You know those annoying things in reviewing, right? Like... "I'd give this place NO stars, if I could" or "I'd give them ALL the stars." The overzealousness can sometimes read amatuer, less-than-thorough, so I get it, I do! Problem is... if I could, after working with Jon, I'd give Finest Home Inspection, Jon Ellis, owner, and his gorgeous wife, Jennifer ALL. THE. STARS! I'm buying a home as a newly divorce woman returning to Champaign after 12 years away! Part of the problem is that I'm doing this sight unseen. The other part? I've only ever purchased property with another human being! A compulsive, drill-down-fact-checker who basically built life to fit the way he wanted to live! Nothing wrong with that in theory, it just kinda left me without a ton of tools to do this on my own. First thing I learned in this process -- you CAN'T depend on anyone but yourself to do the legwork! My real estate agent, a fine enough person, said he'd hook me up with all his best people. I fell into the routing I lived for years pre-divorce! I let him make the decisions, let him set the appointments, and just got along to get along. The issues started when I got the first quote from his home inspector -- $600 to inspect a 1500 sq ft condo! That sounded high to me, so I went to everyone's best friend -- Google! -- and looked for awesome home inspectors in the Champaign area. I'll the truthful, there are plenty. But there's only ONE Finest Home Inspection. Only ONE Jon Ellis! So, the reviews (glowing as they are!) weren't wrong. For less than almost every other single home inspector (almost $200 less!), Jon went out to my property, went EVERYWHERE, took pictures EVERYWHERE, sent me a report that knocked my socks off (and did so in like... less than a day!), and then... offered to go over every single page of the 40+ he sent me so I understood all terminology, all requirements, all spaces and all his notes! Clearly this is my first home report on my own! If it wasn't obvious from the earlier read, with a pretty tightly controlling ex, this was my first chance to see the depth and breadth of everything that goes into choosing a home, buying a home, maintaining a home. I was concerned, immediately, when the report came back with a laundry list of fixes. But, later, when Jon and I spoke on the phone, he put my mind thoroughly at ease! Telling me that the repairs portion of a report usually looks like that -- or WORSE, MUCH WORSE! -- and so we went over the things I might wanna mention and the things I might just want to have a go with on my own, and Jon was nothing but kind, patient, understanding, and educational! You can tell that he was a home builder before he was a home inspector! And that's such a great thing I'm wearing out the !!! key. I also had the privilege of talking to Jon's wife, Jennifer. She's the other half of Finest Home Inspection. She was insightful, informative, generous with her time, and genuinely sweet. If she's got room for a new BFF, I mean! ;D There's still work to be done, for sure, but after the prior owner makes the adjustments and changes necessary, I'm happily spending the -- and yes, get this! -- less than $100 to have Jon go out and reinspect! One thing I know for sure in this process is this... I've never been so happy to spend like $450 (and that's all in, inspection AND reinspection with a report that came in less than 24 hours!) in my life! As a newly minted person, on a new path, with a new adventure ahead, I'm really looking forward to picking Jon's brain about making changes to my new home. Jon's like one of those all purpose tools you pass up your wrench, your screw driver, your hammer for! He's the whole package, like one of the most valuable members of your team. I promise if you trust him, you won't go wrong! =D read more

We used Finest Home Inspection for our recent home purchase in Champaign, Illinois and they were great. Professional, thorough, competent and knowledgeable. Jon contacted us quickly to go over our inspection report and the inspection report told us so much more than just what needed to be repaired. We could not be happier with Finest Home Inspection and would recommend them to anyone who needs a home inspection done now and in the future! read more

No. You can't ask this guy questions for clarification on his agreement because he doesn't like it and tells you to get some one else. So we did. Pristine Inspections we highly recommend btw... but not Jon Ellis with Finest Home. Bologna! read more

Jon is excellent at what he does. Impeccable service and detailed reporting. His customer service is remarkable and I will recommend him for anyone looking for a top notch home inspector read more

