Thread: Hello to all

Hello to all. I have just joined and am looking forward to communicating with other inspectors. I have been a home inspector for about 2 yrs and have been using the AHIT hand written reports. I have been looking at a lot of different report software. Some are check list and some are narrative. Which reports are clients and realtors looking for and which are user friendly?

Originally Posted by Beckerman

Hello to all. I have just joined and am looking forward to communicating with other inspectors. I have been a home inspector for about 2 yrs and have been using the AHIT hand written reports. I have been looking at a lot of different report software. Some are check list and some are narrative. Which reports are clients and Realtors looking for and which are user friendly?

First of all let me ask you for the 5 spot for a cup of coffee before Ron gets to you.

Second. My personal opinion is to can the check list and hand written deal out all together. Get a good looking fully narrative inspection software and a laptop. This is 2008 and I cannot believe you are using hand written reports. To each his own but I just don't see hand written wanted by anyone anymore.

The checklist is a cheap way out. A combo checklist/narrative is better but I would still get rid of any type of checklist. Looks better, you have to type everything out, they don't just see a bunch of check offs that have nothing written with them and the client has no idea what you are trying to say. Which software? Well download some free trial types and see for yourself which you think best suits your purpose. Go more toward the simple because 50 different drop downs and templates and, and, and, just takes a lot more time to create your report.

Just my opinion

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I'm sure that this will sound as jaded as I mean it to those who have been working a while.
Realtors want checkbox
Clients appreciate narrative
I use MS word, with templates I've created for various types of inspections I've done over the years. There are some checklist items in the report for various amenities/components present or not. For the most part each section is narrative.
I would recommend looking at various forms and get comfortable with what feels right for you before spending a bunch of money.