Scotland Yard Home Inspections

This is the second time I’ve used Scotland Yard Inspections (Gerald). I can’t speak more highly about this business! Gerald is a true professional and his work probably saves people thousands of dollars each week! Gerald’s home inspection report was extremely thorough as it was the first time I used him and it helped get us a substantial credit on work that the prospective property we wanted to have needed done. I am sure that due to the clear and precise report done by Gerald the sellers had no choice but to offer us a credit and that is a testament to his work. If you are looking for a home inspection in the greater LA area, honestly look no further. Make sure you book him at least 1 week in advance as his services are in high demand and he gets booked up pretty quickly! Easier thing to do is go to his website and make the booking, usually calls to confirm the booking and price. Good luck!

This is an update to my previous rating of Scotland Yard to express my continued satisfaction and commitment to working with this fantastic company. I hired Scotland Yard to inspect another property prior to purchasing. Once again, Gerard did a top-​notch job leaving no stone un-​turned as he worked his way through a historic (circa 1900) multi-​family building. They were prompt, professional and thorough — which helped put me and the other buyers at more at ease over making such a significant financial investment in purchasing the property. I cannot stress enough how important it is that they they have over 30 years of experience in construction and inspections. I used the information they gathered to successfully get a credit of several thousand dollars from the seller. Well worth the price I paid Scotland. They continue to be my go-​to inspection company.

Gerald was very very helpful. Gave me a referral to get an independent HVAC inspection. Thanks Gerald.

We were very picky in our choice of home inspector. We purchased a older home and wanted to know exactly what we were getting ourselves into. Gerald was great!
He arrived early and started working immediately. He spent approx. 4 hours inspecting every nook and cranny of our home (including the roof, attic and under house crawlspace) and gave us an extremely detailed report of our home, with photos.
We had a few questions on his finding, whether we should be worried or not, and he was available to answer all our questions and ease our fears. He is great, don’t hesitate to contact Scotland Yard for your home inspection.

My wife and I along with my Mother in Law were in escrow on a property with a 14 day contingency. I called 3 inspectors that were recommended by our real estate agent and each of them couldn’t fit me in for at least 5 days. I found Gerry on Unilocal and surprised to see his 5 star rating. Too good to be true? Heck no! I called Gerry, and was able to fit me in two days later. After speaking with him for 5 minutes, I knew these reviews were right and knew he would be perfect. I have to add that fitting us into his schedule was definitely hard b/​c the property we’re purchasing is two units on one lot, so not your normal inspection. AND they were both built in the 50’s. He had his work cut out for him. We met him there on friday afternoon at 3pm and he didn’t leave until 7pm! We got the report first thing on Monday as promised and couldn’t be happier. Access is online with detailed pictures and descriptions. I’ve spoken to him since with some questions. He is very open, honest and a real straight shooter, which I appreciate! Highly highly recommend, wouldn’t hesitate even a second to hire him again.

Gerald is fantastic. He is super attentive, very detailed, and really helps explain any concerns or issues that he flags. His reports are great presentations with clear pictures and thorough explanations of the problems. We worked with him on a large house we are buying and I was confident that he didn’t miss anything during his inspection. We bought with confidence.

We recently hired Gerald to perform an inspection of a condo we are purchasing in Santa Monica. Gerald was incredible to work with. He was prompt, thorough, considerate, knowledgable and keenly aware of a buyer’s needs. He was also very patient and considered all queries and responded in a way that we could fully understand him, without being patronizing in the least (as many skilled professionals can be!).
We were actually referred to a number of other inspectors by real estate agents but while doing our own research felt most confident in the reviews of Gerald on Unilocal and Angie’s list.
We are SO glad that we chose Gerald and HIGHLY recommend him to anyone purchasing a new home!

My wife and I are in the process of buying a 970 sq ft Condo in Pasadena, California. I called Gerald on recommendation of many Unilocalers here and he delivered on every item that we needed.
Gerald was very quick to return a phone call for scheduling and was willing to come and do the inspection at a relatively quick turnaround. He was knowledgeable in many elements of the inspection and gave us a lot of great notes on what to move on and how to move ahead.
His report on our condo was thorough and contained all of the recommendations that he made to us in person.
I would highly recommend Gerald and Scotland Yard Home Inspections to any prospective home buyer, especially those who are about to own their first homes. He put our mind at ease and gave us notes on a lot of things that we wouldn’t have noticed or asked about on our own.
Thank you Gerald!

I’m so glad Gerald was our home inspector! We picked him because he’s accredited and has great reviews, and we are glad that we did. We are first time home buyers who agreed to an ultra short inspection contingency window — so stressful. Gerald was a huge help: cheerful, calm, and professional. He did a very meticulous inspection and taught us a lot about home maintenance in the process. Home inspection is really the buyers’ last chance to lower the price of the house. Gerald is a great guy to have in your corner. He made the best possible case for us — and was super easy to work with. Call him now!