Both Jon and Jennifer are first rate. Jennifer made certain, by contacting the selling agent, that everything was ready for the inspection. Jon performed a thorough inspection that picked up some issues we needed to know before closing on the house, and will give us a master list of things we need to keep an eye on for years to come (assuming we get the house). Excellent communication, and clear presentation in the report that ranged from the big issues right through to the smallest detail (missing screws on the electrical panel). I can't praise this company enough. And less expensive than the first company we contacted, to boot. read more

Mr. Ellis was thorough, knowledgeable and friendly. His written report was extensively thorough and I liked the way he included pictures of problems areas with the problems clearly denoted with red arrows and circles. I would definitely use him again and recommend him to others. read more

Such an amazing husband and wife team to help with our inspection very personable, caring, and knowledgeable. First off, we live out of town and completely relied on our realtor Marty to help us and once it came time for the inspection she recommended a few options. I called around and got a feel for the different companies and ended up using Finest Home Inspection. They were able to coordinate inspection prior to our walk through and gave us a detailed inspection. The inspection is very thorough, he takes pictures and completes a write up on each item in the house, no matter how minor turned out to be. He was also able to walk us through all the questions we had and how to approach the builder to fix the issues that were noted. All in all, I couldn't recommended Finest Home Inspection enough! read more

Had a great experience working with Jon. The inspection was thorough and he took plenty of time to explain everything he put into the report. The report came back with very clear instructions for repairs which made it easy to discuss with the sellers. Highly recommended. read more

Highly professional and did very well to communicate with me. The inspection was incredibly thorough and Jon walked me through the whole process. Jennifer was also very quick to get back to me and let me know the process. I would highly recommend them to anyone!! read more

Jon performed a very detailed and conclusive inspection. He spent time explaining all the issues, and also he was available for all of our questions afterwards. He also gave great recommendations for improvement. He is expert is what he does, and we recommend him for your home inspection. read more

They are professional and perform their job to the best satisfaction. My inspection was scheduled and conducted as scheduled and on time. I also had a radon test performed and the report was delivered to me on time. The inspector also follows up and is ready to discuss and explain any questions or concerns. I would recommend them for their quality communication, punctuality and genuine rates. read more

Jon has done an outstanding job inspecting a condo that we are about to purchase. He points out a critical issue with electrical panel for us. Later on our electrical contractor tells us that the main lug poses fire hazard and has to be addressed asap. Jon also pays attention to very small things like door handle, closet door guide, window gas seal, and even the distance between guardrail around the stairwell. When he knows we' considering renting out this condo, he puts maintenance and safety notes in the report so that we can show to our prospective tenants. Thanks Jon! read more

My family had Jon Ellis inspect our home before closing. We enjoyed working with him. Jon did an excellent job inspecting the house, but also offered great advice on how to take care of the house in the future. His report is the best I've ever read. Good value for money! read more

Finest Home Inspection was fantastic. We had Jon Ellis and he was a pleasure to work with. He had a great personality, and was very personable for a job that is so rigid. You could tell he was experienced and knew exactly what he was doing, however, he would explain everything to us in ways we understood as first time home buyers. He was VERY THOROUGH with his inspection, and he also would check out anything that we had questions about. The process was really smooth and quick from booking with him to being able to review our report online easily. We got our inspection report back within a day! There were so many things especially really small things like smalls chips on the garage that he found due to a lawn mower hitting it, or small drip from the spout when the outside water is running. We felt confident in our report and we knew exactly what we were getting into when we purchased our home. Jon was also available for any follow up questions that we had and was someone we knew we could trust. We HIGHLY recommend his services. read more

Jon Ellis is awesome! Highly recommend. He was very knowledgeable, thorough, and kind. This was our first time buying a house. Tagging along during the inspection with him felt like taking a Home Care 101 Course. We learned so much, and Jon was such a willing teacher. Jon is the owner and does the inspections himself. He used to be a home builder for years so he has an understanding of what's going on behind the walls. Other companies have multiple hired inspectors. So you don't know if you're going to get the 20 years of experience guy or the guy that was delivering Rosati's Pizza last week. To become an inspector, it's like a 2 week training they go through to get certified so they don't necessarily have any background in housing. read more

