Testimonials & References

YELP's Reviews both posted and buried within their site as “not currently listed” for erroneous reasons; but the truth is, they are an Internet messaging board with questionable logic.

Yelp's 5-Star Positive Recommendations and those that are not currently Listed:

D. Snider

Santa Fe, NM

2/14/19

Robert Willis has provided valuable inspection services for me on two residential properties in Santa Fe. His thorough and comprehensive reports exceeded my expectations and allowed me to make the best decisions in purchasing negotiations. In particular, his knowledge of building and construction work and electrical and plumbing codes were truly helpful. His reports were very detailed and included possible practical remedies of the existing problems. Robert also provides follow up post report consultation.

Robert has also provided me residential architectural services, design work, site preparation, and general contracting on a major house rehab. His professional knowledge and experience in these areas are second to none. In addition, his work ethic, keen attention to detail, craftmanship in a multitude of media, and devotion to the mission all proved critical in achieving a successful completion to our rehab project.

Merril W.

Santa Fe, NM

2/20/19

ActiveHome did a fabulous job inspecting the home we are about to purchase, thanks to them!

Alan J.

Campbell, CA

2/22/2017 First to Review

Best house inspection company that I have ever dealt with. We hired him to inspect a 25-year-old home in Santa Fe. We later found that the seller had purchased the home a few years ago, in a short sale. The sellers claim to have put a $100,00 into repairs. Robert came like Grant taking Richmond. This was a house built into the hillside with the living area over the garage. There was water intrusion from a leaking upstairs deck. The owner attempted to stop the leak and cover it up by replacing the Sheetrock. Robert scanned the walls and found standing water in the garage ceiling. Later he tested for mold and founded throughout the house.

He told me that it would ill advised to consider buying the house unless we could open up the ceiling and visually inspect to ensure that the beams supporting the upstairs floor were not rotten.

He went through the house and found all kinds of things to be concerned about. At his recommendation, I brought in roofing, window and HAVC experts and they verified every observation that Robert and his crew made. The estimate to do all the repairs was around $50,000. The contractor, upon inspecting the water intrusion warned me that if they found rot in the floor Support beams the cost might be as much as $100,000 due to the design of the house.

We didn't buy that house, but we did buy another which we also had inspected by Robert's crew. He found very little wrong this house. A few windows needing attention. Maybe ten grand of needed repairs on a million house.

I have every confidence of the condition of this house.

Merril W.

Sag Harbor, NY

2/23/2017

ActiveHome did a fabulous job inspecting the home we are about to purchase (thanks to them!).

Once hired, Robert and his team were inspecting in a matter of days. That was extremely helpful as we were under certain time constraints due to the Seller's requirements. Not only was the report detailed and understandable, Robert was always available to discuss certain issues that were found and to help explain those issues to the Sellers. He worked diligently with us and our broker and made us feel confident that the house was in very good order. I would recommend him highly to anyone purchasing a house in Santa Fe.

Anna M.

Santa Fe, NM

2/21/2017

We recently had a difficult closing and ActiveHome Inspections saved us a bundle of money and future headaches, if we would have hired another inspector recommended by our broker.

Mr. Willis is professional, trained as an architect and conscientious. He found several defects that were not discussed in the disclosure documents. There was a serious defect with the mechanical system that could have potentially caused carbon monoxide poisoning. I believe no one else would have found this flaw because the contractor we hired concurred with Mr. Willis' report, fixed the problem and his services were deducted from the final purchase price.

Therefore, an inspector can make the difference, save you money and give you peace of mind with your most important decision and, ActiveHome Inspections is the difference that I'm recommending.

Most sincerely,

Kathleen

4/4/2016 Previous review

Wonderful conscientious Home Inspection Company that not only finds problems but will make favorable recommendations and offer solutions. Reasonable rates and quick turnaround with professional inspection reports. Mr. Willis is a retired Architect and he really knows Northern New Mexican architecture and building styles. We were very pleased with his knowledge and professionalism.

J C.

Ojo Caliente, NM

7/16/2016

We did not know what to expect and took a risk in using Robert, as we based our decision on a brief phone interview. That gamble paid off: Not only was he extremely professional and thorough, he was mindful of our time pressures re the inspection dates, and he went the extra mile to make sure all the details were complete. It was a great experience -- by far the most straightforward aspect to our home purchase. Definitely recommend.

Aleta B.

Santa Fe, NM

6/30/2016

Robert is great. He fit us into his schedule with just a few days’ notice, and did a thorough job with the inspection. We received the report promptly, and it was comprehensive and easy to read. Robert also called to follow up and go over it, made sure he answered any questions we had, and gave us thoughtful advice on how to approach repairs. Also, important: he seems to really love what he does and he's a heck of a nice guy, so we really enjoyed working with him.

Kendal S.

