Inside Out Building Inspection

I was very impressed with how this entire process went. Being a first home buyer it is stressful and looking through a house can be somewhat overwhelming. The Inside Out Building Inspection team gave outstanding notes and despite there being a list I was able to understand what was important and what was normal.
Super happy. Thank you!

I have used Reis at Inside Out Building Inspection twice now for personal purchases and have referred her many times to my clients as well.
Though I have experience building homes I would not purchase any property without Reis’s inspection. She has saved me countless amounts of money and heartache by her thorough evaluation. A definite 5 star business professional!

I’ve used Reis at Inside Out twice now for home inspections and completely trust her crew’s thoroughness and attention to detail. One of those houses I did not buy based on her report. That inspection was money well spent. Completely worth the cost to know I would have been getting into a money pit. The other house I did buy was larger and had two inspectors on the team. They pointed out some unusual wiring and deck construction, that while not immediately hazardous, we did eventually get around to fixing based on her suggestions. Not only did she give me an understanding of what I was buying, she gave me input on how to improve the issues that she found. I’m confident that when it comes time to sell our house, we will have an excellent inspection and I will call Reis again to inspect properties under our consideration.

As a general contractor new home builder and remodeler I have worked with hundreds of inspectors over the last 20 years and I haven’t found any that are as thorough or has better written reports than Reis at Inside Out Building Inspections. I often am asked by her clients to review her reports, to give estimated costs for repairs. I find her reports to be well organized and thorough and easy to interpret. They are always very useful in helping us determine the location of the issue and often times how best to correct the issue. I would never consider basing an estimate off of any Home Inspectors Report. They are great at identifying the issues but as a general contractor we always want to see the issue in person before we would give any kind of firm estimate. In 20 years of being in this business, Reis is by far one of the best, most thorough, honest, and genuine inspectors that I have had the privilege to work with. I have had her inspect houses that I have purchased, and have been very please with the level of service and professionalism I have received. I highly recommend Reis!

Excellent home inspector! Reis is very thorough and knowledgeable, she explains things well and is very personable. And, she saved us from purchasing a home that would’ve turned into a nightmare.

This review is specifically for Kelli Dixon who performed a home inspection for us about a year ago. We were moving to WA from CA and unable to be present for the actual inspection. We decided to sell our home a year after we purchased it due to an unexpected job change that required relocation. After we accepted an offer and the potential buyer did the standard home inspection, our attic was found to be completely covered in mold. Imagine our surprise. We had our inspection done a year ago and all she noted in the report was some «discoloration» in the attic and recommended better ventilation. A new roof was installed in April 2014 and with it, eight new vents to provide adequate attic ventilation according to USB code. After the buyer’s inspection, we had it assessed by a professional who confirmed it was black mold and it had been manifesting for years!!! The damage has cost us thousands of dollars and our buyer, but that is not the worst of it. Our 1 year old son has had reoccurring sinusitis and upper respiratory issues this last year. He has had five ear infections in the past 6 months, placed on multiple antibiotics and persistent congestion with overall poor health. Our pediatrician had recommended possible surgery to place ‘tubes’ and thought he was developing a resistance to the antibiotics because he continued to get sick immediately after every course completed. We found it strange it would all of a sudden clear up when we were on a longer vacation or he would spend the weekend at his grandparents’ house. Come to find that the mold was the culprit for his health problems. It is infuriating that MOLD, blatant and clearly visible to any amateur such as ourselves would be missed and claimed as mere «discoloration.» We definitely would NOT have purchased the home if we knew how serious the mold situation was. In addition, our crawl space is a complete disaster and according to a professional contractor, the water problem has been neglected for years. Kelli did mention a few points regarding the crawl space, but did not divulge the extent of the damage (i.e. undermining the foundation of the house, A NATURAL SPRING!!). I understand that inspection is limited to visual examination and the inspector is not an expert in every craft, however the issues that we are dealing with were obvious. We’ve had other services provided in our home that required access to our crawl space (i.e. ADT Security, pest control) who all mentioned what appeared to be a significant water issue.
Bottom line. We would not have purchased the home if she would have done her job.

