Recommendations for Home inspector and architect/designer?

[emcicle.livejournal.com]

Hi All,

I will search the archives/tags too, but i don't recall seeing anything go by recently. I find myself in the position of having placed an offer on a house and having it been accepted (yay! and scary!). Now I need to find an inspector. Any recommendations on someone who is thorough? What type of cost should I expect?

I also would like to contact an architect or designer about some remodeling work that will need to be done immediately after closing (if everything goes well, of course). I have no idea where to begin with finding someone who can help design a plan for knocking out several internal walls on the first floor. Any recommendations on people to contact? where to start? what to expect?

Thanks in advance, i'm a total newbie at this. Also, this is in North Cambridge, though I don't think that should effect recommendations...