I assume you Googled? Yelp has a listing for a number of home inspectors in that area, several with 5 star ratings. Patriot Property Inspections gets consistently high ratings.

If you're buying or selling a house, ask your real estate agent for their recommendation. Individuals buy or sell properties once every how many years? Some very infrequently or never (for first time buyers). A real estate agent working in the residential real estate segment presumably has multiple transactions a month and through that has much more experience with inspections services in the area and how they compare than any single individual would.

I put the highest weight on what a pro says for this and other obvious reasons and, personally, would ignore anything you find in Yelp. I bought a residential property a year ago in a region where I hadn't previously owned real estate. The agent I used (who we went to because of several local recommendations) pointed us to different types of inspectors who she thought were among the best choices. They were all excellent, much better than I'd experienced with other real estate purchases. She remarked that many inspectors she'd encountered (even with bigger companies) weren't very competent.

And locally, when I want specific trades who are often pinged by real estate agents, I ask a couple of real estate agents I know for their advice. It's always worthwhile.

Googled and googled and still googling. I was just wondering if anyone had personal experience with a home inspection company in this area. I'm completely unfamiliar with this area and trying to help my son who is a first time home buyer.

Is there a reason to not inquire through your son's real estate agent?

Join Nextdoor in your area and ask there. Those are people who would have relevant experiences.

A good realtor wants the faults in a property exposed, so the buyer doesn't sue them for non-disclosure.

One would hope. Don't kill the messenger.

Go to competitor Realtor and ask he or she what inspector he or she would suggest.

While I get it, people in sales are motivated and act to close deals, my experiences with realtors over the years is that one is far more likely to encounter a nincompoop than a cunning, unscrupulous schemer. Furthermore, house inspectors aren't bought and sold, they're liable for damages when they fail to detect or point out something a competent inspector would find. Yea, it's subjective, but their fee isn't high enough to buy crookedness.

I revert to my original suggestion, ask HIS realtor.

I used a home inspector recommended by my realtor twice. The first one was outstanding, and I've used him again since. I thought the second was OK. When I read over his report again 5 years after moving in, though, I saw where he'd reported problems without really drawing my attention to them.

So realtor-recommended inspectors are batting .500 for me, I guess. Your mileage may vary.

We used Sherman Inspection in North Attleboro. They were very, very thorough and I was happy with them from start to finish!

All good suggestions and thank you. His realtor did recommend three inspectors although having met him I wasn't very confident in his ability to make those recommendations. When we looked at the property, the realtor had no answers for some of the questions we posed and downright ridiculous answers for others, thus my skepticism of him. I am worried about incompetence and the inspector missing something that could cost thousands down the road. Having read through these sites

http://www.nachi.org/

http://www.nahi.org/

I found that home inspection licensing is not very regulated in RI.

At the risk of bringing up something basic that you probably already know quite well, real estate is sold "as is". In my state, as probably in others either by statute or by case law, sellers are required to disclose problems or not normal conditions they are aware of that might affect a potential buyer's assessment of suitability and value. But whether such problems are disclosed by the seller, or found by an inspector, that affects nothing. Whether anything is fixed or not touched at all is a matter of negotiation. If a seller doesn't want to get involved, at best they may agree to a "repair allowance" (small price reduction) to cover something, at worst, they can say, that's how it is, take it or leave it.

Garden variety things an inspector may find - the flashing by the chimney has lifted up and could cause a leak, or floor joists are sagging and need reinforcement, there's a small leak under the kitchen sink, or wiring looks worn and there are segments that need replacement. Great and so what?

My point is - as is means as is. Houses age over time, repairs are needed over time, and whether or not an inspector finds something of interest, any buyer should expect repairs and replacements will be needed for most things sooner or later. Don't get too hung up on the need to have the Albert Einstein of inspectors because assuming anyone would find something major and obvious, the little details really don't matter.

Elmer, I'm well aware of how homes are sold and you are right, it does leave room for more negotiating but it can also give the buyer some peace of mind. The kids (they'll always be kids to me) found an inspector so thanks to all who responded. I'm sure I'll have some new posts regarding the funky bathroom situation once I can get in there and take some measurements and draw it to scale. Going to need BIG help with that! Thanks everyone.

We had a terrible experience. There was no other possible conclusion to reach other than that our home inspector was bribed by the seller. He failed to inform us that a BR and bath addition to the house had sunk more than an inch. No contractor we hired missed seeing this from the home's exterior. We'd planned to remodel, but opted for a teardown rather than 'sink' $20K into a remedy.

We got back the $350 we'd paid the home inspector. That's all. We would have had to sue the seller -- hire a lawyer, wait for a court date, try to actually collect on any court order. We'd sold our former home. We had closed on the new property by the time we discovered this. (Had the seller not packed the addition wall-to-wall with furniture and file cabinets, we would have discovered the problem simply because the windows in the addition were so out of line that they would not open.)

In the future, I would never tell a seller WHO is coming to inspect the house. I would get to the house well in advance of the inspector and *stay with him*. It probably cost her a thousand dollars. The inspector was only liable for his fee.

@ chisue Wow! What a nasty experience. Hopefully this is not the norm. This is also why I like to find my own inspectors. Really sorry you had to go through that.