RJ Frank Home Inspections

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I hired Bobby Frank because he's known around town as "The Deal Killer." The real estate agents don't like him much, which is exactly why I wanted to hire him. I wanted someone tough! Buying a house is the biggest purchase most of us will make in our lifetimes, and we need to know what we're getting.
It turned out that Bobby Frank was not only tough, he was also thorough and extremely fair-minded.  He went into great detail about things, but he also told me what was right about the house as well as what was wrong with it. Many inspectors won't do that because they don't care. Bobby cares.
Sometimes, tradespeople will talk down to their clients, simply because we don't know as much as they do. But Bobby wasn't like that at all. He spoke to me as one intelligent person to another. He carefully explained things to me, but in a very natural way. Following him around for four hours as he inspected my house was like getting a class on home building. I give him my highest recommendation.

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Bobby Frank inspected a 1901 Old West Side home for my partner and me in early September, and we cannot recommend him highly enough. Based on research we had done into the house, we thought that it would be in great shape.  Turns out that it was not.  Bobby noted well over a dozen code and safety issues, the two most significant of which (visible/hidden termite damage and knob and tube wiring buried within insulated walls and attic) would have cost us about $25-$35K to repair. 
Bobby was extraordinarily thorough, as one would expect any good inspector to be.  What we think sets him apart, though, is the time and genuine interest he took in us and the house following the initial inspection. Based on his initial inspection and recommendations, we ended up bringing a structural engineer, pest inspector, electricians, basement specialist, and a building contractor to the home.  He gave us great recommendations about good people/companies, and he also provided excellent advice and guidance for us as first-time homeowners.  All in all, we spent at least three hours talking with Bobby on the phone in addition to the 5.5 hours spent on the inspection itself.  It?s true that the cost of his inspection was more than with other inspectors ($550, at $100/hour), but when you account for a) his thoroughness, b) the additional time he spent helping us out, and c) the fact that he saved us from unknowingly purchasing a house with significant and costly issues, I?d argue that the price was not only reasonable, it was unquestionably worth it. 
We ended up not purchasing the home only because the seller wouldn?t lower the sale price to balance out the cost of structural and safety repairs.  We?ll be calling Bobby when we make an offer on another home!

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