detective! He knows his business well and is the Home Inspector of Home Inspectors! I believe I got ever penny of value out of the inspection with plenty of recommendations on how best to resolve every issue that he uncovered! Whether I was buying a home or selling a home, I would want Robert to inspect my home - he is the best!

Robert was excellent, very professional and personable. We were very impressed with his knowledge of what makes a house work! He explained everything he did and gave us very helpful hints and information on how to the extend the life of our appliances, fixtures, and general house upkeep. He was also very safety conscious, explained everything in detail, and important safety tips. Keeping his number for future use!

Great! He’s a home detective. Found a lot of things, many minor, but some that could be very costly later on down the road. Glad we caught it now. Took pictures of everything. Thorough report written less than 24 hours after inspection. Friendly, provided lots of free tips, very professional.

Great experience! Robert and Ken showed up on time. They were both friendly and professional. Ken did initial inspection and Robert did secondary inspection. Robert worked directly with me to educate me on what would need to be addressed upon purchases of the home, the best way to maintain the home, and he answered all my questions. I didn't not feel rushed during this process as I took copious notes. As a first time house buyer, I feel ready to take on the responsibility to maintaining a house because of Robert's guidance. I appreciate Roberts willingness to stay available in the future, even for things as simple as needing a service provider recommendation.

The overall experience was wonderful! As first time home buyers, Robert was approachabke, informative, and professional.

We were very pleased with Robert's inspection of the home we are purchasing. He was thorough, knowledgable, and trustworthy. We are first time home-buyers and found him to be an excellent resource. He worked efficiently to help us meet our tight deadline. We appreciated that he told us we did not need an inspection for lead, even though he could have done this and charged us more. I would recommend him without reservation.

I was fortunate to get an appointment with Robert the day after we spoke. I was looking for someone who is very good and has a sentrilock key card. He's the answer to my prayers. He sent me samples of home inspection report and pictures few minutes after we spoke. They were pretty impressive. My husband came on time at the house. He was already at the house and have started doing some work. He probably came 10-15 mins ahead of us. His experience speaks for the quality of his work. He is very thorough. He explained to us every single detail. He also gave us tips/recommendations and things that we should keep in mind. He puts red dots on the things that he noticed so it would be easy to spot and remember. He also put those cards and instructions for the valves. That's a huge help. It took him 3 hours to complete the inspection. He sent the reports in the evening the same day of the inspection. It was very detailed and has all the things he noticed/took note of. My husband and I were very happy with his work and how the inspection turned out. We also did the radon test btw.

Robert was extremely thorough, knowledgable, kind, and helpful! He inspected my soon-to-be house above Maryland state code, testing every outlet and window in every room, identifying and finding tons of things I had not noticed myself. As part of the process, Robert took pictures of every part of the home he noticed with imperfections, and marked them with red taped dots. The same day he did the home inspection, Robert then used the pictures he'd taken and sent me a multi-page, super detailed report walking me through everything we'd learned about the house, and literally showing me what he was talking about in each picture by putting in and referencing pictures. He spent several hours doing the inspection because it's a large property with multiple floors and buildings on it, and was indispensable with the advice and knowledge he shared with me. He taught me how to replace my furnace filter, showed me how to extend my gutter system to get drainage further from my foundation, and even showed me how to use the new gas stove and taught me about what a convection oven does and how to paint my living room walls. Robert's above and beyond thorough and helpful, and will more than go the extra mile to make sure your home is perfect for me. I plan to keep coming back to him for future recommendations on both contractors for my new home he trusts, and advice on living in an older home. Since the super quick turnaround (same day!) for his report on my home, he also took the time to send me a ton of info following up on what he was teaching me about painting my own place to save money. You won't find a better guy!

Very thorough and professional. Went above and beyond and explained everything clearly. Would not hesitate to recommend him.

Overall we were very please with the inspection that Robert performed and will recommend him to other buyers.

Robert was very professional and educated me on the condition and proper operation of my new home. He was very detailed in his inspection and even labeled important valves and heating/ cooling components. I highly recommend his services.

Very well. Robert was very detailed and explained everything as he was inspecting step by step. Even offerd advice through out on how to maintain the home. He inspected as if he was buying the home for himself. Very very knowledgeable.

