NYS License # 16000113811 · InterNACHI NACHI23052331

Areas we serve

Home Inspection Service Areas in New York: NYC, Long Island & Westchester

Inspecwise is a New York State-licensed, InterNACHI-certified home inspector based in South Ozone Park, Queens. We inspect houses, co-ops, condos and two- and three-family buildings in all five boroughs, Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester, and in other areas on request, in English, Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi and Bengali. Pick your area for local housing data, the records to pull and the services we offer there.

The short answer

Where does Inspecwise inspect homes?

In every borough of New York City, on Long Island and in Westchester, plus other areas on request.

Inspecwise inspects homes in all five New York City boroughs (Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island), in Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, and in Westchester County, and in other areas on request. We are based in South Ozone Park, Queens. The State’s Standards of Practice are the same in every one of these areas. What changes is the housing, the records you can pull and the utilities behind the walls, which is what each area page covers.

5 boroughs

Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island, each with its own page.

3 counties

Nassau and Suffolk on Long Island, and Westchester, with town pages where the records justify one.

32 area pages

Home inspection, pre-listing, co-op, multi-family and commercial pages under one roof, linked below.

5 languages

English, Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi and Bengali, in every area.

Two inspectors outside a brick walk-up building with fire escapes in New York City

New York City

Home inspector in New York City: Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island

In the City’s tax-lot file, 637,835 one- to three-family lots have a recorded year of construction, and 51 percent of them were built before 1940. NYC PLUTO 26v2 is the source for every borough figure on this page. A New York City purchase also runs on City records: the Department of Buildings issues the certificate of occupancy, and DOB’s own page says buildings built before 1938 are not required to have one unless later alterations changed use, egress or occupancy, in which case a Letter of No Objection may confirm legal use.

The apartment market is its own world: co-ops and condos inspected inside the unit, with the building documented elsewhere. Our New York City page covers the whole City, and the boroughs below each have their own page, a pre-listing page for sellers and a commercial page.

50%

of one- to three-family lots built before 1940

Queens

Home base: attached rows and detached houses side by side, and the largest count of one- to three-family houses with a recorded year of the five boroughs.

Two- and three-family share of small houses
44%
Median year built, all housing units
1953
Homes in buildings of 5 or more units
~42%
Occupied homes heated with oil
~10%
Basements at or above 4 pCi/L
3.7% of 598
Insured flood-claim records
14,842

Includes: Astoria, Long Island City, Sunnyside, Woodside, Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, Corona, Flushing, Bayside, Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, Richmond Hill, Woodhaven, Ozone Park, South Ozone Park, Howard Beach, Jamaica, Hollis, Queens Village, Rosedale, Far Rockaway.

71%

of one- to three-family lots built before 1940

Brooklyn

A large pre-war stock, where two- and three-family houses are the majority of small houses.

Two- and three-family share of small houses
68%
Median year built, all housing units
1944
Homes in buildings of 5 or more units
~55%
Occupied homes heated with oil
~7%
Basements at or above 4 pCi/L
10.2% of 528
Insured flood-claim records
6,286

Includes: Brooklyn Heights, Park Slope, Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Bushwick, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights, Flatbush, Sunset Park, Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Sheepshead Bay, Canarsie, East New York.

46%

of one- to three-family lots built before 1940

The Bronx

Two- and three-family houses alongside larger apartment buildings, and more oil heat than Brooklyn or Queens.

Two- and three-family share of small houses
65%
Median year built, all housing units
1955
Homes in buildings of 5 or more units
~72%
Occupied homes heated with oil
~21%
Basements at or above 4 pCi/L
7.9% of 101
Insured flood-claim records
1,939

Includes: Riverdale, Kingsbridge, Fordham, Parkchester, Pelham Bay, Throgs Neck, Morris Park, Co-op City, Mott Haven.

5,599

one- to three-family lots in the whole borough

Manhattan

Mostly apartments, so the inspection is of one unit and the building is documented separately.

Two- and three-family share of small houses
58%
Median year built, all housing units
1951
Homes in buildings of 5 or more units
~95%
Occupied homes heated with oil
~15%
Basements at or above 4 pCi/L
12.2% of 131
Insured flood-claim records
1,427

Includes: Upper West Side, Upper East Side, Harlem, Washington Heights, Inwood, Chelsea, Greenwich Village, East Village, Murray Hill, Tribeca, Financial District.

20%

of one- to three-family lots built before 1940

Staten Island

The newest house stock of the five boroughs by this measure, mostly one-family houses.

