by Clay McAdam
Once the construction of our house in Los Sabinos was underway, I decided to make a trip to Ajijic in June. At that time, it was recommended that I contact a local building inspector with a good reputation to look at the construction. At that point, the walls were up, and the roof was on. I made an appointment by e-mail with Brad Grieve, who was highly recommended, to look at the construction at that point. Brad holds a degree in Engineering Science, and has worked at Lakeside as a real estate agent. He is also a certified building inspector. Brad accompanied me to the house in June, and conducted an inspection on the construction completed to that point. He was quite thorough in the inspection, even to the point of looking over the wall beside which our house was being built, since there is an arroyo running alongside the wall. He pronounced that there should be no problem with the arroyo and water erosion. Brad recommended that two weeks prior to closing on the house, we should contact him for another inspection.
With two weeks left to the closing date, Brad was again contacted, and a date was set for another inspection. On inspection day, Brad conducted a very thorough inspection of the building and grounds. He noted any deficiencies found, and explained them to me. Following the inspection, Brad phoned the developer’s agent and outlined his findings, and suggested that these be completed prior to closing. Brad also compiles a report, either a summary, or a full report, depending on your wishes.
The day following the inspection by Brad, I did a walk-through with the agent for the developer. We observed that many of the items on the list had already been attended to, and the tradesmen were working on the others. Brad also suggested that he conduct one more inspection to ensure that the remaining details were resolved. The agent for the developer was in total agreement with this suggestion. Brad agreed that he would call the agent and arrange for a time and date prior to the closing.
Brad works for the client and he will tell you that he has no authority to force a builder or seller to remedy the any flaws he finds. However, the builders or sellers know that if he makes suggestions, it may well mean that it could make or break a deal. A comment that was made to me was, “when Brad shows up, things are done properly.”
If you want your property inspected before purchasing, Brad Grieve is well known at Lakeside, and has saved many of my friends a lot of money by what he has found during his inspections. Brad’s company is Ajijic Home Inspections, the website is www.inspec-mx.com, and his e-mail address is brad.grieve@inspec-mx.com.