Luis,
I just wanted to do a follow up with you and send a preliminary Google Review prior to actually posting.
After doing a bit more exploration and trying another home inspector, I want to say I am even /more/
dissatisfied with the contracted work on the 50/50 house, than initially intended.
Below is a review. Feel free to provide any comments you might have and I am open to tweaking / not
posting the review depending on your response.
———–
PLEASE NOTE: 3/5 Stars for me = “AVERAGE”. It does not mean I would NOT recommend, it means
there are a few critical items that need to be addressed in order to be the best.
Pros: Same day turnaround time, I believe I received my report within several hours of home inspection.
Fairly positive and upbeat attitude, great personality. Follows general guidelines for inspection. Report is
extremely easy to read.
Cons: Pricing is not very competitive. $90 is a lot of extra fluff money for what appears to be similar
quality house inspections. If you look at the SAMPLE REPORT, this company uses a program to churn
out the reports which, while fast, may not go into extra details (if you are detail oriented).
I want to firstly thank Luis for his hard work and thank him for finding mold in the previous house and
pointing out a few minor details that I not only learned from, but ended up purchasing a Thermal imaging
device myself! What still bothers me to this day is, even though I probably ended up deciding on NOT
purchasing the house during the inspection and you offered to give a DISCOUNT by ending the
inspection early, I felt at that point in time, that is when you also lowered you standards a bit and did not
write as much details as you could have. This is why I did not get you to inspect this other house. Also,
pricing. $250 vs your $340. =(
In his SLIGHT defense: I also want to kick myself a bit too, considering I did not do my due diligence and
take a look at OTHER inspector’s sample reports, as I *PERSONALLY* feel those other companies had
more thorough information. Don’t get me wrong people. A home inspection is just that – an inspection.
There are no real “guarantees” if a human person misses something. However, I do want to stress that by
using a home inspection report generator, all the extra formatting……. It’s just filler space. Not a lot of IN
DEPTH information! Fast, sure. But detailed? I am iffy on that. I would expect 1 to 2 sentences on the
summary, and in the actual report itself, a paragraph or more explaining yourself. Ways to fix it, ways to
prevent, etc.
In MY defense, I explicitly stated several times (after his offer to “withdraw” the inspection for a lower
price) that I wanted a “full” inspection because I wanted this to be a learning experience, and to see how
bad the house really was. I wanted to see how he would do if I were to bring him in again since I had
already “wasted” the $340.
That being said, his inspection was thorough. He did cover most, if not all, items that were available (per
the terms that I agreed with and items that were not blocking him from doing his job). InterNACHI has a
fairly standard set of rules, so you’re not “missing” much if you hire a cheaper home inspector.
ADVICE / SUGGESTIONS:
Luis, if you are reading this – I would like to say if you were to either A) lower your price and/or B) have
added more details to the report, I would give you the 5/5 stars. While yes, I am comparing oranges and
apples on another house report, one glaring item that needs to be pointed out is that each item that you
pointed out – 1 to 3 lines/sentences vs a 3-5 line or full paragraph with the other home inspection report?
That’s a lot of extra details I could have used!!! You did mention to “contact you” if I had questions……. I
shouldn’t have to contact you and ask for follow ups on each line item of the report, either.
—————–
I hope to hear back from you regarding this.
Side question: what make and model was your Flir device? I bought a TG165 but taking a second look at
the pictures, I see yours might be a different model or a different trim?
If you don’t reply back, I will probably end up posting this review sometime during the week in the next 3-4
days.
Thanks for your time.
Sincerely,
Marvin
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Hello Marvin,
Thank you for your email and the opportunity to respond to you in reference to your concerns.
First, as a home inspector, our job is to inform and report to our clients, the current condition of the home
they are wanting to purchase on the day of the inspection.
It is beyond the Standard of Practice to offer the client repair solutions unless they are appropriately
qualified or licensed in the area or field. By state law, if the inspector is not appropriately qualified or
licensed in that field he or she may be breaking the Law DBPR 61-30.801.
Our inspection report is designed to meet the Standard of Practice set forth by our association and by the
State of Florida.
I am not a license Contractor. I am a home inspector. As a home inspector, I am to report what is visible
to me on the day of the inspection. If there is an area that needs further evaluation by a licensed
professional in that field, it will be note on the report. They are the ones that will evaluate the areas of
concern in more detail and offer the client their professional opinion on how to repair or replace the areas
of concern.
I have done thousands of inspections in my 15 years of performing home inspections and have had
comments expressed about having the additional fluff such as home maintenance and repairs, but have
never received any feedback on wanting fluff added to the inspection report. This is why we offer the
HON and the monthly ENews Letter as an added benefit.
I can assure you that our reports are thorough and detailed. We do not add information that is generic
and has been added automatically into every Inspection report that is done as a filler.
I on the other hand, bring Value as:
• A Master Certified Home Inspector
• IAQ Certified in Mold
• WDO ID Card holder
• IRIS Certified and may other certifications
• I use the latest high end tools to perform the Inspections
• We send out monthly Home maintenance ENews letter
• We offer our clients Free for 1 year, access to Home Owners Network where you can access all of the latest home repair and maintenance information you would need plus an actual response from a licensed contractor when you use the HON APP which I believe is superior and better than some generic comment embedded into the inspection report.
A.C.F. Home Inspection and I never lower or reduce our standard and can assure you that your inspection was preform in the same manner even if you had expressed a doubt about buying the property. As I gave you, I give all my clients the option to stop and pay a trip fee if they do not wish to continue the inspection within the first 30 to 60 minutes.
I believe the cheaper Inspector would not offer this option and the cheaper Inspector does not use the latest tools to check the components of the property.
