CRAFTSMAN INSPECTIONS

FYI; My husband had service from Tim at Craftsman about 6 years ago when my husband needed to settle a property value; Craftsman provided him top notch service then and we sought him out on our recent purchase together.  Tim arrived for inspection on time and ready to get started. He had proper tools and equipment right down to Boot Booties; He methodically got started in the house by putting on Boot Booties to protect the home owners floors.Tim kept focused on his list of "things to do",  It was evident he had a method he liked to stick too, working his way around the entire house in a very deliberate way; Tim took pictures and recorded memos  to review when he formally completed his inspection. I am thinking we spent close to 3hours; We received a detailed copy of his inspection report by the close of the same day through email; complete with pictures. Craftsman did not provide wood insect inspections, however, we requested Tim contract this for us and we had that done on the same date outside of Craftsman's service. The service Tim lined up was also prompt and reasonable rate at $75.00  I contracted Craftsman a second time for the same property to do a Pre Closing inspection because my Husband was not available. Tim was prompt and charged a reasonable fee. I specified what I wanted another look at; Tim had a look, happily, there were no issues of concern. My husband and I completed our purchase.  My husband and I had chose to negotiate a repair allowance and purchase the property in as in condition because we considered the repairs Minor... However, the repairs need to be done or they could become a Major problem; Craftsman's inspection found that little stuff we likely would have missed. Our biggest concerns are regarding Water issues but we have a great plan since we have an outline to work with from Tim. We are using our inspection report from Craftsman to check off our repairs as they are completed and to keep us on task. There is a lot I do not know about buying a home; However, I do know NOT to skimp on a quality home inspection. Come on... you're about to spend 150k or more on a home but it's not worth an extra $350.00 to have a trained professional inspector go in without the rose colored glasses on and tell you what is really wrong? Really?

We contracted Tim as a result of our realtor's recommendation. We sent him a check and he coordinated with the building superintendent for the inspection. He was our eyes since we couldn't attend. He submitted a lenghthy report in detail to both of us and we followed up the following week at the buyer orientation. All items were either fixed or standard procedure. There were no major defects in the home and we closed on it 3/27/09. Tim could not inspect the sprinkler system so he promptly returned the $25.00. He didn't cash our original check until he did the job.