Santa Fe, NM

6/7/2016

Thanks. A huge thank you. Thorough, professional and insightful home inspection for evaluation of a property for sale. Robert and Pancho went about their in-depth tasks and help us make a decision!! Saved us money$$$$! Excellent work, guys. The Report was extraordinarily useful. And received in a timely fashion, with photos, to meet the requirements of the contract. Great Work! Highly recommended.

Paul S.

Santa Fe, NM

6/2/2016

I appreciate Robert's extensive knowledge of the various types of building and construction methods we see in Santa Fe. It's great to work with someone who understands radon and radon mitigation techniques that are effective in this unique market and who can pass that often-confusing information on to home buyers, making my job as a radon mitigation professional much easier. Keep up the good work!

Paul Smith, Owner
Radon Pro of New Mexico, LLC

Bill M.

Santa Fe, NM

5/3/2016

Robert Willis (ActiveHome Inspections) did a terrific job with a recent inspection of a home we are currently purchasing. He and his assistant Francisco Huerta conducted a thorough inspection and we were able to have the sellers correct an issue as a result of his inspection. He also came back and re-inspected the issue once it was corrected. While I cannot speak to other inspectors in the area, I do agree with the post by Web Of K, in that inspectors may be aligned with real estate agencies and realtors. In my case the seller’s agent did everything she could to persuade us to select one of the inspectors her real estate office was recommending, rather than ActiveHome. She even went so far as to delay the inspection on the day it was scheduled, and take one last desperate chance to get us to change our mind. This occurred while Robert was at the site ready to conduct the inspection.

Very unprofessional of the agent and more than likely unethical. Luckily, we stuck with Active Home and were glad we did.

Ivonne P.

Santa Fe, NM

4/26/2016

I love working with Robert; he is professional and has a lot of experience with home inspections. He is friendly, I highly recommend this business.

Jerry R.

Española, NM

4/21/2016

Robert Willis (Active Home Inspections) is 5 stars all the way around. Don't waste your time with other Home Inspector Companies that don't even take the time to call you back. Robert was the only one that called us back. He is very dependable, honest, helpful and has integrity. He takes his time with you, knows what he's doing, and is professional. His company offers very detailed reports at very reasonable rates. He has a vast knowledge of building and architecture skills. Robert is a gem in our Northern New Mexico community because he works on behalf of his customers, he is unbiased and calls things as he sees them. We are extremely pleased with his services and would use his services again, and we will not hesitate to recommend his services to others.

Thank you Robert and Active Home Inspections for being there when we needed you.

Jerry R.

Web of K.

Albuquerque, NM

4/14/2016

The only trusted home inspector in Santa Fe. Be very wary of housing inspectors in Santa Fe as they are tightly aligned with SF real estate agencies and realtors. Robert is one of the few, if not only, independent housing inspector in the area. He performed a wonderful housing inspection and revealed potentially serious issues with the home that were not disclosed by the seller. Needless to say, Robert's background as an architect in the area equips him with a unique understanding of how homes in this area were built, deteriorate, and were remodeled. Highly recommend his services.

Anne V.

Santa Fe, NM

4/13/2016

Thorough inspection, prompt service. Robert has extensive experience in inspection and architecture and provided us with a detailed report of home condition. A reliable and unbiased inspector. Would highly recommend and use again for any inspection services.

*****

Testimonials:

We asked our agent for a referral on inspectors but only received one name. After reviewing the variety of inspectors covering Santa Fe on the Internet, we came across ActiveHome Inspections, Inc. with a perfect 5-Star rating and we quickly called them because of their easy to understand Website and professionalism.

My wife and I were immediately impressed. ActiveHome Inspections, Inc. has a proven record as experts in every aspect of the building trades; engineering and especially architecture because they have a solid grasp on vast design elements within the architecture of historical Santa Fe.

ActiveHome Inspections, Inc. saved us a bundle and alleviated our fears and headaches to proceed with our real estate transaction. Their fees were well worth it even if our offer was not accepted but luckily it was. Activehome Inspections, Inc. gave us the best tools out of their toolbox to determine how to best negotiate and present the seller with an accurate counter-offer based of their detailed analysis.

ActiveHome Inspections, Inc. deserves a 5-Star rating and I don’t give away reviews lightly.

Sincerely,

Peter Edwards
Santa Fe, NM

*****

To whom it may concern:

We want to highly recommend ActiveHome Inspections not only for their prompt home inspection service, but especially for their "MOLDBUSTERS" division that resolved a serious mold problem associated with the house we recently purchased in Santa Fe.

Before acceptance of our final offer on this house, we needed to hire an independent home inspector to make sure we were making a sound investment. In fact, our bank required it. The real estate agent made a recommendation with just one inspector but something told me not to always trust a recommendation without verification. It was almost like the agent was pushing us towards one particular inspector without providing a list of other inspectors to choose from. I have since learned that esthetically speaking, Real Estate companies should either provide a list of certified home inspectors or direct their clients to the local Internet directories and allow buyers to make their informed decisions. We come from the east and we’ve been exposed to several situations involving kickbacks and cronyism with bad outcomes. We didn’t want to repeat this all over again. So let the searches begin.

