Speaker Of The House Property Inspections

Mike did a great job with two inspections for us. He is very thorough and does a good job of explaining potential major issues and what things need to be fixed «now» and what can wait a few months. We ended up walking away from one property due to some of the issues that we felt were beyond what we wanted to tackle in our purchase. We have since closed and moved into our current home and have had a couple of questions arise that Mike has gone above and beyond to answer for us. I would highly recommend him if you want a thorough, honest opinion of a property you are purchasing.

Sometimes the best deals are the ones you don’t do.
Mike and an electrician came inspect a really large property.
Came teh day of snowmageddon or whatever people were calling it… up on the roof while it was snowing and wind gusting.
Found so much stuff
When we asked for 20k off, the other agent had no way of arguing

Mike is an awesome home inspector. He is very thorough and honest.

We found Mike right here on Unilocal and we are really glad that we went with our gut (and all the other reviewers here) to pick him. As first time buyers we were pretty nervous getting an inspector out to our place and to get the right person to look at it.
As most people here have said, Mike is very honest, but that actually made us feel far more secure with his assessment of the condo. We were really lucky and there weren’t any major issues inside our unit. But he did find some stuff that were common elements (like the roof and lintels) that will need work soon in the future. He was not only thorough but he was also extremely knowledgeable and walked us through all his findings. Our condo building is about 100 years old so it was also extremely comforting to know that Mike specializes in vintage properties and he would point out quirks of a vintage building.
Not only did Mike do an amazing job making sure we knew all the points we needed to be aware of for the inspection but he also helped us get in touch with good contractors so the things that need to be taken care of will be done correctly. We highly recommend his work!

Mike did a recent property inspection for me.
He is great. On time, thorough, professional and extremely candid.
He is extremely honest and if I was a seller I’m not sure I would want to see him at my front door. Although it would reassuring to know that he is going to be fair with his assessment of the property and not look to scuttle a deal just to receive repeat inspections from the same client.
I would recommend him to anyone that is interesting in getting to the bottom of what really needs to be done at a property they are considering purchasing.

He must be busy due to all the 5 star reviews as he never called me back on a recent property transaction. Used him about 7 years ago and was impressed however not happy about the no call back. Off my list for the future

Full disclosure: I did NOT hire Speaker of the House. I am selling my house, and Speaker of the House was the inspector hired by a prospective buyer.
I was not present for the inspection. I have received a copy of the inspection report. In my very biased opinion, it includes items that are not material defects. For example, it was noted that my house has no exterior outlets and that one shower has two knobs (one for hot and one for cold). These were indicated as «safety concerns». Really? That seems a stretch. It was noted having two knobs would allow someone to turn on hot only and cause scalding. Having a single knob and turning it all the way to the hot position would do the same thing.
Of greater concern, it seems the inspection frightened my buyers due to the «major plumbing issues» — one leak in a crawlspace and a leak from a bathtub. In particular, for the bathtub it was noted (quoting directly from report): «Plumbing behind & below the older 2^nd fl. tub, needs to be checked by lic. plumber; much water leaked through the 1^st fl. BR ceiling after this tub was filled and drained. Quantity of water likely shows this isn’t merely due to overflow drain.»
This was incorrect. I had a licensed plumber come out. He repaired the link in the crawlspace and the tub leak — which WAS due to the overflow drain. The ENTIRE cost of these fixes was under $ 250. This includes replacing the overflow drain because the inspector damaged it when he over-​tightened the screws.
So, as a result of this inspection, my prospective buyers backed out and I have not sold my house. I realize inspectors need to be thorough, but in this case I think the findings were badly communicated and made out to be much more «severe» than they actually are. All for «major plumbing issues» that cost under $ 250 to fix.

I am a Real Estate Broker of 10 years now and have had a few deals in which Mike was the inspector. Overally, I think he does quality work and walks the buyers through all the issues with solid bedside manner.
I have seen some inspectors whoe simply are in it for the money and scare the crap out of buyers so that they get repeat business and that is definitely not Mike. He is somewhat personable as well, which is nice to see in this industry.
Personally, I have a few guys I prefer to refer before Mike, but always enjoy seeing Mike on any deal I am involved in as I know that a legit inspector is on the case that has the client’s best interests at heart.
Keep up the good work Mike!!!

