My husband and I hired Evan from Able Home Inspection for a home we wanted to purchase for our kids to grow up in.
Evan was so thorough and descriptive that I myself, a hospitality manager felt like I could actually understand everything that was wrong with the house. Due to Evan’s very meticulous inspection we came to realize that this house was not going to be the house for us and if we had purchased it we would have been putting our money into a bottomless pit and let’s face it, a family just starting out does not have that type of money. Evan treated us like we were family, he ensured to get in every area of that house. Evan spent over 3 hours with my husband, myself, my father, my brother, my realtor, 2 small children and other friends with us, even with all these people at the inspection he stayed focused and ensured we all understood what we were getting into with this house. Later on that same day we received, via email, a detailed report which was simple to understand. And it doesn’t stop there, the next day we had a couple questions that we wanted to get their opinion on. We called and spoke to Dennis and he spent a half an hour with my father and I answering questions. We highly recommend Able Home Inspection, THEY ARE THE BEST; Christina
Dennis and Evan were at the property early and wasted no time getting to work. They exhaustively checked every single aspect of the home – attention to detail is 5-star. They don’t wait for you to ask “well, what does this damage mean?” – they give excellent descriptions of the problems, possible solutions. The looks from the seller’s agent and my agent told me the whole story – these guys are thorough. Just finding the hidden ceiling problems alone saved me $1000s and made them a BARGAIN!
I’d like to provide an update for you and how your AWESOME service saved a young guy a ton of money by “going the extra mile” – specifically, the two stained ceiling tiles in the basement. You checked them initially with your electronic moisture meter and they appeared dry. But at the end of the inspection you asked, “Do you have any other questions or concerns?” AND THEN you went right over to those tiles again, unprompted and said “I really think there’s something going on here” and poked inside the tile. Turns out there were 2 burst pipes and a leak, which you found. You barely gotten back in your car and the seller was already agreeing to repair the damage (on an “as-is” sale!) Your attention to detail with the boiler resulted in the replacement of the holding tank and a complete servicing of the unit – at seller’s expense. You were convinced there was a problem there, spent 30+ minutes diagnosing it and you were right! Once again, seller is fixing that – $$$! And giving me $500 cash for the oil tank, which is $500 more than I expected! Michael, Leominster, MA
Evan is through, knowledgeable, confident and experienced. He took his time to fully inspect all aspects of the home and took the time to explain all that was important for me to know as a potential buyer.
He took north of 4 hours to complete the inspection and went over his thoughts verbally with me. On that very day I was given a detailed, high quality inspection report with pictures, text and recommendations. Able Home inspection is worth every penny and then some. I highly recommend Evan and the services offered by Able Home Inspection without any hesitation. Adi G.
I’ve got to tell you that I am completely satisfied with your service and will be using it again. I was very pleased with Evan’s work. He was polite, professional, honest, and had my best interest in mind throughout the process. He was very thorough and did not hesitate telling it as he saw it and what his expertise told him he was seeing. I cannot thank you enough for the thorough report and the professional conduct of Evan. Fred, Belmont
Evan, great job all the way around. I really appreciate your quick response, attention to detail, and professionalism. I’m very happy with the report – it’s well organized, easy to read, detailed, and very informative. I’ll be sure to let you know if any questions arise and will certainly recommend your services to anyone who might need them. Thanks, Don, Lowell
As you recommended, I inquired with the town’s building department about the finished basement in the property I was going to buy. They confirmed that it did not have a permit. The following is the Building Inspector’s response: “Our Map and Lot file for this property does not include any permits to convert the basement of this condo into living space. Therefore, it is an illegal conversion and may not be considered habitable living space. There are even stricter codes governing use of a space as a bedroom and therefore that also would not be permitted at this time. The present owner, or any purchaser of this property will be responsible for correcting any violations.”
The director also said that whoever owns it would have to be responsible for correcting the building violation. This also means the basement can not be counted as a living space, therefore the condo has 500 less square feet and 1 less bedroom, than what it was advertised as.
If you didn’t bring this issue up, I might have been involved in some potential problem of correcting the violation in the future when I sell the condo.
Thank you for your help, Eun, Durham NH
First off: Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! You may have saved our lives from the Carbon Monoxide issue you found, in addition to saving us a lengthy, frustrating and costly set of repairs. We decided not to proceed with the purchase after all. The seller was unwilling to allow us extra time to hire an engineer to test the structural integrity of the penthouse. We felt that the risks were significant and the compensation entirely inadequate even to address the furnace problem and other less serious concerns. Had a structural issue come up, our lawyer felt that fixing it would have been the jurisdiction of the condo association and would have entailed a battle with the condo association next door to permit the repair. Under those circumstances, it was definitely in our best interests to walk away from what would have otherwise been an ideal property for us. I hope that the eventual buyer has an inspector of your caliber working for them so that they are fully informed of the risks. We cannot imagine trusting another inspector and hope that you will be able to find time for us again! Many, many thanks! Sharada, Boston, MA
It was amazing how you focused in on certain areas inside the house and basement based on your observations on the exterior of the house. Your concern about the water tightness of the area between the deck and house wall proved to be a real issue when you pulled back the basement fiberglass wall insulation and found rot and fungus on the plywood wall sheathing as well as rodent droppings in the insulation. We were able to get the owner to address both of these issues by having all the contaminated insulation removed and replaced and by having a gutter installed and having repairs between the house and deck made. Your discovery of a concealed crawl space under the kitchen surprised us and the real estate agent, thank you for coming back to inspect that area after the owner removed the steps that covered the access opening. We also got the owner to repair the boiler exhaust leak that had high carbon monoxide levels and the overhead garage door openers that did not stop and reverse when you tested them. These two findings alone were worth the cost of the inspection, especially because we have two young children. Even though you were very professional and respectful to the homeowner and real estate agent, it was obvious that you were working strictly in our best interest. Nicole, Groveland, MA
Evan was a pleasure to work with, was very knowledgeable and conducted the inspection in detail. He took his time to review everything with us so we were fully aware of any potential issues. Throughout the whole process they were responsive and were great to communicate with. In the end we felt our best interests were taken into account and could trust them with helping us in our home buying experience. I would highly recommend Able to anyone. Olga
Thanks for catching the (improperly abandoned) underground oil tank that previous inspectors had missed, saving us from tens of thousands of dollars in potential cleanup costs and liability. (Colleagues of ours spent $50,000+ on such a cleanup and had to move temporarily out of their house while they were digging under the foundation.) The depth and insight of your report and the focus on the “big ticket” issues are truly impressive and invaluable. Thanks lots! Eric, Belmont MA
Mr. Robitaille, as usual your inspection was very professional and thorough. Just thought you would like to know that I tried to get some money off the agreed price ($5000), but the owners would not budge…however…as soon as I let them view your report…they were more than happy to. Again, thank you. Will Brizuela, Winthrop, MA
Both Jerome and I want to “THANK YOU” so very much for your assistance today. As I said back a month and a half ago when I first met you (when I was the home seller); despite the outcome of that situation (your clients decided not to purchase), I am quite impressed with the quality and thoroughness of your work. We all hope that the purchase of a home is going to be the wisest investment any of us can and will make in our lifetime. For some of us it isn’t always the easiest decision to make. Your assistance today was an investment in and of itself, and DEFINITELY worth every penny. This report will greatly assist us in our decision making process. Many THANKS!!!! Chris, Newburyport