I believe you experienced me using the Flir camera to scan the components of the property such as the water temperature, HVAC temperature, check appliances and panels, etc.
I can bet that the cheaper inspectors do not use a Flir infrared camera to check anything or may not even carry one. However, it is up to you, as to whether or not to use the cheap Inspector and take your chances.
We also, offer a guarantee program with our Inspection reports which are backed by InterNACHI buy back guarantee. The guarantee they offer is, If I miss anything that is covered under the InterNACHI Standards of Practice, InterNACHI will buy the property back within 90 days from the closing date. I ask, did the cheaper Inspector offer this or can they?
A.C.F. Home Inspections offers Value and not a cheap home inspection.
• Monthly Newsletters
• Multiple web site with video’s and home information/tips
• Same day detailed Inspection reports with pictures
• Fully equipped with the latest inspection tool as needed
• InterNachi Buy Back Guarantee
• Fully Insured Company
• Certified Master inspector in business since 2001 With thousands of inspections performed.
We carry E&O and Liability insurance of 1 million Dollars to cover our company. Did the cheaper home inspector even have E&O insurance or just the 300,000 minimum required to be a licensed Home Inspector?
In reference to the camera that I use, it is a flir E-5 with MSX.
We appreciate your comments and concerns.
Luis A. .Figueroa
President/Inspector
Certified Master Inspector
State of Florida Certified Home Inspector
License # HI121 / NACHI # CM-NACHI-05092895
A.C.F. Home Inspections, Inc.
509 S. Chickasaw Trail #118
Orlando FL 32825
Phone: 407-466-8921 / Email: info@acfinspection.com / www.acfhomeinspections.com
————————————————————————————
Email from Marvin to Louie’s response
Luis,
I was hoping you wouldn’t give a boilerplate response, but… that is fine. What you referred to as “fluff”, really could be useful and helpful information for your clients.
Everyone that is certified by InterNACHI pretty much does similar things. The meat and potatoes are all there, but what’s being garnished? What are the desserts?
Added value items. Every contract for an inspection mentions that they are not a licensed contractor, and I full understand that, but your experience should have opinions / suggestions on the items at hand.
I would have accepted any one of the following responses from you to my satisfaction:
– You were having an off day, plus an offer to add more details to the inspection that was paid for (it may
surprise you that I actually want this solution more than a refund!)
– A surprised response, plus an offer for a discounted future inspection
– Offer for partial or full refund
– One or more of the above
Anyways, I definitely got what I was looking for, which was a learning experience in the house inspection process.
I wish you the best of luck in your home inspections.
Sincerely,
Marvin
————————————————————————–
Then the client posted the review on Yelp. It all boiled down to the client wanting a partial or full refund. We did our job and did it well. While at the inspection, the client was offered to stop the inspection due to so many issues and only pay a trip charge. He Declined as he told us – “this is a learning experience for me and to continue”. We did the inspection, showed him things, explain things and answered all his questions.
Our final reply regarding the negative review from Marvin:
Marvin,
I see you posted your review and I see that you seem to have some false, incorrect and misleading information. I
will start with your boilerplate comment which is incorrect as I see you did not answer to my reply in your email
contact referencing the home inspection value but I will post my reply to you and our emails conversations.
About your commented on InterNACHI inspectors, we are some of the most trained and educated inspectors
nationwide and we carry many certifications. The comment I stated to you is on the Florida state law DBPR 61-
30.801 that it appears you did not read, so your comment about InterNACHI inspectors is false, incorrect and
misleading. I believe that you should do research on your information before making false/ inaccurate statements.
As for my reporting system, it is one of the top systems nationwide. Thousands of our customers were very happy
and satisfied with the reports that we generate and you are the only person that does not like it, so I believe I will
not change my simple, detailed easy to read Home inspection report.
We did send you emails with links to verify our company, and a link to our sample report so it should not have
been a surprise that our home inspection report is just that, a home inspection report. We also offered you HON
(Home Owners Network), our newsletters, which you receive twice a month, one time limited home
maintenance or repair Manuel / inspection.
As I mentioned to you, we give all our client 1 YEAR Home Owners Network services for them to learn everything
they need to know about the home from maintenance, home repair, upgrading component, building codes,
contact by email or phone app, finding a contractor, discount on local services and much more, if you had signed
up for this you would see how much more you will learn for this than you will from your cheaper report with home
maintenance comments that may be outdated and do not offer live support.
In my initial response to your email, you did not answer if the cheaper home inspector used an infrared camera to
verify if your range/oven, HVAC system, water heater, refrigerator is working or did the inspector just turn them
on and looked at them, did the inspector scan the electric panel and walls and if you called the inspector today can
they tell you what the water temperature was on the day of the inspection?
If your plumbing backs up can your cheaper inspector prove or provide a photo report showing that the drains
were working properly? Most of all, if you found that the cheaper inspector missed an item that should have been
inspected by InterNACHI standards of practice within 90 days from your closing day, can the cheaper inspector
offer you the InterNACHI BUY BACK GUARANTEE as I did.
I truly believe that you are just looking for a refund more than a solution and the solution is Home Owners
Network which we offer all our clients with every inspection. I spent about 3 hours inspecting the property,
walked with you and answered all your questions. Our report is so simple and detailed that you should not have
had a need to call us, but, in all our inspections, we offer free advice and support to all our clients if needed.
If you truly believe that the cheaper report is so great you should post it in the review so that other can compare
and include everything that the cheaper inspector offered with their home inspection such as any guarantees and
serviced like Home Owners Network, newsletters, web sites, return customer discounts, etc.
Note: We provide home inspections, not home warranties. We advise home buyers of the condition of the property based on a visual inspection the day we’re there. We are not responsible for the condition of the property only to report it to the client.
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