THE
STATE OF INSPECTION REPORTING Modern technology has vaulted the level
of home inspection reporting and home inspection software to
new heights. And with the more complete home inspection reporting process comes a better perception of our industry and the ability to collect higher home inspection fees. New home inspectors planning on entering this fast-growing industry now know that they need to invest a few thousand dollars from the out set in the necessary computer hardware and home inspection software so that they can provide these computerized home inspection reports.
A LITTLE REFLECTION - When I entered the home inspection profession in 1995, my introduction to the home inspection reporting process was when I was told to purchase a comfortable clipboard and a pencil with an oversized eraser (because I would be using it a lot). My home inspection report was a 14-page checklist that included lots of check boxes and small areas that I could carefully scribble in shorthand comments. The typical process included a few hours onsite scribbling and checking off boxes. Then I would go to the next inspection and scribble and check some more boxes. After returning home and spending some time eating dinner and playing with the kids, I would once again return to my home office desk and revisit each page of the home inspection checklist reports and erase and write my comments in a neater format. Sometimes I had to even start over and re-write everything. Once this handwriting checklist process was completed, I would then head to the local 24 hour Kinko’s and get three copies of each report and carefully place them in clear covered folders and drop them off at the real estate offices on my way home. The result was a checklist home inspection report that was very complete and yet left so much to be desired. Each checklist page contained about 15% of the information valid for the home and the rest of the page was a bunch of unchecked boxes and text that did not apply to the home. When the client received their checklist reports, they would then call me for clarification followed by another call from their agent, then the seller, and usually, the people being called upon to repair the issues documented in the check list report. I would spend a couple hours on the phone following some inspections and this literally drove me up the wall. The reason for all of the follow-up phone calls was directly due to the handwritten checklist home inspection reporting format. The inability to share lots of information was not only because of limited space, but also the extra time and hand cramps that came with writing lengthy explanations. This process was especially difficult when my client could not be onsite during the inspection and I didn’t have the chance to explain the issues in person. CURRENT REALITY -
Home inspecting and the documenting of what we find here in
the 21st century is a pure joy. I use all of the latest technology
to create incredible inspection reports. Armed with my HP 3715
Pocket PC with the built-in camera, and Cannon Power Shot S450
with the huge color screen, I attack the exterior of the home. When I am all done onsite, I will merge the digital images taken during the inspection into the report and create a computerized report document that is anywhere from 18 to 25 pages long. This proprietary home inspection reporting format is then converted to a PDF file, which is a format that almost every modern computer user can open and read using the free Adobe® Acrobat Reader® software. Then I make a custom e-mail and attach the computerized home inspection report and hit the SEND button. I can tell you that there is nothing more relieving than hitting the send button and knowing that my job is done. The process that once had me using my Kinko’s gold card and cutting down half a forest to keep up with my home inspection report production, is now completely electronic. This modern-day paperless reporting reality is now an environmental marketing point that can also score you some big points with your clients as well as their referring lawyers and agents. SOFTWARE IS THE KEY - The key to the modern use of computers and digital cameras in the home inspection industry is the development of outstanding computerized home inspection reporting software. The software allows you to pre-make thousands of comments to describe the common conditions found within homes. In my personal residential home inspection form sets, I have over 26,000 pre-made comments. This means that very little thought needs to be given to describing the reportable conditions as I find them. Instead, I simply identify the reportable condition and then find the appropriate already- made comment. Take for example the loose toilet base. With the handwritten reporting format I used nearly a decade ago, I would write “Toilet base loosely mounted = Recommend repair.” That was about all the room that I had on the checklist report form and even though so much more should have been stated, it was just too difficult and time consuming. What made it even worse was that I would find this condition in about 80% of the homes I was inspecting and sometimes more than once in the same home. I would get so tired of writing that comment that I even considered making a rubber stamp that said “Toilet base loosely mounted = Recommend repair.”
