Academy Home Inspections, LLC

One inspector, one truck, one name on every report. Academy Home Inspections is Brett W. Cortez, who runs the Waltham-based company himself and covers Massachusetts with a concentration in Greater Boston and MetroWest — buyer and seller inspections, plus radon and water testing on request. The written history is short and it is old. Two Google reviews, both five stars, both from the early 2020s. In a July 2021 review, a homeowner on their third inspection with him described an eye for detail, quick responses, and preventive maintenance tips that made the fee feel worth it. A November 2020 reviewer came through a family referral and called him in late on an older fixer-upper they were nervous about buying. The paperwork around him is thin but consistent. The BBB puts the company at 13 years in business, started at the beginning of 2013, with one employee and Cortez listed as manager; the same page shows an A+ grade and, separately, that the business has never sought BBB accreditation. His own site states a Massachusetts home inspector licence, number 745, and ASHI membership with certified-inspector number 252416 — his claims, not something confirmed against the state registry here. What that leaves is a one-person shop with a good but dated set of accounts. Nobody has written publicly about the work in years, so the current picture rests on the same two voices from 2020 and 2021. Ask for recent client references, and check licence 745 directly with the Commonwealth before you book. For a buyer who wants the inspector who writes the report to be the person walking the house with them, that is a short list of things to confirm.