Welcome to Smart Move Home Inspection!
To make an appointment (or talk to a human being) call our friendly office!
Scheduling and Information: 414/961-1400
At Smart Move, we know more than most home inspectors.
Nick Petrie, the owner and founder of Smart Move, is an experienced inspector and ASHI member with an extensive professional background as a high-end remodeling contractor. Nick personally performs about 450 inspections each year, on homes ranging from distressed city properties to multi-million dollar lakefront homes.
Angie's List Super Service Award Winner:
2006, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2011!
Also featured in Angie's List October 2007 "Pages of Happiness", and numerous Angie's List "Honor Rolls".
"I hired Nick to inspect the house my wife and I bought in Shorewood. Despite my background in home remodeling, Nick surprised me by alerting us to several aspects of the house that I would not otherwise have noticed. Nick impressed me with his depth of knowledge and thoroughness. I would highly recommend Nick's services to everyone buying, selling, or just plain living in a house."
-- Erik Lindberg, Owner, Community Building and Restoration
(See the Testimonials section of the site for more quotes from happy clients.)
We look harder at your dream home, and we ALWAYS have our clients'
best interests at heart. (For more about Nick Petrie, your Smart Move inspector, see the Meet Your Inspector section of this website.)
To make an appointment, please call 414/961-1400.
How is a Smart Move inspection different?
A Smart Move inspection is more than just an evaluation of the condition of the home, top to bottom, inside and out. It's also an education about the specific maintenance needs of your home, the history of building practices and repairs, and the function and care of complex equipment, like furnaces, air conditioning, and electrical systems.
At your inspection, you are invited to walk along with us, to see what we see, and ask whatever questions you may have. (For specifics about your Smart Move inspection, and the other services we provide, see the Services section of this website.)
We also provide follow-up advice and construction consulting services at any time after your inspection -- ten minutes to ten years. Unless you have a contractor in the family, it's hard to find unbiased advice. We don't get paid to repair your home, only inspect it, so we have no incentive to recommend an expensive repair when a cheap one will work just as well. (We'll also tell you when a cheap repair isn't enough -- and we don't get paid to repair, so again, there's nothing in it for us.)
A few words about referrals
Almost all of our clients come to us through a referral. Many are referred by family or friends who have hired us in the past, and like what we do. Some find us through Real Estate attorneys, bankers, mortgage brokers and insurance agents who trust us to look out for your best interests. And some clients are referred by great Realtors. The best Realtors are looking for an honest evaluation of the condition of the home. The best Realtors know that a thorough, professional inspection is in EVERYONE'S best interest -- it protects the buyer, obviously, but it also protects the seller and the Realtor from problems in the future. At Smart Move Home Inspection, we are proud to be referred by Southeastern Wisconsin's top Real Estate agents. They know we always provide a thorough, unbiased inspection, which is good for everyone involved -- buyers, sellers and Realtors alike.
Although our company is on the preferred inspectors list of every major Real Estate brokerage in SE Wisconsin, some individual Realtors don't like to refer our company. They think we're TOO thorough. That's okay with us -- in fact, customer satisfaction is the secret of our success. Satisfied customers refer us to their friends and families, again and again. That's why we're so busy!
What don't we do?
There are a few limitations to the inspection process. The laws of physics, for example, forbid certain things -- without X-ray vision and a crystal ball, we can't see through walls or predict the future. Wisconsin law also provides certain limitations to every inspector. No home inspector will damage the house in order to evaluate it, nor will they knowingly endanger themselves or their clients. They won't clean out the basement or shovel snow from the roof. (They probably don't do windows, either.)
You have our promise that we will do our best to give you our true, unbiased opinion of the condition of your home, from roof to basement, windows to walls, plaster to plumbing and much more. We have your best interests at heart!
To set up an appointment, just pick up the phone. 414/961-1400.
Email works too, but may be a little slower, because we're not always by the computer.
Communities Served:
Bayside, Bay View, Butler, Brookfield, Brown Deer, Cedarburg, Cudahy, Delafield, Elm Grove, Fox Point, Franklin, Germantown, Grafton, Glendale, Hales Corners, Hartland, Menomonee Falls, Mequon, Merton, Milwaukee, New Berlin, Oconomowoc, Ozaukee County, Pewaukee, Oak Creek, Racine County, Saukville, Shorewood, Sussex, Thiensville, Waukesha, Waukesha County, Washington County, Wauwatosa, West Allis, West Milwaukee, Whitefish Bay.