Two- and three-family share of small houses
30%
Median year built, all housing units
1974
Homes in buildings of 5 or more units
~13%
Occupied homes heated with oil
~4%
Basements at or above 4 pCi/L
6.3% of 253
Insured flood-claim records
19,370

Includes: St. George, Port Richmond, New Dorp, Great Kills, Annadale, Tottenville, Todt Hill.

Borough shares are from NYC PLUTO 26v2 (one- to three-family tax lots with a recorded year). Other figures are rounded Census estimates (~ means about), State Department of Health radon kit results (not a random sample; small counts move a lot) and OpenFEMA insured flood-claim records counted by named storm: they are not a ranking.

Borough by borough

What to expect from a home inspection in each borough

The same Standards, five different building stocks. These are the numbers behind each borough, with the page that goes deeper.

Queens

The City’s tax-lot file lists 270,875 one- to three-family lots with a recorded year, and 50 percent were built before 1940. About 44 percent of the borough’s small houses are two- or three-family. Insured flood-claim records number 14,842, 7,623 of them tied to Hurricane Sandy. Start with our Queens page, and for the neighborhood we live in, South Ozone Park.

Brooklyn

190,219 lots with a recorded year, 71 percent built before 1940, and 68 percent two- or three-family. Only about 7 percent of occupied homes burn oil; about 72 percent use utility gas. Original wiring, piping and the certificate of occupancy of a multi-family house are the usual questions: Brooklyn page, pre-war homes.

The Bronx

61,967 lots with a recorded year, 46 percent built before 1940, and 65 percent two- or three-family. About 21 percent of occupied homes heat with oil, more than in Brooklyn or Queens, so boilers and tanks matter. The Bronx page has the local records and the heating guide the system questions.

Manhattan

Only 5,599 one- to three-family lots, so a Manhattan purchase is usually an apartment: about 95 percent of units are in buildings of five or more units. The inspection covers the unit, and the building is documented separately. The State’s radon kits found 12.2% of 131 basements at or above 4 pCi/L, a small sample. See co-ops and condos in Manhattan and the Manhattan page.

Staten Island

109,175 lots with a recorded year, only 20 percent built before 1940, and mostly one-family houses. About 85 percent of occupied homes use utility gas and 4 percent oil. Insured flood-claim records number 19,370, 4,094 tied to Sandy: roofs, grading and water are the questions. Staten Island page, roofs.

Across the City

A buyer comparing boroughs should compare building types, not only prices: a brick two-family in Brooklyn, a co-op in Manhattan and a detached house on Staten Island raise different questions. Our New York City page compares them, and the certificate of occupancy guide applies in every borough.

A two-story house with a paved walkway and lawn, typical of Long Island suburbs

Long Island

Home inspector on Long Island: Nassau and Suffolk counties

Long Island’s houses are newer and more often oil-heated than the City’s. The Census Bureau’s estimated median year built is 1955 in Nassau and 1970 in Suffolk, about 47 percent of Nassau’s housing units date from 1940 to 1959, and about 44 percent of Suffolk’s occupied homes heat with fuel oil. Insured flood-claim records tell their own story: 51,523 in Nassau and 33,936 in Suffolk, most of them tied to Hurricane Sandy (26,964 and 13,168).

Outside New York City, the certificate of occupancy comes from the town, village or city building department: the State’s Uniform Code has each local code-enforcement authority issue a certificate of occupancy or certificate of compliance for permitted work and for conversions from one use to another. Ask for it by address, and ask the same office about permits. Homes not on public sewer or water raise their own questions: the Standards exclude wells, septic systems and cesspools from the inspection, so a specialist tests them. Our add-on tests guide says which ones.

1955

median year built (Census estimate)

Nassau County

Mostly post-war housing, with gas the main heating fuel and oil in about one home in four. The Levittown and Hicksville page covers what the records say about its houses.

Median year built, all housing units
1955
Housing units built before 1940
~19%
Occupied homes heated with oil
~26%
Occupied homes heated with utility gas
~62%
Basements at or above 4 pCi/L
5.7% of 837
Insured flood-claim records (Sandy)
51,523 (26,964)

Includes: Great Neck, Port Washington, Garden City, Mineola, Westbury, Hicksville, Levittown, Massapequa, Freeport, Valley Stream, Hempstead, Rockville Centre, Long Beach.

44%

of occupied homes heated with fuel oil

Suffolk County

Newer housing than every borough except Staten Island, and the highest oil-heat share of the eight areas here. Some homes are not on public sewer or water, which the Standards leave outside an inspection.