Terrific experience all around!
Gerald was easy to contact and schedule. He takes the time to explain things right from the start.
The inspection was great. I followed him around and he explained everything he was looking it. He knows buying a home is a stressful and sometimes confusing process and his attitude and approach are the antidote.
The report showed up the next day and was thorough and very easy to read. He’d told us on the day of the inspection to call him with any additional questions once we read the written report. I called to follow up on a few things and he took the time to answer my questions. I never felt rushed or like he was glossing over stuff — he genuinely wanted to make sure I understood everything.
Great customer service and a thorough inspection and report. 5 stars!

I’m in the process of purchasing an approximately 1000 sq ft condo (townhouse style) in the San Gabriel Valley. My wife and I signed into some tough terms with regards to timing (remove all inspection contingencies within 7 days). Not only that, but we agreed to these terms at 5:30pm on a Friday night. Needless to say, we really stacked the chips against ourselves. My agent and friends gave me a few names and numbers, but they weren’t working out, so I turned to Unilocal.Glad I did!
I found Gerald from Scotland Yard thanks to other Unilocal reviewers and I consider myself lucky. Things started off really great — he picked up my call at 6pm on a Friday night, LoL! I explained my situation (timing, first time home buyer, etc.). He took his time to explain the overall process to me (something that the others did not do) and made it a point to tell me what to expect. He also emphasized that he does NOT work for the agent, he works for you. This is important because agent’s will always have a vested interest in you following through with the purchase. Beyond this, he works some weekends (which apparently is not the norm). He just had a cancellation and would be able assist me the next day (a Saturday) and his prices were definitely reasonable. It didn’t work out with my agent’s timing, so we settled on Tuesday morning.
Gerald was right on time (my agent was about 10 minutes late though). No problem for Gerald. He got right to work on inspecting the outside of the unit and took time to look over my wife’s half page of questions (since she couldn’t make it).
Gerald was thorough — he not only checked the inside, he went around the complex a couple of times in order to track down main shut off valves for me (even talking to nearby neighbors).
He was very personable — this may not seem important, but I tend to shy away from speaking up and asking questions in situations where I am less knowledgeable. Gerald really made me feel at ease throughout the process which made me comfortable enough to ask (probably too many) questions.
Most of all though, he was patient because by the end of the inspection, I had asked him about 3 pages worth of questions! He was always actively engaged in providing me with satisfactory answers and would stop to explain certain terms when he saw my face fill with confusion (since I am a first time home buyer).
The whole inspection took about two hours. He stressed that the property was in great shape for the age and I should feel comfortable buying it. Even so, he gave me two items to further investigate with specialists. Lastly, he saved my butt. After having taken 3 pages worth of notes, I had apparently missed 1 – 2 questions on my wife’s list, but Gerald didn’t forget — he made sure we double checked the list before he left… making me look like a super hero when I had all the answers that night.
His full report took about 48 hours (he mentioned 24 – 48 hours when he left). Apparently it would have been even earlier, but he had a computer glitch. Knowing my short timeline, Gerald was great about preemptively reaching out that morning to let me know of the issues and gave me an update as to when I could expect it. He sent me a few texts to follow up and ensure I had no issues downloading it.
There’s good reason Scotland Yard Home Inspections has so many 5 star reviews… time to add another!

Gerald recently assisted us with a Pasadena Certifcate of Occupancy Inspection on a home we had purchased 2 ½ years ago. He even agreed to be present at the appointment with the inspector at our home, and was very prompt in returning phone calls and emails.
We really appreciate his help in this matter. We have also been very pleased with his pre purchase home inspection services.

In the process of buying a house for the first time. Gerald was very helpful during the inspection process. He showed up early to get a head start at looking around so that when I arrived, he could walk me through everything he found. Everything went into a very thorough report that was easy to use during our buyers request to have things fixed. He was great at leveling with me for what he thought needed to be fixed right away vs. things that could wait a while, or things that I could do myself. And this was based on his experience as a contractor and came with rough estimates of what he thought each thing would cast to fix. He’s been very professional, courteous, and always available to discuss through out the process. Highly recommend!!!

Gerald helped me even though I wasn’t his client. The home inspector I hired gave me an incomplete report. My contingency period was almost up. I called Scotland Yard, and Gerald gave me thirty minutes of consultation over the phone, then helped me line up a sewer line inspector to come out same day. He even followed up with me at the end of the day to make sure I had been taken care of, even though I wasn’t paying him. You can be sure I will be paying him the next time I need an inspection.

