The Home Inspection Report

The Home Inspection Report

 

 

Prospective Home Inspectors think that learning the components, construction practices, proper building techniques and other aspects of a house is what they need to learn at school.  That is only partially true.  Home Inspection School will teach you all you need to know about the systems and safe conditions associated with houses.  However, the most important thing learned while at a Home Inspection School is how to report what you find to your client. 

 

The effective way you report your findings is critical.  The Home Inspection Report is not only a legal document, but even more important, it communicates to your client what you have found.  You may know all there is about home construction and every detail about what to look for when inspecting a home; it does no good unless you can clearly communicate, in a well crafted report, what you have discovered.

 

It is necessary that a report is clear, concise and easily understood.  It is important that the report does not raise more questions than it answers.  The client must see the house through your eyes and clearly understand what your trained opinion of the condition of the house is. 

 

Each section of the house needs to be clearly demarcated and your findings for these sections must be explained section by section.  By breaking the house into understandable and logical pieces like; exterior walls, roof and gutters, bathrooms etc.; the client can be led through the report in manageable chunks which eventually allows a clear picture of the house in its entirety. Breaking the report into sections allows the inspector and the client to clearly see the big picture.  Reporting in a simple and straight forward manner is essential for a Home Inspection to be a worthwhile service.

 

Pictures being included in the report help the inspector show the client what he or she sees.  A Home Inspection is a non-intrusive, visual inspection; it only makes sense to include pictures in the report.

 

When you write practice reports as you take the Home Inspection course it allows the opportunity to have your reports critiqued by the instructors.  This ensures that you are trained in the proper language of reporting and your reports are written in a clear and concise manner.  Writing good reports on your first inspections is not to be expected. 

 

Practice-writing an effective report is just as important as practicing inspecting.  Understanding the reporting process teaches you what you should be looking at in each component of the homes you are inspecting.  My approach to teaching Home Inspection combines report writing throughout the coursework, because you are becoming a consultant to the home buyer not just an expert on homes.  Transferring your knowledge and expertise to your clients is your primary goal and is only possible through a great report.

Inspecting as a Full Time Business

 

To be a full time inspector requires a very robust marketing strategy.  When I say a full time business I mean 8 hours a day 5 days a week.  If you are not inspecting a home or writing a report, you must be marketing.  This marketing should include:  sales calls on real estate offices, mortgage brokers, real estate attorneys; networking with groups like, BNI, Chamber of Commerce, Kiwanis, and VFW etc. 

 

Passive marketing like diner place mats, flyers on company bulletin boards, and Laundromats is important also.   The purpose is to cast as wide a net as possible.  The more advertising you have in the market, the more business will come in.  The key is to try everything and find out what works for you. Adjust your strategy to the things that work in your community.  The important thing is not to stop, stay patient, and keep working.  It will pay off; you just have to be persistent.

 

Being able to advertise that you are a full time inspector is also an important sales feature.  Be sure to promote the fact that home inspecting isn’t just a passing fancy for you; this is your profession.

 

Remember, if you are not devoting at least 8 hours a day to your inspection business you aren’t really full time.  A full time home inspector works at the business full time.  This is why it takes a certain type of individual to be a business owner; you will not have a boss telling you (and motivating you) what to do all day long.  You have to be a self-starter and hold yourself accountable for your own efforts.

Marketing

Marketing

 

If you are not willing to market your home inspection business Do Not pursue this career.  Success will not come from knowledge or skill in the building trades. It does not matter how much knowledge you have about the building trades.  It does not matter how much contracting experience you have.  The only thing that matters is, “Do you have a successful marketing strategy?”

 

A marketing strategy can be multiple different methods and you can be as creative as your imagination can take you.  You do not have to be a salesman and make cold calls all day long to be successful.  You do need some strategy or strategies that bring buyers of homes to you.

For example:

1.     Your wife could be a realtor who has many realtor friends.

2.     You could be a member of a large church group where everyone knows you.

3.     You spend money on a website that has been optimized so that when someone Googles ‘Home Inspector’ your name pops up on top.

4.     You could be the only local home inspector in your small community.

5.     You may own a piece of property on a busy road and have a large billboard advertising your business.

 

Any of these would be nice.  But, you must create a marketing strategy that will work over the long run for you.  Having a buddy who is a realtor that plays in your monthly poker group is not a strategy.  Having a strategy involves multiple client sources and processes that can be adapted and changed for different market conditions.

 

If you are thinking about taking a course at “Online Home Inspection Training”, fill out the survey and we can talk about how you are planning on growing your business.  We may be able to come up with viable marketing strategy for you.  However, if marketing yourself is something you are unsure about or unwilling to do, a different career choice may be a better option.

