Bruce Fox
Chief Librarian, Roden Branch Library

Hope this finds you well. I’m emailing because you guys did such a great job assessing my apartment, And my now-husband’s (Mike) apartment, And our close friends house as well as my whole condo association (Shorelane Condominium association). My condo association was so impressed with the report you guys did for me that they hired you guys to look at the whole block.

I’m emailing to see if you guys by any chance would do inspections in Philadelphia PA. I have though a bad feeling that you guys may not because inspections are state specific. If not, would you be able to suggest any one over in Philly that does/ how to go about finding an inspector that is almost (although never) as good as you guys.

Cheers, Eunice and Mike

Tom,

Thanks again

I am opening a new dance studio for children and adults here in the city. I found, in Logan Square, an older building with a lot of character and space, but was concerned there may some hidden surprises. Due to the new CAF license act that went into effect last year, the city is especially picky about where children’s activities take place. I was referred to Tom by my lawyer, who said that all building owners know (and fear) his name. Tom has been inspecting for nearly 30 years, and was very personable and thorough. He urges his clients to walk through the inspection with him so they can see problems first hand. He spent two hours at my space and afterwards, gave me a very honest assessment of his findings. His report was extremely detailed, and included pictures of all discrepancies and an estimate of how much it would cost to bring everything up to code. Thanks to his diligence I have saved myself a lot of blood, sweat and tears. I would definitely use his services again, and will recommend him to my colleagues and friends. Thanks, Tom!

Consider as well that that home sellers and real estate agents hate Tomacor. He finds defects that others don’t, and sometimes deals fall through as a result. Could it be that some of the negative reviews have been fabricated by those with a vested interest in tarring Tom’s reputation?

Tom saved us from buying a house which, while attractive on the surface, had myriad underlying problems that neither we nor our agent found in multiple showings, including termite damage, severe roof issues, major fire hazards, asbestos, exposed wiring, and much more.

Some of his critics say “oh, that’s how Tom cashes in – he gets people to hire him for the next place they want to buy, so he gets double the business”. Yeah, that’s right – he gets double the business because he DESERVES it. Seriously, we would have moved into a physical and financial deathtrap without Tom.

When we bought our eventual house, it was a huge relief when Tom did NOT find huge problems! He found dozens of small problems, and in many cases made predictions about where leaks and other hazards might appear later, all of which have come true. No inspector can find every problem, but he came damn close. Disregard the reviewer who complained that he didn’t find everything. You won’t find a more thorough inspector than Tom.

While it’s valid to object to the lack of technology involved (yes, he should provide digitized reports and have some newer gadgets available), his immense knowledge and experience easily eclipse those shortcomings. It’s also true that he gets riled up when he sees sloppy workmanship or code violations. My advice for the home buyer is to make sure you ask questions about the impact of the various issues. Some things are easily fixed, and some are not!

Again, Tom is not perfect. But for most of us, this is the biggest financial transaction of our lives. Don’t cross your fingers and trust your realtor’s favorite inspector or somebody you found in the phone book. Hire Tom, and consider it money extremely well-spent.

I would like to thank you for the exceptional inspection you recently provided. This is my third house purchase and previous inspections were woefully inadequate compared to your comprehensive and detailed report. And while I greatly appreciate your meticulous approach, I am most grateful that you explained everything to me and tolerated my layman’s ignorance.

For once, I am fully confident that I know all the risks of my purchase, both current and future. Thank you for providing me and my family with a level of comfort during the always nerve-wracking process of purchasing a house.

Incidentally, your inspection saved me $2,000 on the purchase price.

I trust you are doing well. From your web site it appears that things are going well for you. My wife and I hired you to do an inspection of our current home at 2131 W. Shakespeare Ave., Chicago about 10 years ago. You did a great job and identified a number of issues for us. We actually had a masonry issue addressed 18 months ago that you identified in that inspection. The steel they took out of the building looked like swiss cheese. If you hadn’t ID’d if for us we would not have had the seller discount the price for the work that would become necessary. We were very grateful that you identified something that could not be seen by the naked eye at the time of the inspection.

As it turned out, the sellers did not overtly object or put up any underhanded roadblocks to his inspection, but they (and even our agent on the buyer side) were clearly and visibly annoyed when he showed up on the premises. Suddenly, both agents had countless appointments to make and pressured us to wrap up the inspection ASAP. The seller’s agent also informed us at the inspection that we wouldn’t have access to the common areas of the building for purposes of inspection. Tom forcefully rebuffed them on both counts. He reasonably explained that, as potential owners in this building, we had a right and obligation to know the status and condition of the common areas, as any major work on them would impact us in the form of either increased monthly association fees or special assessments down the line. The agents were of little help, but Tom eventually found a way for us to get access to the roof and common areas before the inspection was over.

I was impressed by Tom’s thoroughness, dedication, and enthusiasm for his profession. His approach is inclusive and professorial – during the three hour inspection, he walked me through all of the major systems, explaining their functions and what kind of work or maintenance they may require in the future. The experience was educational, and I learned a lot about what it means to be a responsible stakeholder in the homebuying process.

While Tom’s inspection did not reveal any glaring problems, he did find a number of issues that we decided to address in the negotiations. All items from the inspection are highlighted (with budgeted repair amounts) in a 2″ binder that you receive at the end of the inspection. Following the inspection, Tom spent an hour with me at a coffee shop (away from the agents!) giving a detailed recap of the issues and emphasized which ones he thought were the most critical.

As I said before, there were not any major issues that arose from his inspection, but we were able to get a pretty significant buyer’s credit at closing for the repairs that did need to be made- and the credit more than covered the cost of Tom’s services, so we did well.

Tom is a class act among his profession, and I endorse him with the utmost sincerity and enthusiasm.