Thread: Where are these "home Inspectors" that....

Where are these "home Inspectors" that go around saying homes are good and give a 3 page report?

I have an agent that is concerned that my reports are detailed and that I am doing a thorough job. Its a 1979 house that an elderly person lived in..... there is going to be stuff that's out of date and no I cant inspect it using 1979 standards.

"the water heater is new and it has an alarm with an automatic shut off valve why does the over flow pan need a drain?"
-Well miss agent lady what happens to the 50 gallons of water in the tank? in the floor walls and wood!!!!

Other than explaining the report is using current standards what else do yall do in order to keep people calm receiving a 12+ page report?

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Other than explaining the report is using current standards what else do yall do in order to keep people calm receiving a 12+ page report?

I find Valium works real well, specially if you double the dose, you won't get much static from the agents.

In reality a 12 page report avec pictures would be more than 12 pages long.

Tell your agent to deal with reality. If they expect anything less than 12 pages then they should not be selling real-estate because they don't have their clients interests foremost.

I don't know, I think I'm pretty frugal with words and I can't do a basic condo in under 20 pages.

JLMathis

I inspected a home and had some trouble with how the trusses in the addition were picking up the load from original house when the bearing wall was taken out. I recommended it to an engineer.

Subsequently met with the engineer on a different topic. He's semi-retired and in a 'let me be your mentor' kind of way, asked if he could give me some advice.He told me that my reports were too long..... I tried to explain that just specifying the type of each systems in the home, without discussing its condition, would take me twice as many pages as his suggested 3 page max.

Hi Egbert,

Yes ask your engineer friend if he would like to take the liability for you.

Its called a standard of care and if you are not meeting those standards, and frankly I don't see how anyone could with 3 pages, you will be the one before the judge.

My Report is 35-45 pages long & I would'nt have it any other way. I educate the buyer on their home. A 3 page report in my opinion is not long enough.

Do you have to follow a SOP? If so, it would be very difficult to do a 3 page report and follow the SOP. Not impossible - but very difficult!
Even the checklist reports I started out with and used in the 90's were 16 - 20 pages (when summary pages were added).

Never let anyone tell you how long report should be, especially someone that is NOT a home inspector.

Even among home inspectors there is a difference of opinion on how much should be in a report. No photos - a few of really big stuff - or tons. Summary? No summary. Just the bare facts, or a huge amount of boilerplate?

If you don't have to follow a SOP, then you probably could do a report on a 3x5 file card. One side says "A-OK" and the other says "NO WAY". :-)

Licensed engineers are allowed to conduct home inspections in the state of Texas without also acquiring a home inspector's license. I have never seen an engineer's home inspection report much longer than 5 or 6 pages. That is about the extent of their knowledge.

If your client comes unwound over a 12-page report it is simply because his expectations have been poorly managed. That is to say that his real estate agent has been involved, and you have not. I inform all of my clients before the inspection to expect a 60 - 150-page report, depending on the size and condition of the house. If they are not discerning or sophisticated enough to accept that, they are not clients I want to add to my database.

I've seen some of those 3+ page reports. I can only guess those guys have really good insurance, lawyers and detailed contracts that get them out of essentially anything.
As an HI you have to do a report that not only serves your client but also serves your long term business safety. Some people obviously don't care about that.

Originally Posted by Waylon Pilgreen

Where are these "home Inspectors" that go around saying homes are good and give a 3 page report?

I have an agent that is concerned that my reports are detailed and that I am doing a thorough job. Its a 1979 house that an elderly person lived in..... there is going to be stuff that's out of date and no I cant inspect it using 1979 standards.

"the water heater is new and it has an alarm with an automatic shut off valve why does the over flow pan need a drain?"
-Well miss agent lady what happens to the 50 gallons of water in the tank? in the floor walls and wood!!!!

Other than explaining the report is using current standards what else do yall do in order to keep people calm receiving a 12+ page report?

Waylon, don't worry about what the agent thinks. So many home inspectors forget who they are really working for! You are not working for the agent you are working for the buyer, your client.

The next time you have an agent comment about the length of the report you need to ask them why their real estate contract is so long? The correct answer is so that it covers everything! The same goes for the inspection and it's subsequent report.

Your job is to report what you find and report it. If the WH does not have a drain pan then simply report that it does not have a pan and it should. That is all that needs to be said.

Tell the agent that you will be the one that will be called if you do not report the conditions properly, not them!

I don't know anyone using a "3 page" report anymore, but I used know an inspector who's report was 3 pages.......well, actually 2 1/2 pages. He was a very good inspector, but his report was just a list of defects. He did very well.

The measure of a quality inspection isn't found in the length of the report. I've read some hundred page reports that could have been complete with fifty pages.

If you're comfortable with your report, your answer to the idiot agent is simple. "My report is exactly the right length, no more, no less. A house has many parts and it takes twelve pages to cover them all so that your buyer has a comprehensive picture of what they are buying. And aren't you glad that they hired me to do that for them, because if they think I did a good job, then they will be happier with any decisions they are making?"

[QUOTE=The measure of a quality inspection isn't found in the length of the report. I've read some hundred page reports that could have been complete with fifty pages. [/QUOTE]

And I've read hundreds of shorter reports that could have been written without even so much as a site visit.

Originally Posted by Waylon Pilgreen

Where are these "home Inspectors" that go around saying homes are good and give a 3 page report?

I have an agent that is concerned that my reports are detailed and that I am doing a thorough job. Its a 1979 house that an elderly person lived in..... there is going to be stuff that's out of date and no I cant inspect it using 1979 standards.

"the water heater is new and it has an alarm with an automatic shut off valve why does the over flow pan need a drain?"
-Well miss agent lady what happens to the 50 gallons of water in the tank? in the floor walls and wood!!!!

Other than explaining the report is using current standards what else do yall do in order to keep people calm receiving a 12+ page report?

Hard to believe a three page report since you are in Texas... Isn't a blank report template 6 pages?
An exceptionally clean house (very rare) takes more than a dozen pages.
Normal for me is around 30-50 pages.
Of course I get the "oh, your not through yet, that is grandfathered, don't scare my buyers" statements when I have a new-to-me agent quite often. It does not take long to establish that I am not the kind of inspector they want to refer since I don't play by their rules.
On the flip side I never have had a client complain about the length of the report or the detail, they love it.
Like others have said, remember the buyer is the client, not the agent.

Thanks for the replies. I am sticking to my guns no matter what, whether it ends my company or not but I've had more than one agent have issues and was curious if any one was doing this "crap tastic" style of reporting mostly in Dallas or east Texas. I know of one simply bc he was my inspector years ago hence one of the reasons I became an inspector. All my clients have loved my reports and have had repeat business.

Thanks again.

My blank Texas report is approximately 6 pages. Then as I read this forum and witness members' desires to add "boilerplate" for everything from the presence of incandescent light bulbs to FPE panels to the possibility of the existence of asbestos in rolled flooring, it seems that some reports must be in the neighborhood of twenty pages before any observations about the home are added.

Many times I see a member has said they "educate" the client about the home. I agree this has merit to a very limited degree. However, our mission, at least by the Texas SOP is to identify deficiencies. If I identify an ungrounded duplex receptacle, I don't understand how adding the history of electricity back to the key on the kite is useful.

JMHO.