UPSTATE HOME INSPECTION SERVICES LLC

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Emailed Dan about the radon test. He replied soon with the cost and other details. Cost was good compared to other quotes I had got, some of them charged more as it was just a radon test and not clubbed with a home inspection. Also Dan answered all my questions regarding the test. The test was done with the canisters. He also emailed my the test results as soon as they were available. I would use his company again and recommend to anybody.

My husband and I are relocating to the area due to our jobs. We do not know anyone in the area, so we decided to look on Angies List for a home inspector. We read the reviews and thought we would give this company a try. We liked the fact that the report would be online and that it could be accessed whenever we wanted. We did not use any of the inspectors our real estate agent recommended, as I feel they are biased ( and probably get a kickback from agents). Dan and his partner Joe arrived at the home before my husband and I did. They had already started on the inspection. The total time of the home inspection was about 2 hours. Dan and Joe were very professional and explained many things regarding the home (normal wear and tear, possible failures, immediate failures etc). We asked (in their opinion) how much certain things would cost and they were able to comment on ballpark figures. They were very thorough in their findings. We received the report w/ pictures. It was presented in such a manner that made it easy to read and follow. I have used other inspectors before and no one was as detailed as this company. We will probably not buy this house (thanks to the inspection) because we felt it would cost too much money just to get it to where it needs to be (on top of the sales price- not worth the headache). I will surely use this company again when we find another house and I will be recommending this company to employees in my company who are also relocating to the area.

I used Dan based on the reviews on here and the sample inspection that I requested. He was not recommended by my realtor as I wanted to make sure we got a completely unbiased opinion. Dan and his assistant were on time and very professional. They took lots of pictures which are included in the inspection. They took the time to answer all questions I had and explained all the defects in detail and why its a problem and what I should do to remedy the problem. With the assistant in and out within 2 hours. Inspection is available and stored online 24 hours afterwards, and is by far the best report I have come across. Highly recommend.

Dan and his team went through both houses and explained everything that they saw. They gave me a lot of advice on caring for my home. I am pretty detail oriented and Dan told me what I needed to worry about, and what were really just cosmetics. They went out of their way to make sure that I understood everything that was being explained and everyone very easy to work with. Dan makes sure that he represents his client and no one else, which I'm not so sure realtors do. I am very pleased with the quality of Dan's work!

Update 7-31-12: After buying the home on the second home inspection, I discovered a mice infestation in the kitchen and that the most expensive window in the house ($3000 picture window) had not been evaluated. It was broken and was bowing such that the breeze makes the shades move. There were several other minor issues that I found over time (to be expected, you can't find all the problems in a house in just a few hours), but in hindsight I was disappointed with the lack of oversight on the apprentices that Dan brought with him on the second home inspection.

I contacted Dan about the mice (which were all throughout the lower kitchen cabinets) and the broken picture window. He said that he would have a handyman come to take a look as a gesture of goodwill which I thought was very generous. Unfortunately, I never heard from the handyman or received a follow up from Dan. Dan also has a yearly home inspection that he was supposed to contact me about on the one year anniversary. I figured I would give him some time to make up for the issues on my last inspection, but as my anniversary has come and gone, I have yet to hear from him. I wish Dan spent more time on my inspection instead of letting his two apprentices do most the work on the last inspection.

I really felt and continue to feel that Dan is quite competent, but I am unhappy with his follow up and some of his apprentices less than thorough work.

Update June 2014

After several years of owning my home and many thousands of dollars spent repairing things that were wrong at the time of purchase, I have realized how poorly my home inspection went. I am very disappointed with the lack of attention to detail Dan and his team had when inspecting my home. I hope this was just a fluke, but my wallet won't ever be able to recover what was lost from Upstate's failure to identify and report expensive issues with my home.

They were high priced with very low quality. It did not go too well because we had a back porch which we had to tear down and they didn't pick it up, they messed up completely. When I had the inspection done the real estate person was there and they just got a little chummy with me.

Dan and his partner were excellent. Both are incredibly knowledgeable and professional. They arrived on time and got to work. They allowed my wife, child and I to follow them and ask questions. No major problems were found.

Dan is very thorough, an extremely knowledgable professional through and through. He provided us with insight into various problems and potential problems, as well as suggestions for fixing the problems. He answers all questions in terms you can understand and has a good sense of humor! The reports he produces are online - Home History Reports (Housefacks) for easy of use and viewing and printable. They include numerous color photographs and then decribe the the problem spots in detail. The record is maintained long tem so any improvements you do are easily added to the report for future buyers/ future reference (I don't think there is any additional charge for this). Dan's pricing is very fair considering the quality of his work and many years of experience he has.You don't want to settle for anyone other than the best - and Dan Osbourne is among the best in the business. I highly recommend him for your home inspection.

