Your offer was accepted and you have deadlines to meet, a limited availability for you attend a home inspection, unconventional hours, a TON of stress and a bunch of questions you have regarding the overall home inspection process, home inspection company and after the home inspection most likely for the home inspector who performed the home inspection. 
 

What Are YOUR Needs?

You may need a home inspection company that can perform multiple services that the average home inspection company does not offer such as: Septic inspections, Sewer Scopes (interior sewer line camera inspection of the main sewer line), Level 2 chimney inspections (Interior chimney inspections), pools or spas, indoor air quality testing (testing of hidden mold spores), Well testing/quality, Radon (cancer causing gas), Asbestos Sampling/testing and more. We compiled a cheat sheet of how to determine the services you should obtain during the home inspection process.  After you understand the home inspection services you need, its time to find a company that best fits YOU and YOUR situation.

 

You may need a home inspection company that can send an experienced home inspector within your contingency deadlines and produce a detailed report, have the experience to advise on a level of comprehension to the new, average or experienced home buyer on what defects are REALLY serious VS the defects that are reported as a STANDARD practice, can produce a report within a fairly quick time frame all while maintaining quality to meet your contingecy deadlines set forth and agreed on by the attorneys and or agents.

 

Shield Guard Home Inspections LLC has developed systems, procedures and trained our experienced home inspectors on meeting individual expectations of home buyers (1st time and experienced home buyers), investors, portfolio managers, acquisition firms, property management companies and have incorporated experienced inspectors, multiple services, customer services at competitive rates. 

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How To Choose The Right Home Inspection Company is an article that goes into detail about the options and variables you have to consider. 

The article "How To Choose The Right Home Inspection Company" was written by the owner and home inspector/former City of Albany Building Inspector Adam Clark that will give you a general idea of how to begin your research and due diligence when looking to hire a home inspection company that best fits YOUR needs. Most home inspection companies claim to be the "best" or bring the "most value" but let's be honest, in reality there is not a "one shoe fits all" home inspection company.

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Are we a good fit for you?

 

Shield Guard Home Inspections LLC may not be the best fit for clients expecting:

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45 Minutes Home Inspections:  Our Home inspections typically take 1 hour and 15 minutes to 2.5 hours. We aren't in a rush to run to our next home inspection - we leave schedule enough time between inspection appointments to make sure we have enough time to thoroughly inspect the subject property. 

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1 hour or 2 hours turnaround time on reports. Reports within an hour of the home inspection being performed. Some home inspection companies offer reports within an hour after the home inspection. We may take up to 24 - 48 hours to review pictures, and notes and write a clear narrative of the issues discovered during the home inspection. If you have an urgent matter and a very short deadline we can produce the report sooner than later. We take our time reviewing our notes, pictures and findings. 

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The cheapest rate.  We are not the cheapest home inspection company in the industry. We understand that everyone's situation is different. If you take into consideration the various factors such as: overall experience, report turn around time, scheduling, all of the services offered by our company (the most in the NYS), our network of professionals, contacts, time to schedule an experienced home inspector, quality of reports, customer service, follow up on emails and calls for questions or concerns ALL rolled into ONE price. 

 

Warranties. We don't upsell scams. Is the home inspection company you are interested in offering a "home inspection warranty"? Read the fine print.

Home warranties are similar to the spam emails, phone calls, and texts you may have received for an automobile/car warranty. Home Inspection Warranties are an easy way for home inspection companies to gain trust from a consumer/home buyer shopping for a home inspection all while up charging the overall home inspection fee, increasing the home inspection company's profit all while creating a sense of confidence with the company offering the warranty. ALL home inspection companies can offer warranties. Home inspection warranties can be purchased for a small fee by any home inspection company from an insurer and sell false hope In our opinion home inspection warranties are gimmicks - similar to automobile warranties. Read our blog on warranties/home inspection warranties.

We recommend setting money aside.

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Reviews: Reviews are a big thing for companies in the service industry. If you notice that a home inspection company obtained 200 reviews in one year, 75 reviews in one month - it would be fair to say the reviews are suspect. Most companies will request a review from a client after the home inspection is performed via text and email such as us. Some companies will request reviews from a client for weeks and or months to the point a client may just leave a review to stop the requests. Check for clustered reviews that are left within a week, month or even a YEAR time frame. If the home inspection company has been around for 10 years and has just recently obtained a substantial amount of reviews in the past year that may be suspect. Length of years in business does NOT always equate to quality but it may be an indication of such.

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Experience: As mentioned in our blog How To Choose The Right Home Inspection Company

we recommend you research the experience the home inspection company has SPECIFICALLY the home inspector who will be performing your home inspection. I like to make the analogy that a structure/home is similar to the human body. You have many systems, specific concentrated subject matters and a long list of "specialists" you can call to help you with specific issues you may have. Your home inspector should have a general understanding of EVERY subject matter. Most of the time home inspectors have little or no experience in the construction field OR they have a specific trade they performed such as an electrician, plumber or carpenter. As mentioned in our blog How To Choose The Right Home Inspection Company  in order to obtain a New York State home inspection license a home inspector must meet the BARE minimal low standards required by NYS: 

• Have successfully completed high school or its equivalent;

• Education: Taken and successfully completed a course of study of not less than 140 hours approved by the Department. Of those hours, 40 must be unpaid field based inspections in the presence of and under direct supervision of a Home Inspector licensed by NYS, or a professional engineer or architect, regulated by NYS and

• Successful Completion of an Exam: Have passed the NYS written examination or have taken and passed the National Home Inspector examination.

 

 

Shield Guard Home Inspections LLC home inspectors were and or are general contractors, have flipped homes, maintained rentals and or were former building inspectors for local municipalities.

 

Our unique approach and theory is that some homes (new construction homes) MAY be perfect for all/most home buyers but not all home buyers are in a situation to purchase the "perfect home" Throughout the home inspection our inspectors will get a feel of your expectations from the home, your resources, skill level, network and your overall needs from the home. Our unique approach to each home buyer has helped us maintain a reputation our competitors cannot match.  Foe example, a "small issue" to a handy 4th time home buyer may be a HUGE issue for a first time home buyer with not hands on experience and we understand that.

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