By home inspectors for home inspectors

I was trained as a home inspector in 1998, and from then up until retiring towards the end of 2024 to focus on the training school, I worked full time in the inspection arena. This blog is targeted towards the newer additions to our profession but would also be a good refresher for seasoned inspectors. 

When I went through initial training, I was schooled on the nuts and bolts of the home inspection industry from technical standpoints, while also introduced to the legal angles I would be required to understand. I don’t need to tell you that technical training is critical in our industry. If we don’t know what we’re looking at, how can we determine if it’s working properly or installed correctly? How do we explain the component to our customers? How can we enlighten our clientele with the ramifications if we don’t understand them ourselves? Yes, we all know that technical training is crucial! 

The legal stuff… well that generally rests on the shelf until we either make a mistake, do something stupid, or a client misunderstands the scope of our work.  (And of course, there’s also that occasional creep who thinks your E&O insurance is a grab-bag for their new roof or foundation repair). Those two; technical and legal aspects, are very important attributes for the successful operation of a home inspection business. Yet, there are many other important components that are not covered in our initial training, and I’ve always wondered why. A few of these examples include:

• What are the steps involved in scheduling a home inspection?
• How do we handle the “meet-n-greet” with our client at the onset of the inspection?
• What are the benefits of having a client present during the inspection? What are the downsides?
• How do we manage the inspection when clients are present and underfoot?
  • Do we encourage them to engage?
  • Do we take the time to teach them about their house?
• How do we deal with nosy real estate agents?
  • Politely, but firmly.
• Speaking of real estate agents; friend or foe?
  • (Answer: Neither. They may pretend to be your friend, though from your standpoint, they are just a cog in the wheel and it’s smart to keep them at arm’s length.)
• How do we handle it when a “helpful” seller decides they have the right to join in on the inspection?
• And what about the client’s engineer father-in-law who “knows houses”?? How do we reckon with him?
  • (The answer, surprisingly, is to turn him into your ally)
• How about the husband and wife that are constantly bickering throughout the inspection, each one trying to drag you over to “their side"?

So, we come out of school, we pass our humble written exam, and (when NYS finally gets around to addressing our paperwork) viola, we are licensed professionals and all that implies!! 

Then, somewhere in the next month or so, after an ounce of what we imagine is “marketing”, down the road we go to our first real inspection with almost no knowledge of the overall process management, completely operating under the “baptism by fire” rule! 

If you were to ask my advice, which you haven’t, but since you’ve read this far, I’m going to give it to you anyway, (you're welcome!) I would say the most important pieces of guidance I could give are:

• Be yourself-
  • When you show up at a job, the client already sees you as the “expert who knows about houses”.
    • If they didn’t, they wouldn’t have hired you. So that base is covered.
    • Pretending you are something other than who you are is blatantly obvious to an observer.
    • You’re not Batman! Don’t pretend to be!
  • Remember, this process is stressful for them. For you, it’s Thursday; for them, they’re getting ready to spend a boatload of money!   
    • They want the house. That’s why they put the offer in.
    • They hope you don’t find anything serious, but they also don’t want to end up with a train-wreck.
    • Be (and stay) aware of this fact. Your job is to give them information so they can make the right decision.
• Manage their anxiety-
  • Look for common ground. For example, if they show up with a kayak sticker on their vehicle and you’re a kayaker, briefly touch on that subject: you’ve just made a friend (plus, maybe dialed down their anxiety a notch).
  • Not only does that give you a common thread, but it also creates a feeling of camaraderie which easily translates to trust.
• Listen to your client (No, really listen!)
  • They want to tell you whatever concerns they have about the house but can’t do that if you are constantly dictating your resume or talking over them.
    • Two ears, one mouth. Use them in proportion
    • You might feel like the star of the show, but sorry, you’re not! It’s about them 100%.
    • Check your ego at the door! This is no place for a “God complex”!  
• Dress the part-
  • You are no longer a roofer or a carpenter or a concrete finisher; you are a Professional Home Inspector.
  • Spend some time figuring out your look and your uniform. Logo up!
    • As you will be going into some pretty nasty places, that uniform should be able to take a beating, yet still look professional
    • Wear shoe covers! Every house, every day!
      • Usually to protect the floors
      • Sometimes to protect your shoes from whatever crap is lurking on the floors!
      • Yes, you will be in some nasty houses!
• Tell the truth-
  • They want the good, but honestly, you are really there to discover the bad and the ugly.
  • Break it down for them at the beginning during the meet-n-greet. Let them know that you are there to find problems, so your commentary may feel negative to them, but remind them that problem-finding is your focus and your job as a home inspector.
  • Their job was to find the good things about the house, which brought them to make an offer. Your job is to bring them back down to earth so they know for sure what they are buying.
  • You will often hear real estate agents talk about "balance"...how they like inspectors who can give the bad with "balance", but also highlight some of the good.
    • This is "code" for asking you to soft pedal the inspection.
    • You do you, but my advice is don't fall into that trap.
    • You are there for the client, not the agent.
    • It's none of your business whether they buy the house or not. Your job is to inspect it! Just do your job!
  • Learn to read the client. If they seem to be mentally “checking out” on a house over issues you are presenting, make sure they are correctly tracking the scope of the issues. (You certainly wouldn’t want someone walking away from a house because a wall needs painting or a receptacle has reversed polarity, would you?)
    • At the same time, if they just aren’t “feeling the love” they felt after their initial 15-minute, agent-fueled walk-through, they have every right to bail out if they choose to do so after spending three hours with you, for whatever reason.
      • Be fully cognizant of this and avoid pushing them into or out of anything. It’s their decision. Stay in your lane.
• In a similar vein, resist “cheer-leading” the house-
  • Excessive positivity, while downplaying issues can result in them buying a house without fully understanding the scope of the issues. (“Hey, even the home inspector really likes it!”)
    • This can easily result in a disgruntled client who will be happy to pass the blame on to you if they feel they were “steered” into it.
• Be consistent-
  • Point out the problem, explain the depth of the problem in common language, make sure they understand what you are telling them, answer any of the questions they may have about the problem, then ensure your inspection report mirrors what you told them.
  • On the subject of language, there are many very smart people in this state who don't know anything about houses. Make sure you are speaking in a language they can fully understand.
    • Fancy words might make you feel smart, but if they aren't getting the point, it's a total waste to them. Leave the "electrically commutated motor" comments at home unless you include an easily understandable explanation to go along with it.
• A newer inspector is vulnerable-
  • Charge whatever fee you like, but be aware that if you are new to this field, going in with an initial low-ball inspection fee in hopes of drumming up business will backfire. Trust me, you're not the first one to think of this strategy. It ain't happening!
  • People calling around looking for Inspector Cheap Charlie tend to be unrealistic in their expectations and are the same ones that will be calling you in 6 months about random issues that you "somehow missed”.
  • My guess is you didn’t go into this business to work more, but to earn more. Be smart in your pricing.
• On that note, GET PAID!!!!
  • DO NOT under any circumstances give your product (inspection report) away before you are compensated for it!
  • Better yet, have your business set up to take payment before you even show up at the inspection address.
  • If a client says they will pay after the inspection is complete, don’t take the job! There’s another one around the corner!  
• Hang out with other (experienced) inspectors-
  • These are the people who are already doing this job, and I’ve found it rare to come across a seasoned inspector who wouldn’t go out of their way to share information, tips, and sometimes “war stories” of their experiences. Learn from them!
  • When I entered the industry, there were multiple national groups around with local chapters. I joined such a chapter and over the next several years, that meeting room is where I learned to be a home inspector.
  • Our industry has been around for about 50 years depending on who you ask. So if you put 10 inspectors in a room and throw a weird inspection-related situation out on the table, it'll be a slim-to-none chance of someone in the room not having experienced something similar.
    • That's someone who can provide guidance for how the situation was handled, as well as the outcome.
• Be polite and courteous to everyone you meet during the course of the inspection-
  • They’ll quickly forget what you said but will always remember how you made them feel.
  • Some people involved in a transaction are likely not going to be big fans of the home inspector. Sellers and real estate agents often find their way onto that list.
    • Do not take it personally. To other professions involved in a transaction, your report can hold the key to what may or may not result in a big payday.
    • No matter how many names you get called, to your face, (but usually behind your back), it’s just business, so grow a thick skin!  

Unfortunately, you will not learn everything you need to know to operate in this profession by taking the initial home inspector qualifying course. What you will learn is a basic interpretation from a very wide-angle view, albeit a minuscule amount of what you need to know to be successful. And this isn’t the qualifying school’s fault! They’re doing what is required by NYS and they are held to steer between very specific guardrails. 

Honestly, this industry – your new profession -  needs to be looked at as a continuous learning cycle. The New York State Home Inspection Law says you need a minimum of 24-credit hours of education per 2-year cycle, which amounts to a measly one hour per month. Do them all over a long weekend, and you won’t see the inside of a classroom for two years! If you already know everything, fine! My guess is you probably don’t. I know I don't and I've been doing this since the '90s! 

My advice to you is to avoid viewing education as a chore! Education is not a state-issued requirement and there's no downside to getting more!  It’s on you, Mr. and Ms. Home Inspector, to stay up on everything that is floating around our profession. Things change! Products emerge! New stuff appears on the horizon! And problems with some of the old stuff can begin to show their face! And you are right in the middle of it all! You'll need to stay up on this!

And Google?? How can you Google a question when you don’t even know what to ask?? Google hasn't done one single home inspection! It might be a useful tool in the toolbox, but it doesn’t replace experience, not by a long-shot. 

There you go! It's as simple as that! Now get out there and rock the world! 

Tom