Tag: home inspection blog

What Your Home Inspection Clients Don’t Know…

Part of the challenge of being a home inspector is simply educating current and future clients about what you do. While the American public has a general idea of what home inspectors do, misconceptions abound. Here are the most common myths you may need to dispel for your clients:

What They Think:

A Home Inspection is a One-Stop Shop

According to a 2012 American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) survey of 2,262 adults, the vast majority believe that home inspectors are important but they’re not sure exactly why. 84 percent of survey respondents believe that a proper home inspection is a necessity, but 12 percent of respondents confused a home inspection with an appraisal and a walloping 28 percent “believes the purpose of an inspection is to verify that a home complies with local building codes.”

What They Think: 

A Home Inspection is Comprehensive

When home buyers enlist your services, they may think that they’re getting every inch of their pad inspected. A 2011 ASHI survey of 2,122 adults showed that the many home buyers believe that components such as septic systems, electrical wiring and plumbing behind drywall and swimming pools are always included in their home inspection even though you may not include them in yours.

According to ASHI, a standard inspection report covers home basics including:

“…the condition of the home’s heating system; central air conditioning system (temperature permitting); interior plumbing and electrical systems; the roof, attic and visible insulation; walls, ceilings, floors, windows and doors; the foundation, basement and structural components. The report will include covered systems and components the home inspector finds that are not functioning properly, significantly deficient, unsafe, or are near the end of their service lives”

What They Think: 

All Home Inspectors are Certified

The thing home buyers seem confused on most is your credentials. 70 percent of buyers believe that home inspectors must be licensed or certified to perform a home inspection in that state. They don’t, meaning that if you do have a license, certification or outstanding credential, it’s worth your while to educate clients on how you’ve gone above and beyond and what that extra education can do for them.

Home Inspection Clients Have Changed…So Has Tap Inspect

If you want to get a glimpse at the next wave of home inspection clients, head to your nearest college campus.

A study by the National Association of REALTORs shows that nearly half of all home sales are to first-time buyers, the majority of whom are young professionals around age 30. Research also shows that these buyers are much different than their parents. They’ve grown up with the internet and have been working with smartphones since they were barely out of the womb. They communicate with Twitter, text messages and Facebook posts-short, fast and to the point.

Unfortunately our industry doesn’t always accommodate that style of communication. We still expect them to read a 50 page inspection report and to try to understand it. Does the next generation want to be educated? Yes, but not like the previous generation. What they really want to know is what is wrong and who to call to fix it. They want to know where the water shutoff is located, how often to change the furnace filter and if the water heater is gas or electric, not the details of how a high efficiency furnace works. Short, fast and to the point.

I have a constant survey running for all my clients and agents. One of my questions is, “How soon did you expect delivery of the inspection report?” Over 60 percent say, “Within a few hours” and less than 40 percent say, “Within 24 hours.” I publish my reports while standing in the kitchen of the inspected home. I tell the client and the agent that the report is already in their inbox. They are always amazed! Over 80 percent of clients and approximately half of all agents pick up their report within two hours of publishing it.

The new home inspection client is impatient. When they want a movie, they stream it from Netflix and watch it immediately. If they want a song, they get it from iTunes and listen now. If they want to know the term for a group of turkeys, they Google it on the spot. (FYI: A group of turkeys is called a “rafter.” I just Googled it from another window). Rather than looking at the changing inspection client as a problem, I see him (or her) as an opportunity to update our profession and create more succinct reports that clients find accessible and readable. As clients and their needs change, we, as inspectors, must be able to adapt, move forward and alter our business model in response to the future.

~ Michael Wirth, Co-Founder of Tap Inspect

Tap Inspect: New and Improved!

Hi Tap Inspect users! We’ve got a new version that includes a couple of bug fixes. If you’ve been having problems with the camera, this could solve your problems. Tap Inspect Version 2.0.4:

* Eliminates crashes when adding photos

* The ability to add longer names and addresses

* Synchronization improvements with our web server

Step right this way to get the free update.

