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| - I highly, highly recommend Russell Kowalik at Three Rivers Inspection.
It's absolutely essential to have your home inspected, given how much houses cost. The condition of your house will greatly affect its value, and it is important to know what patent and latent defects your house has. Inspection costs are not something you should try to save money on, given the investment required for a house. Most houses in Pittsburgh are old and likely to have some if not many defects, and it is critical to know what these are or could be. Here is why I recommend Russell:
* Russell is extremely KNOWLEDGEABLE
Russell has a Bachelors Engineering degree from CMU. He is a licensed Professional Engineer and has been performing inspections for many years.
As an Engineer myself, I can attest that Russell takes an analytical engineering approach to inspecting your house.
* Russell is extremely THOROUGH
He is meticulous. As soon as you enter the house, he will immediately start running the water in the house, run the dish washer, and start testing the heat and air conditioning. For over four hours, we pored over every detail of the house both outside and inside. He looked at cracks, inspected moisture, and I was very impressed that he was able to identify a potential drainage issue with my house based on some dirt in a basement sink. A few days later, he sent me a detailed 19 page report. The report categorizes issues found into "material defects", "relatively minor repair issues that which should be addressed now or in the near future", "maintenance issues to be addressed in the near future", and "Addenda." This report was very thorough and detailed.
A couple of other things
* Russell is fairly well-known amongst realtors in Pittsburgh. Two of my colleagues also used him based on independent references. Because of this, you sometimes need to wait over a week to schedule an inspection. This can become problematic if the contingency period is only 15 days. You should try to renegotiate this period if needed.
* Russell stutters, so be patient. Do not interrupt and listen carefully, as what he says is usually important.
Other general tips:
- Be sure to walk through with your inspector while the inspection is being done. Make sure to ask questions!
- Bring along a camera. While Russell will take some pictures for his own notes, taking your own pictures as well can be helpful. I also took some of my own notes.
- Read through your inspection report carefully. This can be an important part of negotiations or performing repairs on your house in the near future.
Good luck with buying your house!
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