Don and his team is very professional and friendly. They did a very thorough job around and inside the house. The report gives description of problems and rated them with different severity level and estimated repirement cost. Since I don't have a realtor, the report turns out to be very helpful. Dan took time to answer every question we had. We are very satisfied with Dan and his team. Plus the price is also lower than some other company we quoted. We will definitely use them again in the future.

Dan & his assistant were very thorough, personable, but professional. He was willing to explain areas of concern in terms that I was able to understand. He was happy to have me with him through entire process so he could explain his findings. My experience with Dan made me realize that this house was not for me. They pointed out areas of concern during the inspection that I had not noticed during 2 previous walk throughs without the eye of an inspector. I was happy to pay his fee rather than greater than 100K for a home that needs 15-20K worth of repairs. I would strongly suggest that if you are emotionally attached to a home you find, and your realtor does not have your best interest at heart you should hire Dan for an informal walk through before the formal inspection to provide objective input to prevent what I went through. His fee for this service is minimal compared to the $1000 I lost as a result of my own ignorance.

The overall inspection covered all the items I would have guessed and many more I had not thought about, including a Radon test. There were a few minor discrepancies in the final report, mostly about materials used in some items. None of them effected the final result or the recommendations for corrections.

Contacted Dan and scheduled. He informed me of his special advertised on his website which I had not seen, so I got a break on the price. He arrived on time and with his assistant inspected the whole house inside and outside. I followed him around asking questions and he was very pleasant and forthcoming with details and information. He had the finished report up on-line quickly and the results of the radon test followed soon. The report had numerous clear photos and were marked to show corresponding comments. Keyed items to Safety, Repair/Replace, Repair/Maintain, Minor, Evaluate and Comments. Very thorough and detailed - a good reference. In the days after the inspection, I e-mailed him numerous questions and some more photos I took and he was wonderful about answering.

Seemed very thorough.

Dan was on time and very professional. He explained every aspect of the inspector while he was doing it. He also offered advice on how we might take care of a mold problem we didn't know existed (but would have most certainly showed up on a buyers inspection of our property) so we could take care of it before even listing it. Dan's report was very comprehensive and available for us to view, online, within 72 hours of his inspection. We were extremely pleased with the service he provided.

Mr. Osborn was very professional, patient and courteous with both us and the seller. The report was very detailed and easy to read.

Dan and his team are exceptional. He has performed a total of 4 inspections for us and saved us a lot of future headaches. He is a pleasure to deal with.

Dan was very informative and helpful from the very beginning as soon as we spoke on the phone. Was already there when we got to the home on the day of the appointment. Very professional and knowledgeable. Went through the existing report and backtracked to make sure everything was up to spec. Would highly recommend to anyone. Would definitely work with again! We especially liked the idea of accessing the report online, it was very convenient.

I was very happy about the quality of the work done. Dan was early for the appointment and remained approachable and friendly throughout the inspection. During the inspection, Dan took the time to explain to me the purpose of each part of the inspection. Furthermore, when problems were found, he gave a ball park estimate on the potential cost of fixing vs not fixing the problem. Overall, the professionalism and courtesy shown by Upstate Home Inspections impressed me. I have already recommended them to others that I know.

I DIDN'T HAVE ANY PREVIOUS EXPERIENCE WITH HOME INSPECTION COMPANIES. THE REASON I CHOOSE THIS OUTFIT WAS BECAUSE THEY HAVE ONLINE REPORTS. IN ONE OF THE HOUSES THAT I BOUGHT, THE UPSTAIRS RADIATORS WERE REMOVED FROM THE BEDROOMS. I DIDN'T NOTICE IT, BUT NEITHER DID THEY. THEY ONLY SPENT AN HOUR GOING THROUGH THE WHOLE HOUSE SO THEY CAN'T SEE EVERYTHING. OVERALL, THEY WERE OKAY. THEY DID WHAT THEY WERE SUPPOSED TO DO. I LIKE THE REPORTS, THEY'RE VERY USEFUL.

AS FAR AS AN INSPECTOR GOES, HE SPENT OVER FOUR HOURS WITH US, AND HE WENT THROUGH EVERYTHING. HE WAS THE BEST INSPECTOR I HAVE EVER HAD. HE WAS VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO ME, AND HE WAS WELL WORTH THE MONEY. HE REALLY GOES THROUGH EVERYTHING WITH A FINE TOOTH COMB.