We called the home inspector recommended to us and those we found over the Internet. Like with most professional services, they had a variety of backgrounds and sales pitches. We required referrals or a list of their prior clients to contact and we were amazed on how many inspectors wouldn’t accommodate us by claiming their former clients didn’t want to be bothered with calls. This of course disqualified them and we crossed them off our list without further investigation. Other inspectors wouldn’t give us their fees without over complicating their service and leaving us in the dark wondering what they were going to charge until at the end of the inspection. Some left us with the impression of being overloaded with many inspections and they needed to schedule our inspection weeks ahead but requested a deposit just to get on their scheduling board without giving us a firm date. It all seemed like such a silly game for a relatively simple task because most home inspectors are retired individuals from the building trades such as contactors and even as former engineers and architects.

Here are my recommendations for ActiveHome Inspections for the following reasons:

First we found AHI on the Internet and before contacting them we reviewed their good looking Website and learned a lot about their service before calling because of their professional and easy to understand Website presentation.
We fell in love with their little green-like germ character called: "MOLDBUSTERS" and we felt that anybody with a good sense of humor are usually intelligent people.
The AHI rate card was clearly displayed on their Website so if they looked to be too expensive for us, we simply would not have called. But we did because their rates were very fair and they offered us an easy to understand inspection agreement before contracting with them.

It was all spelled out but we had to see if AHI services were for real as illustrated on their Website. The owner of AHI answered my questions clearly and gave me a rock solid price over the phone just as indicated by the Web and more importantly, he scheduled our inspection within 48 hours. AHI was accommodating and we were able to schedule and sign their agreement on the same day as our inspection. Furthermore, they promised to have their report to us within 48 hours and they did in a timely manner.

On the day of the inspection, the inspector suggested that I should walk along with him so he could point out any defects he found and explain his findings that would also be included within the written report and analysis. AHI's "Building Inspection Report” was very clear, thorough and it gave me a better understanding on the conditions and the potential for a house of this age, and he provided me with a cost estimate for pending repairs. AHI’s owner and inspector took many digital photographs that accompanied his written report with detailed notes. He pointed out many minor defects, but even with minor defects, they can add up to a major cost factor and who’s going to pay for them? Based on his architectural and construction background we were able to make an informed decision. He didn’t make a big deal out of minor items that could be fixed by me or a handyman but he pointed out the much larger problems; some that should be fixed by a licensed contractor. All in all and after the results of AHI’s “Building Inspection Report, they gave us a better understanding on how to proceed with the repairs unique to this region.

AHI gave us all the necessary information to bring back to the table that enabled us to realistically negotiate on a logically basis to lower the Seller’s asking price within this marketplace. AHI made it possible based on their professional presentation and their detailed report with photographs and notes. AHI saved us at least $20,000 and provided us with a list of licensed and reliable contractors to hire to fix up this "fixer-upper."

Two months after the closing and taking possession of our new house we commence with the repairs to the roof, stucco restoration and replaced some of the HVAC equipment all outlined within AHI's inspection service. AHI told me at the time of their home inspection that he believes we had some mold issues that were probably hidden between the walls due to the leaky roof and the presence of some odors. Mold testing wasn’t part of the first inspection, although AHI had recommended having it tested in the future. We were aware of this possibility because of the MOLDBUSTERS’ slogan, “Musty Odors Be-Gone, Clean Air Be-safe.” During the first walkthroughs, this house did smell a bit musty in some areas.

We hired AHI again for a very modest mold testing fee that included a lab analysis.

MOLDBUSTERS found minor mold problems and identified them within their 48-hour lab service. MOLDBUSTERS provided us with a new report and lab analysis on how to best remove and clean it up. MOLDBUSTERS performed the Remediation work and did not charge us an arm and leg. Within just two days they had carefully removed the infested mold areas and replaced the infected sheetrock. They recommended using their Biocide mold bomb product to fog the rest of the house to absolutely remove all remaining mold spores, stop any further mold growth and disinfect the entire living areas. This only took another day and after the final air samplings, AHI proceeded to vacuum the disintegrated mold spores and dead insects. Our new house smells like that new car smell and we were able to move in with confidence because now, we’re living in a safe and healthy environment. Also, AHI provided an EPA Certificate of Compliance to pass on to our insurance company.

This review of the aforementioned company is my personal opinion about every aspect of a very knowledgeable, honest, prompt, reasonable and friendly company. Therefore I’m giving ActiveHome Inspections and MOLDBUSTERS my highest recommendation.

Mr. and Mrs. P. S. Whiteley

Santa Fe, NM

*****