A Consultant For the Home Inspector

A Consultant for the Home Inspector

 

During the last 5 years of teaching home inspectors one thing has made itself readily apparent; a classroom cannot totally prepare students for this career. It is my opinion that it certainly cannot be properly taught in 3 – 4 weeks, as some home inspection schools boast.  The Home Inspection career is very complicated and needs time and practical application to be taught effectively.

 

I have developed a formula that addresses this need.  My program at CATS stretches out over 4 months.  That training takes place on 2 evenings a week.  The hours of training is comparable to other schools but training is stretched out over a longer period of time.

 

This allows time for ‘absorption’ as information is put into long term memory - as opposed to crammed for and forgotten.  It also allows time for independent research and study into things that you don’t understand or are unclear about. (The amount of information regarding the structure and systems of a home is staggering, but the more you research and learn the less likely you will encounter something that catches you unprepared at the job).You are given the opportunity to attend practice inspections (every Saturday) so that during the next classes you can review your findings and learn from your mistakes. 

 

This is the process I hope to duplicate in a distant learning environment with “Online Home Inspection Training”.

 

I have also learned that home inspectors need consultants of their own.  They need someone to call with questions when they are unclear about a system or condition.  Every day my phone rings at least one time with a graduate of my program who has a question about something he or she has encountered in the field and is unclear about. And wisely so! A Home Inspection Report is a serious legal document and errors can cost people large sums of money and possibly their lives. Guesswork on a fire safety issue is ill advised.

 

I have 3 main purposes with this program:

 

1.  To council on whether this program is right for you.

 

2.  To give excellent training in an interactive way with feedback and coaching during practice inspections.

 

 

3.  To be there to provide consulting during those first paid inspections when you are most unsure.

 

I would like to be the consultants’ “Consultant”.

Concept of Home Inspection

(Being a Consultant)

 

In the 1960’s & 70’s when a person was going to buy their first house they called their dad or father-in-law and asked him to take a look at the house they were thinking about buying.  The young couple was looking for a second opinion, a trusted opinion, an opinion that wasn’t influenced by a commission. 

 

In more recent years that family based unbiased opinion has been harder to find.  Families have become more mobile and now live farther apart.  Lives have become more complicated, jobs have become more specialized and fewer and fewer people know proper building techniques.

 

In order to gain that trusted opinion, and another set of eyes, new buyers started hiring local contractors and builders to take a look at the prospective purchase.  Some business minded contractors added this “inspection” to their company’s services. 

 

Banks started asking for inspections in order to protect their own interests.  Associations of home inspectors started forming; standards were established, followed by some states mandating licensure for these “home inspectors.”

 

These changes have happened over the last 40 years, all in an effort to help ensure the new home buyer doesn’t make a big mistake when buying a home.

 

Home inspectors are hired by the buyers to make sure there are no unseen defects with the house that would adversely affect the value of the home or make it a dangerous place to live.  That’s the funny part; Home Inspectors are hired to find the unseen defect, yet can only report on readily accessible systems, components and clearly visible defects.  Fortunately Home Inspectors use knowledge and experience to see things that the homeowner doesn’t see.  The trained eye can detect problems that would elude the layman’s and discount apparent problems that are not really a big deal.

 

A more accurate title for Home Inspector is “Buyers’ Consultant”, because the truth is, a home inspection is by definition -‘a non-invasive, visual examination of a property’- and is very limited in its scope.  But a trusted consultant can be invaluable when making the biggest purchase of one’s life.  A well trained Home Inspector can be that consultant, prior to the purchase and beyond.

So you want to be a home inspector

(Continued)

 

 

Let’s now take a look at your assets.  For the record none of these are essential, just nice to have. 

1.   Experience with home construction

2.   Interpersonal skills (people person)

3.   Appearance (slim, gray haired, well dressed, 50 or so in age is ideal).

4.   Credentialed (Engineering or Architectural degree)

 

These assets speak for themselves but they are not essential.  You could be a jerk, and #’s 1, 3, and 4 won’t save your career.

 

I have always felt that inspecting a home is a two-man job and business, that is how I started and is a big part of my success.  I first considered this business model when I was a rookie in 2003.  A veteran, Joe Farsetta of ‘Downstate’, NY, was telling me about Nick Gromyko the founder of INTERNACHI.  As the story goes Nick started his first Home Inspection business as a 2 man company. He hired an HVAC specialist and then taught him the ins and outs of the other systems of the home.  When the two of them would show up at a job, the system specialist would take the lead and go do the systems in the basement and Nick would proceed with the rest of the inspection; roof, exterior, interior etc.  They would be done with the inspection in an hour and a half, do a thorough job, educate their client, market themselves to the realtor and not break a sweat.   I don’t know if this story is true.  I never have asked Nick to confirm it, but I can attest to the fact that it works. 