Median year built, all housing units
1970
Housing units built before 1940
~9%
Occupied homes heated with oil
~44%
Occupied homes heated with utility gas
~41%
Basements at or above 4 pCi/L
7.6% of 580
Insured flood-claim records (Sandy)
33,936 (13,168)

Includes: Huntington, Northport, Commack, Smithtown, Babylon, Bay Shore, Islip, Patchogue, Ronkonkoma, Riverhead, Southampton.

2

counties, one island

Long Island overview

The island-wide page covers what Nassau and Suffolk have in common: older oil systems, post-war houses, basements and the records you ask a town for.

A New England style house with blue hydrangeas in front, the kind of home we inspect in Westchester

Westchester

Home inspector in Westchester County

Westchester sits between the City and Long Island in age: about 28 percent of its housing units were built before 1940, more than in Nassau (19 percent) or Suffolk (9 percent), and about 28 percent of occupied homes heat with oil against 52 percent with utility gas.

The State Department of Health’s radon kit results are the largest sample of the eight areas here: 2,875 basements tested, 17.5% at or above the 4 pCi/L action level. Flood claims look different too: of 12,259 insured claim records, 1,729 are tied to Hurricane Ida and 438 to Sandy, the reverse of Long Island. Parts of the county are not on public sewer or water, so the same specialist questions apply as on Long Island, and Westchester County has its own private-well testing rule tied to the sale contract: confirm the current text with the county health department and ask your attorney how it applies.

28%

of housing units built before 1940

Westchester County

Older housing than Nassau or Suffolk, oil heat in about a quarter of homes, and well and septic questions in parts of the county.

Median year built, all housing units
1959
Housing units built before 1940
~28%
Occupied homes heated with oil
~28%
Occupied homes heated with utility gas
~52%
Basements at or above 4 pCi/L
17.5% of 2,875
Insured flood-claim records (Sandy)
12,259 (438)

Includes: White Plains, Yonkers, New Rochelle, Mount Vernon, Scarsdale, Mamaroneck, Pelham, Bronxville, Tarrytown, Ossining, Peekskill.

2,875

basements in the State’s radon kit data

White Plains

The county seat: older houses, co-ops and condos, and a downtown with its own records. Our White Plains page uses the local data.

1,729

flood-claim records tied to Hurricane Ida

Yonkers and New Rochelle

Pre-war colonials and a flood history that leans toward Ida. The page covers the records to pull in both cities.

Westchester figures: Census Bureau estimates (rounded), State Department of Health radon kit results, and OpenFEMA insured flood-claim records counted by named storm.

Compare

Home inspection service areas at a glance

The same eight measures for every area we serve. They are public figures about the housing and the weather record, not about our work, and they explain why one inspection asks different questions from the next.

AreaMedian year builtBuilt before 1940Heated with oilHeated with gasIn 5+ unit buildingsBasements at or above 4 pCi/LFlood-claim recordsof them Sandy
Queens1953~30%~10%~74%~42%3.7% of 59814,8427,623
Brooklyn1944~47%~7%~72%~55%10.2% of 5286,2863,555
The Bronx1955~33%~21%~52%~72%7.9% of 1011,939537
Manhattan1951~43%~15%~49%~95%12.2% of 1311,427661
Staten Island1974~18%~4%~85%~13%6.3% of 25319,3704,094
Nassau County1955~19%~26%~62%~13%5.7% of 83751,52326,964
Suffolk County1970~9%~44%~41%~8%7.6% of 58033,93613,168
Westchester County1959~28%~28%~52%~35%17.5% of 2,87512,259438

Housing figures: American Community Survey 2020 to 2024 five-year estimates (all housing units for age and building size, occupied homes for fuel); rounded, with margins of error; ~ means about. Radon: State Department of Health kit results, cumulative to November 2025, not a random sample, so do not rank the rows. Flood claims: OpenFEMA insured claim records, not dollars or houses.

Why it matters

What changes from one service area to the next

The inspection standard is the same everywhere in the state. These six things are not.

Who holds the records

In the five boroughs it is the City: the Department of Buildings for certificates of occupancy and permits. On Long Island and in Westchester it is the town, village or city building department. Our guide to certificates of occupancy and permits shows what to ask for.

What heats the house

Oil heat runs from about 4 percent of occupied homes on Staten Island and 7 percent in Brooklyn to about 44 percent in Suffolk. A tank, its piping and the flue are part of the purchase wherever oil is common: heating systems, oil tanks.

Water in and out

Public sewer and water cover most of the City. Outside it, some homes use septic systems, cesspools or private wells, which the Standards exclude from the inspection. See add-on tests and sewer scopes.

