Bay Area Inspection Service

After researching online for inspectors in our area I came across Joe Billman a few times and decided to go with him as our inspector for our first home purchase. Well here is what happened then and up to this point of writing this review:

The day of inspection I couldn't get off work to be there for the majority of it, but came in on the end so he could walk me through what was wrong with the house. After we complete the walk through I noticed he never mentioned the cabinets, but the cabinet was hanging an 1-1/2" off the wall. I pointed it out and he wrote it down real quick. That should have been my first indication of how incompetent he was as an inspector. In his report he mentioned the cabinets, oven vent, garage door and a few other minor fixes and we were able to negotiate with the owner to have it fixed, but during the inspection he told us everything else was good. He said our water heater is in good shape and should last us another few years and our roof is in good shape and overall that the house was a good buy. 

So we move in and begin painting and putting hardwood floors in and other small upgrades when I started noticing one of the lights fixtures by our room was different color than the rest. So I take the glass casing off and it is full of water. So I get up in the attic to try and find a leak, but couldn't find the source. The next day I call a plumber to inspect the attic for a leak which the only leak they found was my water heater. The same water heater that Joe Billman said was in good shape the month before and judging by the corrosion on the water heater, it had been leaking a while. So we have the water heater replaced. The plumber also said that he thinks the leak is coming from the roof because he found some discoloration in the insulation in the attic, but couldn't be sure until it rains. So I wait till the next rain storm and get in the attic. Sure enough there are multiple leaks around the chimney area. One of the leaks goes straight into the light fixture that was filled with water.

Next I call a roofing company to get an estimate on the damage. As I am walking on the roof with the guy from the company he is pointing out all the issues with the roof and told me that my roof should have never past inspection. HE told me that my inspector never stepped foot on my roof and shouldn't be inspecting homes. He pointed out that even if the inspector stood in the back yard with binoculars he could have caught most of the issues with the roof, but he didn't. In fact Joe billman, the inspector, told us our roof was fine. So now I am having to fork over 1000 dollars to have my roof fixed plus the money for the water heater, but that's not all.

We closed on our house at the end of may and started doing the upgrades in June. this is when the list grew of things missed by Joe. First a lot of the sheetrock moves when it is Pushed and the screws used to hold it to the frame poke out when pushed. Second the garbage disposal turns on, but doesn't spin. Most likely he turned on the switch heard a noise and turned it off and wrote it off as good. Third some of the doors are sticking and require extra effort to shut, which means there are foundation issues. Which I don't even want to think about how much that will cost me.

Overall, Joe the Inspector has cost me 3000 dollars because he is incompetent at his job and this number will grow soon because of the foundation. I seriously doubt he really inspected my home and if he did really inspect my home, then he should never inspect a home again.

Buyer beware and if this is your first time buying a home look elsewhere for an inspector. Also I can't blame it on the "get what you pay for" because he was in the same price range with all the other inspectors. The only difference was he was available and they weren't. Maybe there was a reason for that...

One last thing and I am done. Joe billman is also a licensed real estate agent. I don't think I would trust him as my agent to give a professional opinion on a value or quality of a home. It seems to me he is only there to make money.

Joe Billman is very honest and he has a lot of experience. He did a very thorough job for us. His price was a little bit higher but we also went with him because of the experience and knowledge that he brought to the job and the quality of service he provided. He has been a builder, and so he is knowledgeable about these things. He was very responsive. We would definitely use him in the future.