PLEASE READ ENTIRE REVIEW!! BAD EXPERIENCE!! COST ME THOUSANDS IN REPAIRS!! Keep in mind this is not the first time this is happened to this company. We decided to go with Jon because of all of the great reviews. He seemed very nice and knowledgeable and at first I thought we got a great deal with a qualified professional. He gave us the home inspection report fairly quickly with a few small issues. We trusted he had found any and all issues so we buy the house, move in and within one week we have found several things he should have caught. Things from CRACKS in the FOUNDATION to EXPOSED outdoor WIRING, incorrect furnace vent piping, gaps under doors in garage and the list goes on and on. He also identified things as problems that were not- stated a fire door needed to be installed between living space and garage and it is a fire rated door - stated there was unterminated hot water lines that are uninsulated that are actually airlines for an air compressor and anyone should have been able to see that. I would never recommend anyone to use Jon he's a nice guy but he has cost me an unknown amount of money due to his lack of inspection skills. If he would have found these issues I WOULD NOT HAVE BOUGHT THIS HOME. I am now STUCK with the issues because HE DID NOT DO THE JOB HE WAS HIRED TO DO. I called him after I found some of the issues, he came back out, started taking pictures of everything that he didn't catch the first time and then stated that the issues that I was showing him in his opinion are not that serious and that they would not have made the inspection report even if he would have caught them. I was shocked and in disbelief, there are cracks in the foundation, wiring that if left unrepaired would have leaked water into the house, how would that not make the inspection report? He clearly did not want to admit fault or have to turn this in to insurance because he will get dropped from E&O if he turned out the amount of mistakes he made. He has well thought out contracts to protect him -not the customer- so even if he doesn't do his job correctly he's not held accountable. He took no responsibility at all for not doing his job correctly. DO NOT hire Jon do not risk putting yourself in the same situation that Jon has put me in. I put my trust in Jon and now I have to PAY for HIS MISTAKE. I have read other reviews and people talk about how he crawled around on the ground or got up on the roof in the rain, my experience was a little different, he wouldn't even pull back a few pieces of unstapled loose insulation to look at the foundation in my unfinished walkout basement. It would have taken him probably 15 minutes and it would've saved me years of headache. There are many other home inspectors in the area I would highly suggest anyone else. UPDATE - After speaking with a few Structural engineers, other home inspectors, lawyers everyone says you need to make Jon - Finest home- pay for his mistake. However Jon did not offer insurance until finally I stated man-to-man I paid you for a service you did not provide the service he then said OK we have insurance for these types of situations he then said that his insurance company wanted him to come out to take the pictures himself which struck me as odd. I then contacted my insurance company which informed me Jon is lying or up to something. I contacted Jon back I told him that made me uncomfortable and I have been advised to protect both of us a third-party should take the photos he then said that he will have his insurance company contact me. I then had a number called me which registered to a company that had nothing to do with insurance. I called his "insurance" company to find out it was his lawyer which Jon lied about and obviously the lawyer was not going to help me with an insurance claim. I've tried to contact Jon and he will not return my calls. If you're in the market for a home this company is a genuinely DANGEROUS company to get involved with. read more

We're first time home buyers and needed to get a home inspection before committing to the purchase of our home. We had no idea where to start as this is all very new to us. I initially chose Finest Home Inspection because their website was very thorough in explaining the inspection process and what things they would inspect and also the cost was listed on the website as well (which was rare in my experience) and I appreciated the transparency. When I called to ask questions and make the appointment, Jennifer was incredibly helpful and informative and didn't try to sell me on additional services I told her we wouldn't need (which was very refreshing). They were able to get us on the schedule for an inspection that same week as we were in a bit of a time crunch. Jon arrived on time (a few minutes early actually, and looked around the outside of the house first). He was incredibly knowledgeable and professional. He answered all of our questions as he went through the different areas of the house and helped us to understand some of the issues right then and there instead of waiting on the report. Our inspection was on a Friday and we had the report emailed to us the following day! Jon also offered that if there was anything in the report that we didn't understand that we could call anytime and ask about it, even if it was a few months down the line. Both Jon and Jennifer helpful, informative, kind, and pleasant to talk with. If we ever need a home inspection again, we will definitely be going back to Finest and will absolutely recommend them to anyone we know in need of a home repair! read more