So what do I do now when I encounter a loose toilet base? I go to the bathroom section and select the line dealing with the toilet. To the right of my screen I have about 40 different comments about toilets, each describing a different commonly found condition. I then check off two check boxes and here is the verbiage inserted into my home inspection report. TOILET: The base is loose at the floor. The typical repair requires replacement of the inexpensive wax base seal and tightly resecuring the base to the flange. The full extent of deterioration is unknown. This can only be confirmed by destructive discovery, which is beyond the scope of this inspection = Recommend further evaluation/repair by a licensed plumber. I also love the comment: “Their is evidence of subfloor moisture deterioration. The damaged area should be replaced before applying new floor coverings. Moisture deterioration in the wood is usually accompanied by mold as well as rot. The full extent of subfloor damage cannot be determined until the toilet base is removed and destructive discovery is performed.“
I still give myself a pat on the back for listening to the advice of others and investing in the 3D Inspection software because it has allowed me to become a better home inspector. The Custom Form Studio portion of the 3D Inspection software has allowed me the ability to expand my business into several specialty areas such as Thermal Image Scans, EIFS inspections, Lead Based Paint inspections, Termite inspections, Radon testing, and Electrical Outlet Efficiency Testing. With each specialty inspection I have been able to develop custom forms for the specific inspection. I have also been able to develop great residential form sets that I offer for resale to home inspectors looking to invest in a form set that will make them more productive right out of the starting gate. By using 3D, I have been able to branch out into any direction that I choose without having to purchase other reporting software. The other great part of the 3D Inspection software is that I do not need the Windows Office Suite installed on my machines. 3D Inspection software is a complete, stand-alone product that does not rely upon the use of Microsoft Word to use the reporting software.... That is a key point that the majority of inspection software vendors can’t provide. Most of the inspection market offerings use Microsoft Word as their engine upon which their software’s run. As a stand alone software, 3D Inspection System is a complete system. I have also appreciated the evolution of the 3D Inspection software. As the digital imaging revolution hit America, 3D Inspection software was quickly improved to better take advantage of the use of digital pictures. Next came Pocket PC’s and 3D was the first inspection software to offer software for their use. As new features are needed, 3D Inspections listens to its large user base and adds the features needed to increase their productivity. With each new 3D release comes the added features that were derived from the user’s wish list. Whether it is adding multiple images on each line or having complete control over the print layout and color schemes, 3D is always listening to its users. This interactive dialogue keeps the software current with what I feel is the best reporting software feature set in the industry. IS COMPUTERIZATION WORTH IT? - The question often arises as to whether or not it is worth it to convert to a computerized inspection report. The answer is simple. If you want to increase your productivity and increase your inspection fees, then you must computerize. The client base in America has come to expect and appreciate the more thorough computerized report over the pencil-filled checklist report. We are seeing many inspectors reap the benefit and profits of computerization. If you are looking long-term, then there is very little future in a pencil and checklist inspection report. Checklist report inspectors will find that their user base will soon dry up and they will be considered dinosaurs ready for extinction.
Last week alone I fielded two calls on the topic of checklist inspection reports. The first phone call was from a seller who is a long time friend. A “Checklist-Toting Buckethead“ completed the home inspection and issued his report. The seller, my friend, was then given the list of items needing repair on his 1972 home.
Since GFCI’s were not commonplace or required in 1972, the question is raised as to whether or not the seller should have to upgrade them. There were also no leaks at the chimney and the seller felt that they didn’t need a flashing or any other roof repair. Every 1972 home I have ever been in has floor squeaks unless it was a slab-on-grade rambler and so he wondered what he should be repairing. Nobody is quite sure why the roof needed repair but that was one of the scribble notes on the checklist report. The bottom line is that everybody was frazzled over issues that the severity of which was not described in the checklist report format. So instead of looking like a superstar, the checklist inspector was having to be called on the phone to clarify his scribble notes. If he had used more complete descriptions and used photos for the roof issues, then he would have never needed to be re-contacted for clarification. The second call was from an agent that was thankful I could perform their next needed inspection. I was too busy for them the last time around and they were forced to go with a “Checklist-Toting Buckethead“ due to their limited time constraints. The agent went on and on about the difficulty he had negotiating the needed repairs from the checklist inspection report. I gleaned from the conversation that when he thought of me, he was at ease and comfortable with what my more detailed computerized inspection report would include compared to a feeling of total frustration when he thought about the other checklist inspection firm. I still smile knowing that he felt comfort when I came to his mind and wondered if the other inspector realized the frustration that the agent felt when he thought of him. It matters very little how much you market your inspection firm if the clients, agents, and lawyers think “frustration“ when your business name is brought up. CAUTION - There is another segment of the computerized inspection report software market that has taken the pencil checklist report format and simply computerized it. In other words, the format is the original checklist and the boxes are now filled with computer generated X's and the comments are typed. The antiquated format is followed exactly and many of these reports just baffle everybody. I read through one earlier this week and I could not find all of the reportable conditions hidden within the confusing reporting format. When selecting a report writing software, home inspectors need a format that will clearly identify and bring to the attention of their clients the issues at hand. It appears that the days of the "Checklist Toting Bucketheads" are never going to end.
