• Clients include homebuyers and home sellers, investors, condominium associations, and attorneys.

• We limit our consulting inspection practice to the Enchanted Circle—Taos, Angel Fire,
  Questa and Red River.

• You have selected a home to purchase. You now expect your home inspector to find any structural, functional or safety problems and document them in a detailed report that you can use to your benefit.

• We at Certified Inspections not only document problems in plain English and in photographs, we also recommend specific repairs. And, when requested, we research and estimate repair costs. We can reliably make repair recommendations and cost estimates because we have been building and remodeling in NM for almost 40 years.

• Here are a few hundred pictures of Steve’s more recent inspections. Is your home among them? Have we inspected it previously?

Click on photo to see if your prospective home is in our recent data base

Bio, Stephen Kenin, founder of Certified

• In 1985 Steve was asked by the president of the Taos NM Board of Realtors to consider starting a home inspection business. She said there was growing need for that service in the Enchanted Circle.

• Mr. Kenin agreed to research the business by joining ASHI (American Society of Home Inspectors) and taking two years of inspection training.

• He had been a general contractor for the previous 15 years, specializing in passive solar design. He had built mansions and town homes for clients in Taos and Santa Fe. His solar work received awards from the American Institute of Architects Research Corporation and two US patents for a passive solar glazing system.

• Since joining ASHI 25 years ago, Mr. Kenin has inspected thousands of properties in New Mexico’s Enchanted Circle—Taos, Angel Fire, Red River and Questa.

• Today when Steve is not sailing or inspecting, he is building, but only for his own project, Arroyo Park a 54-acre subdivision in Taos. Arroyo Park is New Mexico’s only “Green”, “Open Space” subdivision, which includes 35 home sites on 54 acres. See ArroyoPark.com. 30 acres are open spaces used as a community amenity. Nine home sites have large lots (1 to 3.5 acres) and 21 home sites have cluster lots for townhouses and condos set in the open spaces. Your Realtor will know if any Arroyo Park property is available.

Testimonials

• As an interior architect, I have worked for many years remodeling homes in the San Franco area. Mr. Kenin has shown himself to be very knowable and through and particularly helpful in pointing out the particular problems involved in remodeling old adobes. I would recommend his service to anyone considering buying a home in the Taos area.
  Barbara, San Francisco, CA

• Thank you for your consultation… I would like to let you how helpful it was. My house no longer smells like something had died. My symptoms of…are gone. The (gas company) did not find the leak behind a wall. My exposure was only a few months…. I wish the gas company would supply all its service staff with the same kind of sniffed device that you used. Martha, Taos NM

• As a result of Mr. Kenin’s certified inspection, I was able to get the seller to repair faulty electrical wiring. I would not have known about it. This was a great help to me. Gloria, Los Angles CA

Click here for more Testimonials

Certified Inspection's Turnaround Time & Fees

• Certified has saved clients multiples on their inspection fees by discovering and documenting significant
  defects and, when requested, pricing out the needed repair work.

• Reports are emailed in 24 to 48 hours and hard copies are sent by mail at the same time.

• Fees are building specific and competitive.

Certified offers the following inspections

• Pre-purchase home Inspection representing buyers;

• Pre-sale Home Inspections representing sellers wishing to differentiate their homes from the market;

• Mold & Radon Inspections for homeowners, buyers and lawyers;

• Commercial Inspections for buyers;

• Phase I Environmental Inspections required for commercial properties by banks and mortgage companies;

• Building Code Inspections of new construction projects and for Taos County’s “problem properties”

• Litigation Support inspections and expert witness testimony for Enchanted Circle attorneys;

• Project Management for commercial builders and home-builders.

Certified's Certifications

• ASHI. American Society Of Home Inspectors, retired.

• ICC. International Code Council, retired. This is the same certification as Taos Town and
  Taos County Building Officials.

• EA. Environmental Assessment Association, retired. Environmental standards.

• NM GB98. Highest contractors license issued by the State of New Mexico. Steve has been building in
  New Mexico for forty years and seen lots of changes.

NOTE: New Mexico has no inspection licensing

• It is said, “All you need to be a home inspector in NM is a pickup truck and a dog.” Your Realtor’s experience will be invaluable in recommending qualified inspectors.

• Be careful! Should an inspector offer to repair a home’s problem, be wary. This offer is a potential conflict of interest.

Inspection Scope Of Work

• Full home inspections are based on ASHI standards, a copy of which is available at Certified’s office.

Inspections Include:

• Building structure, including interior and exterior walls, roofs, foundations, porches and patios, crawl spaces, basements, floors, stairs, windows and doors, kitchen appliances and cabinets, bathrooms, plumbing, electric systems, heating systems, cooling systems, solar systems, fire places, earth grade and garages.

• We make nondestructive spot checks of the building(s). To facilitate this visual inspection, when it is possible and not dangerous, crawl spaces are crawled.

• This is not a technically exhaustive inspection nor is it a compliance inspection for past or present government codes or regulations.

Inspections Exclude:

• Equipment that is shut down, septic systems, wells and underground or non-visible plumbing. Equipment and systems are not dismantled, personal property is not moved, paint is not scraped, walls and roofs are not drilled or x-rayed.

• The inspection is not intended to address the possible presence of radon, lead paint, mold, urea formaldehyde, toxic or flammable chemicals or other environmental hazards, nor does it address the presence or absence of rodents, termites, or other insects. Certified Inspections is not an engineering firm.

• All Excluded Inspections above are available on request through Certified Inspections and other providers under separate direction and contract.

Special Northern NM Problems:

• In addition to a normal inspection Scope-Of-Work (see below), Certified Inspections commonly identifies concerns unique to the Enchanted Circle.

• The mountains in the Taos Sky Valley, Red River, and Angel Fire tend to ooze moisture, which can cause damp or
  wet crawlspaces, mold, wood rot and deferential building settling.

• Adobe, foam form and pumice homes each has its own unique concerns related to settling, twisting beams, radiant heat loss, radon and ice dams.

Click to see if your prospective home is in our recent data base