 

I first paired up with another newbie in 2003.  His name is Dave Reynolds, and he now has his business in Iowa.  Dave knows about homes, he built his own log cabin.  I knew nothing about homes.  I was all sales and marketing.  We made a great pair, the realtors and clients loved the hour and a half inspections.  I highly recommend that you find a partner; preferably someone that has an asset that you lack or that compliments your skills. 

 

Finally: You need to take a look at yourself.  Consider your assets and obstacles and then decide if this career is right for you.  It can make a great part time job that may then transition into a full time job after you build up a network.  Remember it is a process and you should do some soul searching- -it’s not easy!

 

However, I promise: if you and I should decide that you taking my course is the right path for you, I will do everything I can to ensure your success; as your teacher, as your coach and as your consultant.

So you want to be a home inspector

(Continued)

 

If you are considering becoming a Home Inspector you must take a personal inventory.  Some of the obstacles that commonly impede success in this field are discussed below:

 

Are you…

1.  Stupid?

2.  Old?

3.  Young?

4.  Female?

5.  A racial minority?

6.  Having difficulty being understood because of limited English proficiency?

 

Of course I use the word “stupid” in a tongue-in-cheek manner because no one who is taking the time to read my words could be stupid.  I refer to thinking in a certain way.

 

The reason I put ‘stupid’ at the top of the list is that the only muscle that is important in the business of Home Inspection is the brain.  It is not a particularly physically demanding job.  It does take knowledge and the ability to think on your feet.  Most that look into being a Home Inspector are contractors that want to give their body a rest.  That means they want to stop using all those other muscles but it also means they need to start using their brains in a different way.  They need to start thinking analytically.  Much like a scientist must report solely on observations and not speculate on causes or future results, Home Inspectors must only report on what they can see. Many contractors have such a wealth of understanding about the underlying construction of a house that they read into areas that are not visibly observed.  They also tend to approach defects as something to be fixed (along with estimates).  It has been my experience in the class room that the key to who will succeed and who will fail is which student can learn to start thinking like a home inspector.

 

Obstacles can be overcome - or at least avoided and hidden.  I have already explained how I deal with being overweight and old in a previous blog.  I believe the next most difficult obstacle is being a woman.  Hold on now! Before anyone accuses me of being sexist there is no one who has higher regard and respect for women and their abilities. However, the reality is that there is long standing gender bias in the building trades and Home Inspection is no exception.  People are reluctant to respect women in this field and will try to bully them or dismiss them.  The other reality is that women make excellent home inspectors.  They are just flat out better than the guys.  They are more attentive to detail, organized and thorough.  I know several Home Inspectors who are women. They overcome this bias by being smart and confident.  That’s a powerful package.  The women who do not succeed share one common flaw – No self-confidence.

 

Of the more than 200 students I have taught, only five students have been African American.  The problems for black home inspectors and other racial minorities are numerous and completely out of their control.  It cannot be denied that housing and neighborhoods often still run along racial lines.  It is very difficult to prevent discrimination in real estate transactions. White realtors may not have the courage to refer a black Home Inspector in fear that the client may be racist, and will be unlikely to put their commission check at risk. It is difficult to prove that a client or realtor is discriminating based on race because it is the clients’ choice who they wish to hire and no reasons need be given.   There is greater opportunity for African American Home Inspectors, just as there is less opportunity for Caucasian Home Inspectors, within African American communities.   This is a sad truth but it is the truth.  Marketing your business– just as you would any product -requires finding a market.

 

Being young is an extremely difficult obstacle.  People will assume that you don’t have a clue about your business.  The history of Home Inspection, in brief, is that the buyer would bring along the father, father-in-law or some older male in the family to check out the house and give his wise and experienced opinion on its suitability.  This image of the older, wiser man who is experienced in home buying and ownership is a deeply ingrained stereotype. The fact is you probably don’t have experience if you are less than 30 years old.  That does not mean that you can’t be a good home inspector it just means you will be immediately challenged by your client and or realtor as to your knowledge base.  The only remedy is to know a lot more about the house than your client and realtor and to speak with an air of confidence.  Marketing yourself with giveaway and discounted services is a way to prove your ability and gain experience until you can ask for and get what you are really worth.

 

If English is your second language and you have difficulty being understood due to an accent, extra effort needs to be put into your communication skills regarding your profession as a Home Inspector.  Rehearse your pitch.  Just as any good salesman has a highly crafted and polished sales pitch you must practice the things you need to say to and ask of your clients.  Be prepared for the questions that are likely to come up during a typical inspection and be prepared with a practiced response. The other areas that need to be polished are the other forms of communicating your expertise; namely reports and reporting language.  Having an excellent report that is clear and easily understandable can help compensate for verbal language barriers.

 

This all goes back to the reason we are here.  “To consult with your clients about the defects that are visible in the home they are considering buying.”

 

And to do this consultation you need to                                                                          “COMMUNICATE”.