I encourage everybody in the inspection industry to computerize and throw away their clipboards and pencils with big erasers. I would like to see the “Checklist-Toting Buckethead“ stereotype shattered as the majority adopt the modern method of report creation. I believe that the more detailed we become as an industry, the more valuable our home inspection reporting process will become. I have seen my inspections fees grow and the demand for my services increase as the direct result of my advanced reporting style. Producing these first-class computerized reports has taken me far from the ranks of the “Checklist-Toting Bucketheads” and into the elite status of the 21st-century home inspector. I encourage all of my fellow home inspectors and prospective home inspectors to follow a similar path to success. Click here to request the free evaluation version of the 3D Inspection System.
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You
would think that for most of North America, gone are the days
where inspectors can get away with a pencil-filled home inspection
checklist report. While visiting with inspectors at the Inspection
World conference I found a 4 man multi-inspector firm that
was still cranking out checklists. They could see that they
had to computerize to remain competitive. They were there to
make their software selection. I met another inspector who
felt that he could go another 10 years in his market with checklists
and keep his marketshare and fees. For him it is best to keep
buying erasers until reality hits. I doubt that it will wait
ten years, but maybe he can delay another 2 or 3.
I
shoot lots of images of the exterior issues and then easily
input the issues directly into the little 6 ounce Pocket PC
computer running the 3D Pocket PC report writing software. If
the home is rather well taken care of, I continue using the
Pocket PC. If there are a lot of issues requiring tons of text,
then I turn on my Fujitsu pen-driven, touch screen, 2.5 pound
full Windows computer and place it on a cool, custom tripod
stand. I then take the home inspection report from the Pocket
PC and transfer it easily to the laptop and finish the home
inspection reporting by going from room to room and component
by component.
With
my quick conversion to computers I narrowed down my home inspection
reporting software choice to just one firm. The 3D Inspection
Software Reporting System was, and is, head and shoulders above
any of the other offerings in the marketplace. This software
has allowed me to create many dozens of reporting formats from
scratch. Adding comments is so simple and the form sets just
keep getting better and better with each and every inspection.
By adding comments on the fly during the inspections, it makes
my reports a constant evolution for the better.
The
reason that the computer is so great for home inspection reporting
is because you only have to think about an issue once. Create
the descriptive verbiage and then add it as a standard comment.
By checking one box you can insert the strings of text and
modify as needed. This eliminates having large amounts of words
to type. Having a touch screen computer also makes the comment
selection and software navigation that much easier.
More
and more, the non-computerized inspectors are being referred
to in a purely mocking way as “Checklist-Toting Bucketheads.” I
smile when I think of this term. It is very politically incorrect,
and yet, so very accurate in the image that it creates. Agents
that want to know the truth disdain the checklist reports because
of their lack of descriptive text and images. Sellers hate
them because they can’t figure out what actually needs
repairing. Buyers are frustrated because they can’t
figure out the severity of the issues being reported even though
they spent good money for the inspection and the ensuing report. 
The
frustration from the seller arose because the inspector did
not clarify what was wrong and what should be done. Instead,
he walked through the home and wrote down a few issues that
were obvious to him and yet his descriptions left everybody
uncertain as to what should be done next. As the checklist
inspector left the home, he said that everything was fine and
yet the seller was later given this list by the buyer requesting
that the items needed to be repaired.
IN CLOSING -
So is it worth it to computerize and switch from a checklist
report to a clear and detailed computerized inspection report?
Absolutely. 