Home Inspections

Q. Describe the most common types of jobs you do for your clients.

A. We inspect single family residential homes, condominiums/townhouses, as well as duplex, tri-plex, four-plex, apartment building for investors as well as other commercial buildings. We also inspect pools and spas.

Q. What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A. It is strongly recommended that when a customer is seeking to hire a home inspector they should make sure the inspector has experience in construction. The more experience the inspector has in doing home inspections the better. Preferrably a certified inspector with an association membership of ASHI or CREIA.

Q. Why does your work stand out from others who do what you do?

A. I have been a home inspector for over 30 years and we use an infrared camera that helps us to detect leaks and moisture that might otherwise go undetected.

Q. What do you like most about your job?

A. Meeting people. I have met a lot of agents over the years and their clients. I've met some pretty interesting people from all walks of life. I've made a lot of new friends.

Q. What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A. How much does a home inspection cost? It depends on a few factors. What is the square footage, year home was built and if its on a slab.

Q. What do you wish customers knew about you or your profession?

A. Home inspections are a "VISUAL" inspection. Buyer's need to understand that the inspection performed is for the day of this inspection. When an inspector leaves the inspection and others still have access to the property, anything can change from the day of the inspection. A home inspector is not a "plumber", "electrician" or a "roofing contractor". A home inspector can only "identify" a problem and call for other's to make a final determination.

Q. How did you decide to get in your line of work?

A. I love the construction trade and inspecting homes for customers to determine if the home is suitable for their particular needs by the conditions of the home and explaining some of the deficiencies that may need some attention to improve the condition of the home once they purchase it. Most homes have cosmetic deficiencies that easily remedied.

Q. Do you do any sort of continuing education to stay up on the latest developments in your field?

A. Being a member of ASHI, we are required to take 20 units a year of continuing education to keep up our certification as a "certified home inspector". We can take a class once a month through CREIA which earns 2 to 3 units a month or we can accomplish all 20 by attending a yearly seminar that is for 3 days. You can also take classes on line to achieve this goal.

Q. What are the latest developments in your field? Are there any exciting things coming in the next few years or decade that will change your line of business?

A. Infrared imaging (thermal imaging) has become the latest technology in the home inspection industry. It has a wide variety of uses. 1. Being able to determine if the home has insulation in wall voids or not. 2. Detecting moisture in plumbing areas such as leaks, etc. 3. The detection of bad wiring may also be determined by the use of thermal imaging. We provide this service with all of our home inspections.

Q. Describe your most recent project, what it involved, how much it cost, and how long it took.

A. Advantage Home Inspection Service recently completed several home inspections for the San Diego Port Authority. These homes were purchased by the San Diego Port Authority in Point Loma to perform window retrofiting for sound proofing for airplane noise abatement. The sound proofing experiment was done over a period of serveral years and the Point Loma residents were able to choose the window of their choice for their homes free of charge by the San Diego Port Authority. The inspection of these homes took three weeks.

Q. What is your greatest strength?

A. My father was a general contractor who built custom homes from 3-7 thousand square feet. I worked with him throughout my high school years and two years of college. Working with him during the summer months. I then became his superintendent and had the responsibility of managing construction sites.