The flood record

Insured flood-claim records run from 1,427 in Manhattan to 51,523 in Nassau, and their storms differ: Sandy dominates Long Island and Queens, Ida stands out in Westchester. A flood zone and actual flooding are different things: flood zones explained.

What gets bought

Manhattan buyers mostly buy apartments (about 95 percent of units are in buildings of five or more units); Suffolk buyers mostly buy detached houses. Co-ops and two- and three-family houses each have their own checklist.

Radon and basements

The State’s kit results show basements at or above the action level in every area, from 3.7% of Queens tests to 17.5% of Westchester’s. Radon is not part of a home inspection by statute, so test separately: radon levels by county.

Closer look

What an inspection looks at most closely in each service area

These are not findings: they are the places where the public numbers say a buyer should ask more questions, with the guide that explains each.

AreaGets a closer lookWhy (public data)Read
QueensTwo-family houses and basementsAbout 44% of small houses are two- or three-family; 14,842 insured flood-claim recordsTwo- and three-family · Basement water
BrooklynOriginal wiring, piping and legal use71% of small houses built before 1940; 68% two- or three-familyOld wiring · Old pipes
The BronxBoilers, oil and multi-family layouts~21% of occupied homes heat with oil; 65% two- or three-familyHeating · Oil tanks
ManhattanThe building, not only the unit~95% of units are in buildings of five or more unitsCo-ops and condos
Staten IslandRoofs, grading and waterMostly one-family houses; 19,370 insured flood-claim recordsRoofs · Flood zones
Nassau CountyOil tanks and post-war basements~26% oil heat; ~47% of units built 1940 to 1959; 51,523 flood-claim recordsOil tanks · Basement water
Suffolk CountyOil, septic systems and private wells~44% oil heat; the Standards exclude wells, septic systems and cesspoolsAdd-on tests · Well water
Westchester CountyRadon, older houses and wells17.5% of 2,875 basements at or above 4 pCi/L; ~28% of units built before 1940Radon by county · Older houses

Before you buy or sell

Records to pull in each service area

Legal use and permits are a records question, not something an inspector can settle on site. Where to look depends on the area.

AreaCertificate of occupancyPermits and violationsRead this
The five boroughsDepartment of Buildings. For COs requested on or after March 1, 2021, search the address in DOB NOW; buildings built before 1938 may have none, and a Letter of No Objection may confirm legal use.The Department of Buildings records, and for housing violations the City’s housing agency. Our guide lists the portals.Certificates of occupancy and permits
Nassau and SuffolkThe town, village or city building department. The Uniform Code has each local code-enforcement authority issue the certificate of occupancy or certificate of compliance.Ask the same building department for permits and open violations, by address.Nassau · Suffolk
WestchesterThe city, town or village building department that covers the address.Ask the same department for permits and open violations, by address; confirm the county well-testing rule if the house has a private well.Westchester
Co-ops and condos everywhereThe building holds the certificate; ask the managing agent, and read the offering plan and recent minutes.Facade and other City filings apply to buildings of more than six stories in the City.Co-op guide

An inspector may not determine code compliance or report code violations, so none of these answers comes from the inspection report. Ask your attorney how a record affects your contract.

The directory

Find the page for your area and service

32 pages, one table. Where a cell says “Ask us”, we take the job but do not yet have a page: call 718-925-7071.

Coverage

Neighborhoods and towns we inspect in

These names show where each of our home inspection service areas reaches. They are examples, not a complete list: if your address is inside one of the eight areas, we cover it, and if it is outside, call us.

Queens

Astoria, Long Island City, Sunnyside, Woodside, Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, Corona, Flushing, Bayside, Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, Richmond Hill, Woodhaven, Ozone Park, South Ozone Park, Howard Beach, Jamaica, Hollis, Queens Village, Rosedale, Far Rockaway.

Brooklyn

Brooklyn Heights, Park Slope, Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Bushwick, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Crown Heights, Flatbush, Sunset Park, Bay Ridge, Bensonhurst, Sheepshead Bay, Canarsie, East New York.

The Bronx

Riverdale, Kingsbridge, Fordham, Parkchester, Pelham Bay, Throgs Neck, Morris Park, Co-op City, Mott Haven.

Manhattan

Upper West Side, Upper East Side, Harlem, Washington Heights, Inwood, Chelsea, Greenwich Village, East Village, Murray Hill, Tribeca, Financial District.

Staten Island

St. George, Port Richmond, New Dorp, Great Kills, Annadale, Tottenville, Todt Hill.

Nassau County

Great Neck, Port Washington, Garden City, Mineola, Westbury, Hicksville, Levittown, Massapequa, Freeport, Valley Stream, Hempstead, Rockville Centre, Long Beach.

