Chris Burnett is a consummate professional in his field of home inspections, and is thorough, meticulous, vigilant, methodical, and if he didn't have the moniker of "home inspector" he could more accurately be designated a "forensic residential real estate diagnostician."
Mr. Burnett's comprehensive investigative techniques are so far above the standards of most of his competitors it is almost refreshingly old school by his mere commitment to detail. Fortunately, for those prospective buyers discerning enough to retain his professional expertise for this critical component of the purchase process, their decisions are all apt to be better informed ones once they walk the home with Mr. Burnett, who is patient and takes the time to check every nook and pipe gasket, and then take the additional time to answer the questions of the interested prospective buyer in a way that is marked by clarity, expertise, experience and encyclopedic knowledge of everything from electrical to plumbing to foundation to appliance and age issues. And for the information he provides one comes away not just better informed but with his uncanny knack at calculating amortization vs. risk, the arc of service life of any appliance or roof shingle, and matter-of-fact explantations of fixed opportunity costs vs. long-term expected issues that, while nothing more than cosmetic now, may hypothetically become major expenses years later if left to trend toward inevitable entropy that defines every human-made thing in the civilized world.
So those who wish to have mediocrities performing their ASHI duties with mediocre good-enough-for-whatever will not get any such middling inspection work from Mr. Burnett. They will get the truth, the best-possible estimate on time frames given that Mr. Burnett -- almost unbelievably given his intuitive spot-on analyses -- does indeed not have a crystal ball, just as no one else does either. What he has, instead, is the knowledge breadth one needs to make a sound buying decision based on his careful check of every spring and socket and hinge and fencepost.
Yes, it's a housing market trending toward overheated prices, fed by low inventory, too many sinecures in civil service that would make even tenured hippies barricaded in ivory towers blush (my snarky, gratuitous view; no one else's). But that doesn't mean only a cursory glance of a home inspection is necessary. It means those inspectors who do things less than thoroughly will be long gone once the buyers who didn't care to hear the details, or read 69 pages of findings, will have no excuse to feel surprised when hit with an unexpected major repair cost years down the road. They will have to accept the consequences of foregoing the preventive maintenance preview Mr. Burnett's inspection also includes (quite helpfully, as is everything he does for his clients) as part of the inspection process).
And these same folks who didn't have the time (remember, these are DC-area people, who all still think they are high-school student government debate team captains as they were back in Omaha) will then have to find time and cash somehow to deal with the minor fracture in the backyard patio they chose to ignore before buying. Because a big tree got bigger and shattered the concrete patio as though it were glass crystal next to a speaker with the hack musings of Justin Bieber blasting out.
The house may be solid, built well, and maintained impeccably by its previous owners. But if the new owner(s) don't do any preventive maintenance, or don't know what that means in their specific home, they will look back at the inspection as a key instigative incident and decision poorly made on their part as a reason they find themselves so addled with major home repairs now. And all homes, at some point, need repairs. All appliances, at some point, will need to be replaced. Even Stainless steel ones with burled gloss finishes. And surrounded by granite countertops.
Cursory glances are not enough; and it can't be coincidental that cursory always ends with cursing oneself for not getting a full suite of exams, batteries of beta-tests, and even the occasional old-fashioned homespun "just need some WD-40 for that one, but keep an eye on it" every so often, perhaps once a level, which means not that the expertise of Mr. Burnett is too extensive, just that ignoring it would make one's long-term repair cost too expensive.
The biggest buying decision of one's life (a home) means one needs performance analyses executed for everything a given residential property has in it that could potentially already be malfunctioning, functioning less than at peak efficiency, or about to stop functioning. Burnett misses nothing. That's why he is the best to inspect a house before you buy it.
Don't buy a home without him. Unless you like the fun of gambling not in the casino pits but the potential residential money pits so prevalent there's high demand for Lowe's.
United States
Canada
REDFIN IS COMMITTED TO AND ABIDES BY THE FAIR HOUSING ACT AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITY ACT. READ REDFIN'S FAIR HOUSING POLICY AND THE NEW YORK STATE FAIR HOUSING NOTICE.