TLDR: Best home inspector you could possibly ask for. Don't bother researching anyone else. Book Robert! Long Version: Our realtor highly recommended Robert and set up the appointment for us. Robert sent us all kinds of information prior to the appointment so that we'd know what to expect from him. I read through everything and e-mailed him back a few questions. He was quick to respond and very polite, professional, and clear. He also included tons of reviews in the materials he sent us. They were all 5 star ratings. I'm the kind of person who likes to read the negative reviews because those are the ones that usually tell you what you want to know. So I did my own Google search on him and his company to see what I could find. I couldn't find a single negative review over the course of his 20+ years in business. Needless to say, we kept the appointment. Even with all the highly detailed information Robert gave us, I still didn't really know what to expect since we're first-time home-buyers and have never done anything like this before. He greeted us warmly and one of the first things he said was, "I work for you, not your realtors." I thought that was great! He went through the house with a fine tooth comb, explaining everything to us and giving us lots of tips on how to save money on heating, cooling, plumbing, electricity, repairs, etc. He went up into the attic and into small, hot crawl spaces and other places where the standard home inspector doesn't go, per the MD SoPs. His standards are higher than the state standards for many areas around the home. I was thoroughly impressed with his dedication, attention to detail, and great customer service. You can tell that he really loves what he does, and he's great at it! I left the inspection feeling really good about the house and completely trusted Robert's assessment. He even used a drone to assess and take pictures of the roof and chimney, which came in very handy when the homeowner's association inspected the home and gave us a long list of things that needed to be fixed. With Robert's report and the homeowner's inspection, we were able to negotiate with the sellers to fix all the major things we didn't want to have to deal with ourselves. Robert and our realtors were both really helpful in identifying those things that were cheap and easy for us to fix and those things we should really stand our ground on and insist the sellers fix. It was such a relief to feel like we were valued customers of a highly intelligent and experienced home inspector. He even sent us how-to painting videos after the inspection when we mentioned to him that we would be doing some of the painting in the house ourselves! I can't say enough great things about Robert. All the people that our realtors had recommended so far were stellar. So although I didn't know what to expect, I knew to have high expectations. Robert blew all those expectations away and really went above and beyond for us. You truly cannot go wrong hiring him. It's one of the best decisions we've ever made, and we are extremely grateful to him. Thank you, Robert!

Robert was excellent! He inspected our home as if it was his own. He paid attention to every detail taught us the basics of a house and caring for it. This helped not only in final negotiations of closing, but in how to take care of our future home. I highly recommend Robert!

Robert provided us an amazing service, he really made us feel well informed and confident about all aspects of our new home.
He definitely helped and educated us on the condition of our home as well as made us comfortable with the operational and maintenance needs.
His energy saving and many other suggestions will definitely save us a great deal of money as well as be better homeowners.

We truly appreciated Robert service!

Robert was on time, spent 3 and 1/2 hours with us inspecting and explaining everything he saw in each room. He is extremely thorough and did not leave anything untouched. His explanations were in plain English and he later provided additional printed materials on defects he found. He not only reported the defects, but made suggestions throughout the house to increase safety and save money on heating, air conditioning, water, and appliance life and efficiency. Well beyond what was required on a home inspection. Highly recommend his services.

It went very well. I HIGHLY recommend Home Detective. You can tell from the first phone contact with Robert that he knows what is doing.
He was very professional on the phone and during the inspection.

Robert thoroughly inspected every corner of the house and found areas of concern including gas leak, running toilet, water damage in the kitchen and much more which can be easily overlooked 

More importantly, he showed me how save a lot of money on utilities bills (electric and water) and  took the time to explain every aspect of the findings. Frankly, this inspection was like a training session for me. Robert is knowledgeable and passionate about what it does.

I will do business again with Robert and Highly recommend him to every one.

Robert's outstanding service began before he even came to the house by providing me sample reports, reviews, his licenses and explaining his services and philosophy. What came through then and continued to be clear during the inspection is how passionate he is about his work. The actual inspection was extremely detailed and I felt completely comfortable asking any and all questions. Robert explained and pointed out everything he did and as a first time home buyer-this was extremely important. He is also just a nice and pleasant person who made the close to 4 hours of the inspection fly by. The inspection report really made clear things that were urgent safety issues as opposed to good to do in the future and clearly supported my successful negotiation with the seller. Robert also provides a home maintenance guide that I'm sure will be invaluable. Overall, Robert made a stressful process much easier and I would not hesitate to recommend him.

He is super professional and goes above and beyond his job. He is great for people moving into a new home. I wish I used him as a home inspector too because he found issues that my home inspector totally skipped or missed and I could have used this to negotiate the price of the home.

Robert was great! He was on time for our appointment and even started checking out the house before we arrived. He took the time to go through every part of the house and was very thorough. We spent about three hours going through everything. He checked receptacles, pipes, valves, wires, breakers, the furnace and heat pump, water pressure, water temperature, attic insulation, and roof structure along with numerous other things. Along with inspecting the house he took the time to go over every thing with us. He talked us through what he was checking and why he was checking it. He also gave us so many recommendations and tips on how to get the most out of our house. When he was finished we really felt confident in his evaluation of the house. 

After the inspection was complete he was quick to put together the final report and provided it to us. Along with his report he also included "What to remember after your home inspection". This is a basic maintenance overview package that helps to keep you on top of the typical maintenance needs of your home. Being first time home buyers we found this very helpful!!

We highly recommend using The Home Detective. You will not be disappointed!   

Mr. Goldberg performed a radon test for me and did find that I had some moderate radon levels in my home. He's very efficient with what he does. He referred me to a guy named John Sweat to help me deal with the problem. I spoke with the guy and gave me a proposal but I have not heard from him in about a week and a half.