So You Want to Be a Home Inspector

 

I’m fat.  I’m 5’10” and 280 lbs (Ding).  If I was looking at starting a Home Inspection Business today I wish someone would be honest with me and say, “Stop! Think about what you are doing.”  I’m old. Not that 64 is old, but combine my age with being overweight and out of shape, it’s a bad trio.  Try getting flat on the floor to look up a fireplace flue, and get up in front of a client gracefully with my body.  It just ain’t happening.  When it comes to career choices we all need to be honest with ourselves and be self-critical.

 

So those are some my negatives, what are my positives or assets?  I was in sales for 30 years prior to becoming a home inspector, and over those many years have learned how to connect and to talk to my clients.  I don’t talk down to them, I don’t ramble on about myself, I don’t review my résumé with them, I don’t parade my oversized ego around, I don’t show off my fancy equipment, or tell them war stories.  I do focus on the house.   That’s the salesman in me.  I don’t lose focus on why I am there.  I treat my home inspection as a sales call.  I have a goal and I stay focused on that goal. 

 

My second asset is I’m smart.  I’m smart enough to use my head all of the time and to analyze situations and to react appropriately.  I learn from my mistakes. For example:  An obvious condition easily observable in many houses is negative grade and no gutter extensions. This will negatively affect a house with a basement foundation and would be a great thing to report on to show what a great inspector I am.  But, this condition has minimal effect (usually) on a house with a slab foundation.  So I don’t get my client all worked up about the grade and gutters without thinking about the overall situation.  Many home inspectors feel obligated to find a huge defect to prove their worth. Downplaying a defect and pointing out its real impact might seem like a small thing, but as a home inspector you can never stop thinking about the whole house or the big picture.  You can’t be satisfied with learning a long list of defects and repeating them on demand.  But I digress.

 

We all have personal defects and we all have assets.  The key is to limit the exposure of your defects and maximize your assets.   One way I do that is by always having an assistant with me to do half of the inspection.  It’s ok for me to be fat and old as long as I’m the boss with a skinny assistant.  That also emphasizes the fact that I’m an experienced veteran who knows what I’m doing.  Most important it prevents the client having to watch me try to get my fat butt up into an attic hatch.  That is a blessing for everyone concerned.