The bottom line: My wife and I would highly recommend Gerald McMahon of Scotland Yard Home Inspections. Not only is he knowledgeable and professional, but his customer service is excellent. Also I would give Gerald credit for saving us more than $ 10,000 on our recent home purchase, either by identifying issues that needed fixing or by referring us to other experts who helped identify them.
Here are more details in case you’re curious:
Once we had agreed to buy a home, our realtor gave us a short list of inspectors. They all had decent Unilocal reviews, but reading the most negative ones turned me off to working with any of them. I wanted the best, especially in light of the fact that when we bought our first home a few years ago, the inspector had missed some stuff. So I took my time searching for somebody great. After speaking with Gerald, I knew he was our guy and didn’t bother calling anybody else.
We bought a mid-​century Pasadena house where the seller had actually paid for an inspection and either made repairs or disclosed existing problems before listing it. We were impressed by the fact that Gerald caught several issues that the seller’s inspector had failed to catch. As I mentioned earlier, Gerald saved us a substantial amount of money as we used his detailed inspection report (as well as his referrals) as leverage in our negotiation with the seller. While there’s nothing fun about discovering your future home’s problems, Gerald managed to turn that learning process into an enjoyable experience for us.
My wife attended Gerald’s post-​inspection walk-​through with her father, a retired construction professional of 40+ years. My wife, the engineer, appreciated Gerald’s differentiating between the «must fix now» items vs. the «not a big deal» items. My father-​in-​law, the construction expert, felt that Gerald was honest and thorough. And I, the financial analyst, was grateful that Gerald clearly documented every detail in his comprehensive report, which we received via email less than 24 hours after he had finished the inspection. When I called him a few days later to ask questions about the items I didn’t fully understand, he happily took the time to walk me through the entire report over the phone.
So yes, it’s fair to say we are satisfied customers. Thanks Gerald!

Buying a new, er old, home is incredibly stressful. But thanks to Scotland Yard the process has been a little bit better.
From the initial contact with Gerald, he was extremely helpful, informative and accommodating. He truly understands the complexity that goes into the home buying process. He was very flexible when it came to scheduling.
During the actual inspection he pointed out several items that I had not noticed. He was extremely informative and taught me a lot about the property.
I am much more comfortable knowing that someone as knowledgable as Gerald has done an extensive inspection of the home and I know exactly what to ask for in terms of repairs.
Highly recommended for anyone looking for a great inspection.

Gerald is fantastic! I gave him very little notice and he worked around my schedule to inspect a property. Very trustworthy, very friendly, very informative. Would use him again in the future.

Gerald is an ethical and reputable professional! I contacted Gerald a month ago regarding a piece of property that’s been vacant for years and isn’t too aesthetically pleasing to see how much actual work needed to be done to make it livable again.
Sidenote: I’m in my late 20’s, don’t know much about property and really was oblivious as to what should occur. This unsurprisingly made me nervous about seeking out any home inspector…
Back to my experience– Gerald was very easy to reach and we were able to setup an appointment within that week. He quoted me a price over the phone for him to do the inspection with its accompanying report. I agreed and we were good to go!
Day of: Gerald was extremely thorough looking through– and underneath-​the house. I give him huge kudos because I can’t imagine it was very clean down there… Anyway, once he learned the purposes for the home inspection-​simply to find out what to fix– he told me a report wasn’t really necessary. He informed me that the house was in much better shape than I thought– more cosmetic changes than anything else. At that point I literally began following him around the house with pen and paper in hand as he had me write down what areas to target. He then informed me he could refer contractors to me if I needed and if not, gave me tips on what to look for to indicate future work was being done correctly. Then because no report was necessary, he charged me less than half of what we had previously agreed to on the phone.
I’m extremely happy with my experience and highly recommend Gerald’s home inspection services!

I’m happy to say that Gerald, our inspector, lived up to his great reviews. He was professional, showed up on time and got down to business immediately. He’s a very personable and friendly guy and put me at ease throughout the process.
I had never had a home inspection before, but I was pleased at how thorough he was. Gerald looked at everything and discussed potential issues along the way. He walked me through everything and took the time to explain things. He took his job seriously and took great pride in his work.
I got the results of the inspection the next day. The report was professional, clear, easy to read, and complete with a table of contents and photographs. Even my real estate agents were impressed with his report. Because of the issues that he uncovered, I avoided making a home purchase. I plan to use Scotland Yard for my next home inspection because of the fantastic service the company provides.

Gerald did a home inspection on a place I was considering buying in Larchmont. From the start I had concerns about the condition of the property, as it had a large ‘guest house’ (read illegal conversion) on the property. Gerald was able to do a thorough inspection on the property, point out what was to code and more importantly what wasn’t to code all while deflecting the B.S. the realtors were throwing at him. During his inspection he identified that not only was the garage conversion done without permits, but the owner also did an illegal extension on the main house too.
We talked later on and he was able to give me a truly accurate picture of the property, what the risks were and what it would take to bring it up to compliance. As a result I walked away from a ‘great deal in a great neighborhood’ because he was able to show me how much risk there was in my moving forward. In addition to the dangers of owning a home not up to code I’d have been completely screwed if I needed to sell it in a down market.
I’m incredibly grateful to him for the time he took to help me navigate this deal and know that he saved me from making a seriously bad mistake if the market cooled off. Which we know it will.
Do yourself a favor and get him, I consider myself very lucky I did…