How do I find an excellent building inspector?
I've never made a commercial purchase before but my husband and I are planning on purchasing a free standing building AS\-IS.  It was built in the 1800's and is currently in use as office space.  I know from one of the tenants, a pipe burst and was repaired last winter.  I would like to know how to find an inspector/team to evaluate the building's roof, foundation, windows, heating/cooling system, electrical, plumbing, parking area, lot/grounds, etc.  Our agent has someone he can refer us to but my husband would be more comfortable working with our own inspector.  Also, would it be unreasonable to have two different inspectors go through the space?  Since we are buying AS\-IS, I just don't want any major surprises after we close.
[{"id": "dz75vhg", "text": "maybe go on loopnet and look for similar type properties, then reach out to the brokers marketing them to see if they know someone. they most likely will since they work with that type of product ", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "dz7bpx2", "text": "You want a property condition assessor (PCA). You may also want an environmental site assessment depending on the property's current/former use. If you're using any sort of financing you'll probably need an appraisal. A good appraiser might tip you off to items that need to be addressed, but that's really not our job. If the property is in real bad shape, and you're getting financing, the bank may order a PCA anyway, so not sure how that works exactly... you don't want to have to pay for two (for example an appraisal for your own use is typically not usable by a bank for financing... not sure how a PCA works).", "replies": [{"id": "dz7c1qv", "text": "Second thought, you probably won't need an environmental. The keyword of what you're looking for is deferred maintenance. And you're trying to determine the effective age and remaining useful life of the site and improvements. Deferred maintenance is anything that needs to be replaced today. That is in essence an acquisition cost so, when known, it can affect the sale price. Versus a buyer's planned update or renovation for their particular use which generally does not affect the sale price.", "replies": [], "depth": 2}], "depth": 1}, {"id": "dz7cg6w", "text": "I always suggest getting in the experts. You can get a roofer to look at it for free, an Electrician for a couple hundred bucks depending on the size, a plumber for a couple hundred bucks too, a structural engineer for an initial look for a couple hundred bucks. Totally worth the thousand dollars if you are serious.\n\n", "replies": [], "depth": 1}, {"id": "dz8codh", "text": "You cannot be too thorough with this kind of due diligence. We purchased two adjacent buildings that were built in the late 1800s. During due diligence, we found, and I'm not kidding here, almost $3MM in structural costs that we received as a credit from the seller. We initially hired a reputable consultant who does all of our PCAs and environmentals, but during the process they found they had to hire their own consultants who specialized in some antiquated building methods.", "replies": [], "depth": 1}]