This review is based on below factors :
If you don’t fall into this criteria then Reis maybe the right person for your home inspection otherwise not .
1. Older home, I. e more than 70yrs
2. Needs repairs or is a rehab or a fixer upper.
3. You think inspection report will indicate not only the issues found but also point out the appropriate fixes with priority and indication of severity for each issue seperately.
4. Has images for every must repair issue listed so that the inspection report is useful to the repairing contractors .
In our experience we found below good qualities
1. Inspector was on time.
2. Inspector is relatable, has pleasing personality and delivers report promptly.
3. Inspector was great to work with and was listening to the buyer.
Key aspects which were missing which we have seen in other home inspectors
1. Inspector was not taking notes while inspection
2. Inspector skipped many parts of the house and indicated in the report very boiler plate message that inspection was not performed and call a specialized inspector for the task and this was done many times in the report
3. Inspector generalizing items rather than providing specifics and indicating exact location of the fixes .
Major concerns
1. Inspection report lacked luster and was not worth while for sharing to general contractors for scoping the nature of fix needed
2. Inspection report had many boiler plate copy pasted text details which showed less time used to produce the same.
3. Inspection report lacked exact issues and skipped many inspection details .
Ultimately we had to re-​do home inspection with another inspector to get satisfactor report.

I couldn’t be more pleased with our recent home inspection. Reid is amazingly well informed of NW construction practices, materials and habits, and she did an incredibly detailed inspection. She spent hours going through every nook of our new house, and shared a wealth of information with us about how to care for our home. We would give her 10 stars if that was an option!

Reis was 100% thorough and our experience with her inspection was top-​notch! Not only did she go over every inch of the house with us, she made sure that we understood everything she said and put the items that came up into perspective. She was invaluable in this home buying process and on top of everything else she is incredibly personable and prompt. Was willing to work with a VERY tight timeline and was nothing but gracious about it. I would recommend her highly to anyone looking for a home inspection — enjoyable, thorough and informative!

Nothing but praise for Inside Out Building Inspection!
As a first-​time homebuyer I had no idea where to begin looking for a home inspector. I found IOBI on Unilocal and decided to give Reis a call. Within 24 hours she was able to respond and setup an inspection within the week!
My impressions of Reis and the overall inspection process were all positive. She arrived on time and talked me through exactly what she would be doing during the isnpection. She brought a digital camera and took pictures of what seemed like everything in my condo and around my building! The inspection took just over an hour and throughout each phase I was given detailed explanations of not only what looked good and bad, but things to look out for in the future and expected lifetimes of appliances. The final deliverable is a home inspection report that was e-​mailed to me within 24 hours of the inspection. It was filled with many of the pictures she took during the inspection and ratings (satisfactory, needs attention, etc.) of each aspect of a home. It’s a great start to any wife’s «honey-​do» list or imminent things to address before buying the home!
Reis is honest, straightforward, and very good at explaining things. You would be hard pressed to bring up a question she can’t answer. The price of the inspection was worth every penny and I would highly recommend Inside Out Building Inspection to anybody buying or selling a home.

Ryan inspected a house I put an offer on last Friday. He worked in sections (e.g. outside, kitchen, bath, attic, …). After each section, he described his findings in a way that showed his knowledge of building codes and thoroughness of the inspection. He not only described the good and the bad, but also their rationales and remedies. He was very open to questions. This gave me a good understanding as to what sort of deal I am getting myself in to. I received my inspection report within 24h in 2 PDF files: a summary and a full report. In my case the summary was 13 pages and the full was 36 referencing measurements and building standards.
Inside out was recommended to me by a coworker of mine. Ryan was courteous, thorough and professional. I feel what i got was well worth their fees and would recommend them other home buyers.

Reis earns her 5-​stars as she is very experienced, and is a straight shooter when it comes to laying out what the inspection finds. She is very thorough and it’s well worth hiring her to inspect any residential property you’re considering buying. She also has good communication skills and is timely with appointments and follow up. All in all, it was a great experience having her do our home inspection!

Reis did an inspection for us last weekend.
I don’t have other inspections to compare her to, but the experience was great. She was very thorough, showed up early to the appointment to do a bunch of external examination, stayed over an hour after we expected to be done, and was cheerful the whole time. She seemed to really enjoy helping us understand all of the things she identified and walking us through what she felt the impact of each item was. She was so patient and so straightforward. She was careful to point out things that actually concerned her vs. things that were more like «hey, you’ll probably want to fix this but it isn’t a big risk or expensive concern».

I really appreciate the service provided by Ryan. Courteous, professional, timely and professional. I was in a time crunch and he really helped me with the quick response on the pest inspection I needed. Ryan also gave me a few tips about some other potential issues so I could fix them before a real problem developed. This information had nothing to do with the inspection I paid for — he was just being helpful! Thank you!