My fiancée and I are first time home buyers and are looking at older homes. We used Mike based on a recommendation from a friend on a rehab in Lombard.
I could not get over how detail oriented Mike was. Ginger and Mike pointed out a ton of issues that will help us negotiate or walk away from the deal. The home had some rehab work done and Mike was able to note where things were covered up (lipstick on a pig).
Mike doesn’t sugarcoat anything. The house is for sale by owner and the homeowner was present for the inspection and she looked like she was about to poop her pants.
Mike isn’t afraid to get on the roof or climb inside a chimney. He is so knowledgeable and really helped us prioritize the fixes that need to be done.
We had an inspector on another house that was a total putz. I never felt like he had our back. Mike really wants people to be happy and safe in their home. I would recommend Mike to anyone, especially anyone buying an older home or a rehab.

I used Mike based on a recommendation from my realtor and vetting him through Unilocal.I figured someone whose only negative review was from a seller whose home inspection prevented the sale from going through was fine by me.
I’m a first time condo buyer and Mike was great at walking me through everything, making sure I crawled behind the fridge to look at how to change the water filter, and showing me things that aren’t dealbreakers, but things that may need to eventually be changed or fixed, and where to go in the area for the most inexpensive repair. As other people have mentioned as well, he’s very personable.
At the end he told me that when he’s bored doing an inspection, it’s a good sign that the place is solid. His report came in within 12 hours of the inspection, and it was very easy to follow, clear, and the photos were great.
He was also very accommodating to my time. My bid was accepted on a weekend so I only had 5 business days for the A/​I period, and I could not find any inspectors who were able to do it that week. He emailed me back right away saying he was booked, but he would try to move things around. He was able to fit me in on a Thursday morning, which was much appreciated. His rates are also pretty much in the middle of the quotes I received from other places (which ranged from $ 300 – 450 for a one bedroom condo).
I’ll be happy to recommend him to anyone buying property in the Chicago/​Northern suburban area.

Mike is a true pro– he’s VERY thorough. You will know exactly what issues you’ll be looking at when you purchase a new (or old) home. We hired Mike to inspect our 70 year old home before we bought. He was extremely honest, and we know what issues will pop up as time goes on. Very highly recommend.
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Mike was awesome. Super thorough and gave a very detailed explanation of everything that was good and bad with the place. Unfortunately for us, the seller backed out (because she is pure evil) — but we definitely plan to use him again.

Mike and Ginger were great. We had a bid accepted for a 1950’s single-​family in Logan Square, and hired Mike on the recommendation of a friend. He was exceptionally thorough, pointing out things that we would probably ignore (like there being no way to turn on a hallway light from the bedroom) to things we would have needed to address quickly (like a fairly substantial plumbing problem).
He answered all our questions, patiently, and with good humor. A friend who was with us, (who is lovely, but also likes to talk and knows less about houses than Mike), tried to point out things during the tour, and Mike, quite diplomatically, was able to correct him and give us good advice.
It was almost like watching a detective. Our sellers weren’t very communicative about how old things were, but he could look at a serial number, construction materials, and wiring, and say, pretty accurately, how old the addition/​water heater/​roof was.
We ended up using his report to get the sellers to drop the price of the house more than 10%. Highly recommend.

Mike is buyer’s dream, but a seller’s nightmare. This guy is very thorough, picky, frank, and funny.
Being on the buying side, I was extremely happy. As other reviewers have noted, don’t expect things to be sugar coated. He will be bluntly honest with the things he finds, and it is awesome.
Mike will walk you through everything that he is doing, telling you specifically what he is looking for and why. He was very thorough, describing what we might expect from the biggest, most permanent things, to small conveniences that we may want to consider. He crawled into the tiny attic on a super hot day, and climbed up on the roof to check things out up close. He even tailored the «fix-​this-​first» suggestions to our specific future plans, and discussed what might change if the situation was different. Speaker of the House seemed to soar above the other inspectors we have worked with in the past, and I would absolutely recommend him to anyone looking to buy a house in the city.

I had Mike come out to do my property inspection prior to purchase of my condo.
He did a very thorough job and recommended things that needed to be done right away and things that could wait a minute.
I got an extremely detailed review with a quick almost less than 24 hour turn around. For an almost 100 year old building it was in better shape than I was fearing but does need some work.
Mike’s report gave me the peace of mind that at least it is STRUCTURALLY sound and the few issues were primarily cosmetic.

i actually had mike inspect two single family homes for us. both times he was extremely thorough. taking pictures and finding issues in the deepest corners of the house, garage and property.
the first time was a house that we had under contract, but after his through inspection, he pointed out a number of major issues. mostly it was that on all four sides of the house, the grade drained towards the foundation. combined with the fact that there was water issues in the basement and mold behind the paneling. we would truly would have had to tear out a sidewalk and redo the drainage around the whole house.
we did not notice this on our visits to the house, and that just put it over the top of what we wanted to spend.
he inspected a second house and it was in much better shape so we are moving forward with it.
the only thing i think mike could do better is prioritizing the future repairs. He finds so much wrong with a house, i wish he would say you can live with this or that without putting money into it to fix, but you really need to address x, y and z immediately. so i suggest you ask him before he leaves to tell you the top three most risky issues he found with a property.