Suffolk County

Huntington, Northport, Commack, Smithtown, Babylon, Bay Shore, Islip, Patchogue, Ronkonkoma, Riverhead, Southampton.

Westchester County

White Plains, Yonkers, New Rochelle, Mount Vernon, Scarsdale, Mamaroneck, Pelham, Bronxville, Tarrytown, Ossining, Peekskill.

Booking

How to book a home inspection in your area

Three steps, the same in every one of our home inspection service areas.

  1. Tell us the address

    Call or book online with the address, the kind of building, the number of apartments and your contract’s inspection deadline. We will say what a visit covers and which add-on tests suit the house.

  2. Read the agreement

    New York requires a written agreement stating the scope and cost before the inspection. Ask for the full fee in writing, and for anything that depends on the location.

  3. Get the report

    The written report is due within five business days after the inspection. We work in English, Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi and Bengali: tell us which you prefer.

Questions

Questions about our home inspection service areas

15 answers about where we work and what changes from place to place.

Which areas does Inspecwise serve?

All five New York City boroughs (Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island), Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, and Westchester County, plus other areas on request.

Do you inspect outside the five boroughs, Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester?

Other areas on request. Call 718-925-7071 with the address and your inspection deadline and we will say whether we can take it.

Does the location change the fee?

The fee depends on the property and the services you ask for, and New York requires the pre-inspection agreement to state the scope and cost before the inspection. Ask for the full fee in writing, including anything that depends on where the house is.

Is a home inspection different in New York City than on Long Island or in Westchester?

The Standards of Practice are the same statewide. What differs is the housing (age, building type, heating fuel), the records (the City’s Department of Buildings versus a town or village building department) and the utilities (public sewer and water versus septic systems and wells). The process and the scope do not change.

Which neighborhoods in Queens do you cover?

All of Queens, including our home base in South Ozone Park, and Astoria, Flushing, Jackson Heights, Forest Hills, Richmond Hill, Ozone Park, Howard Beach, Jamaica and the rest of the borough. See our Queens page and South Ozone Park.

Do you inspect co-ops and condos outside Manhattan?

Yes. Call us with the building address and we will say what a visit can cover: the apartment and what can be seen of the shared areas around it. See co-ops in Queens and Brooklyn and co-ops and condos in Manhattan.

Do you do pre-listing inspections in every area?

We have pre-listing pages for Queens, Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, Staten Island, Nassau and Suffolk. A seller in Westchester or elsewhere should call us.

Do you inspect commercial buildings in every area?

We have commercial pages for New York City and each borough, Nassau and Suffolk. Our license is a home inspector license, so a commercial visit is a visual walk-through and not engineering. For Westchester, call us.

Which area has the oldest houses?

Among the boroughs with many houses, Brooklyn: about 71 percent of its one- to three-family lots were built before 1940, against 50 percent in Queens and 20 percent on Staten Island. Outside the City, about 28 percent of Westchester’s housing units predate 1940, against 19 percent in Nassau and 9 percent in Suffolk.

Where is oil heat most common?

In Suffolk, where about 44 percent of occupied homes burn fuel oil, then Westchester (about 28 percent) and Nassau (about 26 percent). In Brooklyn it is about 7 percent and on Staten Island about 4 percent. See heating systems.

Where do I look up a certificate of occupancy?

In the five boroughs, in DOB NOW at the Department of Buildings; outside the City, at the town, village or city building department. Our guide to certificates of occupancy and permits walks through it.

Can you inspect a house on a septic system, a cesspool or a private well?

We inspect the visible parts of the house. The Standards exclude septic systems, cesspools and wells, so a septic professional or a water laboratory does that work; we will say which the house needs. See add-on tests.

Do you inspect houses in flood zones?

Yes. The report covers land grade and drainage at the foundation and visible signs of water penetration. Whether the house is in a mapped flood zone is a map question, not an inspection finding: see flood zones in NYC and on Long Island.

Which languages do you work in?

English, Urdu, Punjabi, Hindi and Bengali, in every area. Tell us which you prefer when you call or book.

What if my town is not listed?

Call 718-925-7071. The place names above are examples. If your address is inside one of the eight areas it is covered, and for anywhere else we will tell you whether we can take it.

Your area, your inspector

Book a home inspection anywhere in NYC, Long Island or Westchester

Tell us the address and what you know about the building. We will say what a visit covers, what it cannot, and which add-on tests are worth asking about.

718-925-7071

NYS License # 16000113811 · InterNACHI NACHI23052331 · English · اردو · ਪੰਜਾਬੀ · हिन्दी · বাংলা