Inspect the Home Inspector: Dan Paradela

Dan Paradela of All American Inspections, LLC in New Orleans breaks down his trade secrets:

Dan Paradela and Family

All it took to get this former vending machine distribution guy into the home inspection biz was a surprise $30,000 bill and a hurricane. Seven years ago, Paradela and his wife purchased a home only to find out that the inspector had missed the leaky roof, the bad plumbing and the faulty electric breaker box. After investing 30 grand into repairing the home, Paradela decided that he could do better. Looking for something new, Paradela started slowly selling his vending machine business and taking inspection classes on the side with hopes of learning the ins and outs of flipping houses. Then Hurricane Katrina hit, wiping out the remainder of Paradela’s old business and forcing him into a new profession. “I found out I love it,” Dan says. “It really clicked. There are no gray areas in home inspection. Either the systems in the home are good or they need repair. It’s pretty cut and dry.” Today Paradela averages about 500 inspections per year throughout Louisiana. We asked him to give us a sneak peak into how his business works.

Tap Inspect: Mastering the inspection end is only half the battle. How do you market and promote yourself?

Dan Paradela: First off, My wife [who manages the sales and marketing end of All American Inspections] and I market directly to our customers. Everyone knows somebody else who’s buying a house, so we always hand out business cards. I also have a list of about 4,000 agents in the southeast Louisiana area. I’ll e-mail about 1,000 of them in a certain metropolitan area and offer them a coupon or a special. We go to broker open houses and we try to remind them of all the services we offer including infra-red thermal imaging inspections, mold and asbestos inspections. We even do inspections for meth labs. When the cops bust a meth lab, they need somebody after the clean up is done, we do those inspections too.

Tap: How do you turn one-time inspection clients into repeat business?

Dan: I try to give them a good inspection. I’m thorough. I take my time. It doesn’t matter if it takes me 3 hours to do an inspection. I’m going to look at everything inch by inch. I also give [the home owners] pads and pens and tell them that if they see something to write it down. I give them something to do because if they follow you, they can drive you crazy. It helps you too. They’ll find little things that are wrong. No matter how bad it is, I always have a positive attitude when I disclose. I never shake my head and say “Oh man, this house has mold all over it.” This is their dream. This is the house that they really like. I tell them all of the negative things and include them on the report, but I tell [the client] about them in a very gentle way.

Tap: That must be hard in homes that are significantly damaged.

Dan: When I first started [inspecting homes], I would go to different agencies and talk to agents about their complaints with home inspections. One of their biggest beefs was that guys doing the inspections, a lot of them were electricians or plumbers and really had no customer relations experience. They would tell people “I wouldn’t get this house” and it would blow the deal. If you talk to a customer like that, the customer might walk away from the deal, but the agent is never going to work with you again. I tell the agent up front that I will never lie or withhold information from a report, but that I will put it all in the report and tell the agent about the problems in private so that they can choose how they want to disclose that to the customer. Usually the agent says “Oh, you tell the customer,” but I try to give them that courtesy ahead of time.

Tap: What’s the most amazing thing you’ve seen on the job?

Dan: After Katrina, I saw was in St. Bernard, Louisiana and saw a full apartment complex that the storm had picked up and put directly on top of a house. Part of the house was crushed, but the other part was perfectly in tact. That was one of the strangest things I’ve ever seen.

Check out Dan’s work at Allamericanhomeinspections.biz.

Got a question? Got a trade secret? Tap Inspect is always looking for ways to help our current clients and promote their businesses. If you’ve got a question on the home inspection business you’d like answered or you’ve got a tip you’d be willing to share with our fans, send us an e-mail at chris@tapinspect.com with “Inspect the Inspector” in the subject line.

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Hello World! Tap Inspect Blog is Here

Welcome to the brand spankin new blog for Tap Inspect. We’re glad you’re  here. If you’re not familiar with our product, Tap Inspect makes home inspection software for the iPhone and iPad. With our product, inspectors can create customized reports, complete with photos, on their smartphone as they’re performing inspections. No reports to type up when the inspection is complete. No need to make agents or home buyers wait days to receive their inspection report.

Founded by home inspectors looking for a faster, smoother way to conduct inspections (and minimize the paperwork), Tap Inspect seeks to provide software tools that allow home inspectors to create and publish reports on site within minutes of completing the inspection. We’ve created this site as a way to directly communicate with our clients, keep them updated on our latest and greatest and learn more about their needs as well. So relax, kick up your feet and feel free to drop us a comment, check out our official company site, “Like” us on Facebook, become our Twitter friend or download our free app. We’ll even throw in 5 reports on the house. HEYO!

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