Listen. If you want something sugar-​coated, do not go through Speaker of the House. There is nothing sugar coated. Mike will take something that looks normal to you and find every single thing wrong with it. That’s his job, therefore I’m cool with it.
He is so meticulously detailed, its amazing watching him work.
The first house we used him for was a situation of now looking back and saying «What the F were we thinking?!?» Now we are hopefully a bit wiser, and although Mike explained everything with this other house to us, I’m not scared. The reports he provides includes pictures and its so incredibly through. He’s wonderful, honestly, very in your face about everything, and honestly amazing to watch work. He thinks of things I would haven’t ever considered before. He’s smart, he’s honest, and a great inspector. Worth every penny.

I don’t even know what else to say that hasn’t already been echoed below with all the great reviews! Not only was Mike through, and very knowledgeable, he was damn funny too. If you decide to use him, ask him if your houses foundation is brick or CMFC. I think you’ll like his answer if it’s CMFC.
My husband and I are first time home buyers and watch shows like My First Place and Property Virgins. Yes, those shows helped us with some terminology and basic home buying techniques. We thought we we knew what we were doing walking into our first potential home buying experience. Not so much…
The house was advertised as a complete rehab. Not true. It was cosmetic, so some new floors, appliances, paint, and a few light fixtures. That’s it. Nothing else was new about this house. Old furnace, shotty plumbing, wonky wiring, shaky porches, and bad insulation. If it weren’t for Mike we might have moved forward on buying. He took almost 3 hours, and eventually a 14 page report to let us know that we almost bought a lemon. At his and our realtor’s recommendation, we walked away. Too many things to be fixed and that gut feeling that this just wasn’t right.
To the reviewer here who said Mike killed the deal. Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. You let your clients buy a home that wasn’t safe. And the inspector that came in and passed everything probably wasn’t very good. You want an inspector who is honest and works for you, no matter what the outcome.
Mike is worth every single cent, even though we didn’t buy this house. Think of his inspection as an investment or a tutorial on what to look for when buying a house. We are starting our search process again, and will use Mike again without a doubt.

Traditionally, realtors and home inspectors are your classic oil and water, gangbangers and quality graffiti situation… no be working together.
I’m a buyer’s agent here in Chicago, and one would think since my income depends on a sale going through that I’d want an inspector who would pass everything. And that would be correct if money was the only purpose to my existence. Unfortunately, some unknown power gave me a conscience that says «the smell really is mold not stale beer»
Mike has cost me a few sales over the years, maybe more, and that’s probably the best compliment you can give an inspector. I have never, ever, had a client complain about him. Actually, many say he was the best part of the home buying process (which makes me wonder what happened to OUR wonderful times together).
And why is this mythical man on the roof so good? Cause he doesn’t give a sh*$ what any realtor thinks of him, or the client for that matter. He doesn’t feel his duty is simply make you (or an agent) happy. His duty is to tell you every possible thing a person who was not the builder or owner of a property, whether it be a multi-​unit or single family or condo, what appears wrong… and right about it.
He also specializes in something I do a lot of work with, and that’s century plus old homes in Chicago. Not only does Mike love older pre-​war homes, but he understands them and can explain, in simple terms, what steps are needed to preserve or update a structure without resorting to expensive tear-​downs or complete guts.
The man is a blessing to the real estate industry. And to TLC homes throughout the city (and beyond).

I purchased a condo in the West Loop and hired Mike as my inspector. I did not know him personally but he was highly recommended by a coworker.
Mike was extremely detailed going through my unit and through the entire time walked me through the inspection explaining very clearly what he was checking, why and any issues or potential issues he saw.
I’m a very details oriented person and this being my first home purchase I appreciated how thorough Mike was. The next day Mike sent me 2 PDF copies of his inspection report. The report covered all the areas he checked and even included photos (taken by Mike during the inspection) calling out areas of concern or things to take note of. This was extremely helpful in securing additional closing money with the Seller.
I have already referred Mike to one friend who is also buying in the West Loop and she also had nothing but positive things to say. I will definitely hire Mike again in the future and continue to refer him to anyone who needs a home inspector.
Thank you again Mike!