Advanced Building Inspections

You cannot go wrong with ABI! Tom and Bob have inspected two very different homes for us when we have been in escrow. Plan to be with them for about 3 hours (for a ~1500sqft home). First they thoroughly inspected and tested pretty much EVERYTHING, then they uploaded their many high quality pictures onto one iPad and walked us through each picture giving us a summary and allowing ample time to ask and receive layman-​understandable answers, then later that night (or next day depending on appointment schedule) they sent us the full color report with the same pictures and a complete narrative, which clearly indicated which areas were safety concerns, etc. Really NICE people too!

I am a realtor and have been using Advanced for about a year. I continue to be impressed with how thorough their reports are; they really are the best that I’ve found and I’ve probably tried upwards of 20 inspection companies. Tom is always super responsive to questions, prompt and professional. Highly recommend.

Tom and his team are top notch building inspectors. My husband and I are buying in Topanga Canyon which can be a very difficult place to begin with because of all the illegal building, forrest conditions and wacky homes. Tom was able to schedule an appointment fast, did a great job investigating the house, gave us some really great advice and referrals in the area. He is very thorough, spent time to make sure we understood his report and easy to work with. He explains everything very well. We would 1000% use him again.

I had a very short time-​frame to inspect a building I was thinking of buying. My agent Steve Nemeth recommended ABI. They were able to accommodate my tight deadline. I was very happy when THREE guys — Tom, his son Tom and a third person Rick — came to do the inspection. They were very thorough and at the end of the inspection already had a slide-​show ready to show all the problems. They weren’t afraid to show me all the issues that made this deal a no-​go (some inspectors want to make the agent happy by fudging). As to the other reviewer who complained about not knowing the condition of the sewer line — HIRE A SEWER LINE INSPECTOR with a camera (as I did). Building inspectors don’t do that; not ABI’s fault. Anyway, their price was very reasonable, the job was thorough. I will use them again.

I’m a real estate broker and have been using Advanced for my general inspection for the past 3 years. In my business it’s important to have a team ready that I trust and I know is looking out for my buyers. I’ve been doing this long enough to know that these guys are the best in the business. My clients all love them, I’ve referred them to other agents and I will change my schedule around to accommodate them in order to make sure I know I’m able to use the best… although they are usually the accommodating ones. They don’t miss a thing and they are always happy to follow up and answer any questions. To the reviewer who gave them 3 stars because of the sewer issue, I would always advise my clients to get an additional sewer inspector at the beginning as it is out of the range of the general inspection. It’s not them missing anything it’s just not what they do. I cannot recommend them more highly. Good people and great at what they do.

Tom came out for the home inspection.
We really like Tom. Super thorough. Fair price. My architect, my window and doors contractor, both impressed with Tom.
Why the 3 stars? Well, I had to change my entire sewer line. The first thing my general contractor’s plumber said to me after returning from the crawl space was that the house needed a new sewer line. He had photos of blistering throughout the property’s sewer line, some as long as 2 feet long. When he flushed the toilet that morning, rust color water filled the bowl.
And what was included in my home inspection report from Advanced Building Inspections about the sewer line? Well, there was a sentence about some visble corrosion on the exterior of the pipes, but no leaks. Also a CYA blurb about the need to hire a tradesman to further investigate.
Well, the plumber that we had already scheduled who inspected at the same time as the home inspection wrote on his report that the cast iron sewer pipes were old, but in good condition.
Which is why my whole face turned white that first day of construction. $ 3000 worth of sewer replacement work later, I really wish Tom had taken a photo of the corrosion so that my husband and I would have seen the scope of the damage. Me and my THREE YEARS of construction management work experience wrongly assumed that the corrosion was minimal and mostly at joins.
Moral of the story boys and girls: NEVER ASSUME.
Next time I buy a property, I’ll crawl and investigate in addition to hiring Tom or a different qualified home inspector. I really want to give this business FIVE stars. He took photos of everything, documented so much, hair line cracks on windows and other very small details I didn’t notice. And yet, no photo of 2 feet long blisters on sewer line. I really, really don’t get it.
I think it should say something that I’m still giving this place THREE STARS. They did an otherwise fantastic job.