We used Reis for 2 different home inspections based on our agent’s recommendation. She is a little more expensive than other options, but I absolutely think it is worth it. She gives you
–Straight, no BS answers.
–Thorough examination
–Has never seemed rushed, is patient enough to explain every issue she sees.
–Knowledgeable and very willing to tell you when she doesn’t know the answer.
–She will happily explain some of the band-​aids and quick fixes that can help prevent problems from getting worse. She has ZERO obligation to do this and I was a *little* surprised when she would give me that advice– but it is incredibly helpful and much appreciated.
I won’t go into much more detail because it is covered in all the other 5 star reviews (this will be her 12^th, with no reviews less than 5 stars).
Suffice it to say if you want a high-​quality home inspection (which you do), call Reis.

Reis rocks with home inspections. She is fun, engaging, and has solid data to present and help interpret for her clients. Reis was direct but not rude, thorough yet efficient, and seemed genuinely passionate about helping people learn about their home from the inside out. She also gives each client a binder full of information to read through later — all about general house maintenance and issues to watch for (and how to deal with it). Overall, I’d recommend anyone to Reis — especially if you want the hard, honest truth about the health of your home.

My fiancé and I are first time home buyers. We found Reis through Unilocal because we saw good reviews. I agree with those reviews now after experiencing an inspection with InsideOut.
The townhouse inspected was relatively new and looked rather clean so we didn’t expect much to be wrong with it. The listing agent said there was only two broken bulbs from the previous inspection. Turns out there was a lot more than that.
Reis showed us the attic and it was surprising what was found. Some deal breaking damage! Never suspected water /​fungus damage or rodent infestation among other findings. The inspection was quite eye-​opening and educational. I’m happy to have had the inspection and I would hire her again.

Hiring Reis is not recommended for those that would prefer to look at a home purchase and just say to themselves, «Weee, shiny! Its perfect and I’ll buy it without any negotiation required!»
Rather, if you want data, solid serious data, that you can use to either help you decide to buy /​not buy, or as leverage for negotiation, you must hire Inside Out Building Inspection!

Reis came back out to do another inspection for us this weekend. Her and her co-​worker Eleanor came and did the inspection on a Sunday, which was awesome, and they got it done pretty quickly. Our appointment was scheduled for 2, but they get there early to check things out so we don’t have to wait around as much.
It’s nice to know that though the house we are going to buy needs work, it’s all little and most of it is manageable ourselves. Of course they are nit-​picky; they have to be. But I appreciate that because it means I know what might be an issue in the future, and things that we need to watch out for.
I will most definitely be recommending Reis and Eleanor in the future to other home buyers.

I received a referral for Inside Out from my mortgage broker. Reis and Eleanor were an extremely knowledgeable and detail-​oriented inspection team. They combed through my house with a fine-​toothed comb inside and out, and taught us how to use various appliances (electro-​static dust filter, etc.) and what areas we needed to watch out for (un-​guarded poop pipe in the garage = careful where you park!). We were able to insist on many costly seller-​paid repairs based on their findings, and we never would have caught how bad some of the damage was if it weren’t for Reis’s thorough nature.
I will say that they were, if anything, TOO thorough, in that they brought up every possible little concern and we had to really remind ourselves that inspectors are generally in it to show you the worst-​case scenario and educate you about every problem, however minor. So don’t let that scare you away from making an appropriate purchase! Keep in mind that having an inspector who teaches you about every little thing just means that you’ll be better prepared to tackle all the eventual quirks and worries of home ownership down the road.
We wound up purchasing the first home we had inspected, but I spent a lot of time trying to pick out a good inspector. (Everyone tells you «hire a good inspector» but no one tells you HOW to go about doing that.) In addition to being very knowledgeable, I appreciated that Reis and Eleanor didn’t talk down to me. I was more involved in the purchase details than my husband, and therefore more savvy about a lot of the repair issues. However, many male inspectors I spoke to seemed to kind of write off my many concerns and assume that I was just «hysterical» over nothing. It’s been quite a while since I’ve felt such a distinctly un-​feminist vibe. Not the case with Inside Out! They explained everything like we were all grown-​ups on the same terms — imagine that.
Reis has also been helpful in answering a couple follow-​up questions I had down the line. Bottom line, I would not hesitate to use them again (if I weren’t planning to die in the house we just bought), and I highly recommend them for any buyers who want a thorough, detailed inspection and a great report with plenty of details.