by Bob Kille on April 17, 2026

Bathtub Blues

One of my worst home inspection nightmares became a reality today.If you haven’t guess it yet its what happens when you walk away from a filling jaquzzi and forgetting about it. Yep, happened to me and now I’ve got a new rule.

Always inspect the master bathroom before the master bedroom, that way you can still hear the water running, plus you know you still have to inspect the bathroom before leaving the area.

It was quite a mess, I didn’t realize that the water was still running until I came to the bathroom jaquzzi statement in my inspection report. A bit of an adrenline rush combined with a severe sinking feeling is what I’m talk’n about. A good inch of water greeted me at the bathroom door threshold. “Buck up” is what came to mind as I started thinking of what to say to the owner. Well to make a long story short I just emptied the linen closet out onto the floor just after shouting a few choice words.

Please learn from my mistake, inspect the master bath first every time in order to make it a habit. You won’t regret it.

To view software and book publications by Mr. Kille please join us at www.inspectorsuccess.com

by Bob on November 29, 2023

Residential Home Inspections

Home Inspection
One Year Warranty Inspection

Having your new home professionally inspected by our company as early as possible in the buying process can save you thousands of dollars on items which you may be able to have the seller or builder correct.

If you are planning to sell your home, an inspection prior to placing your home on the market provides a better understanding of conditions which may be discovered by the buyer’s inspector, and provides you an opportunity to make repairs that will make your home more desirable to potential buyers.

Schedule an on-site consultation anytime during the construction process. We will be available to talk with you about any concerns or problems you have during the entire building process, while printed reports will be provided next day for both you and your builder.

Our company is dedicated to providing you with valuable information about your new home. We thoroughly inspect all major components of the subject property to expose unknown defects, and advise you about future maintenance about your home once the purchase is complete. Acu’spect home inspections will give you the information you require to make an informed decision.

by Bob on November 29, 2023

One Year / Home Warranty Inspection

In general, every new home in Arizona has a one-year warranty from the Builder covering defects in materials and/or workmanship. Defects for your new home generally fall into several categories. These are the obvious material and/or workmanship defects in and around the house and the not so visible latent defects which are defects that are not generally detectable or observable by the average homeowner. A broken roof truss or missing insulation in the attic is an example of a latent defect. There are many other areas that are part of a check list which deals with adherence to local building codes.

Mostly, it is these hidden or latent defects that are not discovered until after the One-Year warranty has expired that cause considerable expense to the owner. We use our knowledge of new construction techniques to recognize these issues. We do not claim to be able to find everything hidden from the homeowner, as much is not visible due to coverings. However, 23 years of home inspection experience leads us in the right direction to detect hidden or latent issues before your Builder warranty has expired.

by Bob on November 29, 2023

New Construction / Phase Inspections

New Construction inspections or Phase Inspections as they are sometimes called are becoming more popular due to the fact that more people now know that they are available. This type of inspection insures that the building is being built to the local codes.

Phase inspections are genrally called for in each major phase of the construction process. Foundation, Pre-drywall and Completed or move in stage.

On average, at the pre-drywall phase or stage, I find 16 code violations after the county code official has inspected and declared the building ready to be covered. There are many reasons for this including but not limited to: insufficient time, training, no ladder use, no pulling of nails to check for the proper size and lack of ultimate responsibility to name a few.

To see a sample report detailing a Pre-Drywall inspection click here…. Sample Report The report may take a minute to download, it is quite large as there are many photo’s included in the report.

by Bob on August 30, 2008

The Noise Of Silence

Recently I had the opportunity to speak in front of the Arizona ASHI members at their 2 day conference in Mesa. Kinda my first big speaking gig in front of a large audience. Wish I could say it went better. And I say this, not because the material presented was bad, it was the delivery or lack thereof. If I could do one thing over it’d be the opening 5 minutes, as this is where I mentally struggled to get my pace and thoughts on track.

It was just after asking the first simple question to the audience that I’d gotten thrown off and gored by the white noise. You know, the noise in your own head when your are greeted with silence from the crowd after asking for feedback. Your not sure how to react, and that was where I fell. I reacted by talking louder “at” them, which made me feel better, but further distanced me from the audience. But I do have to say this, I risked it and I learned from it. Stepping out and doing what others won’t or can’t is how you grow personally and professionally. Not to mention monetarily.

There were some who thanked me for the presentation and others who chimed in and said it was what they needed to hear. But I knew it from the moment the white noise hit, that personally, I had bombed. I missed the connection, or maybe it was that trust hadn’t been established, or…. So many thoughts of what went wrong, and I had them all in the split second that I recognized the white noise of an unresponsive audience.

What makes this post so annoying for me is that the same thing happened during a Webinar I hosted the other night on Phase Inspections. Six home inspectors on the line and none would volunteer feedback on the easiest of questions.

I’ve thought about it a lot since then, to the point of signing up for Toastmasters. I’ll post on how the first meeting strikes me.

by Bob on August 24, 2008

Home Inspection & Negotiation

This article was written for the Vail Sun (local newspaper), for an up coming home buyers seminar. The article took a few hours to write but it was well worth the FREE exposure.

Home inspections are now considered a necessity by many Realtors and for good reason. Clients who do not want a home inspection are often times asked to sign an advisement notice. Something that says that they were counseled to have an inspection done, but decided otherwise. Making a client acutely aware of the importance of a home inspection is now stock and trade for anyone in the Real Estate profession.

Why is it that important? After all it’s another few hundred out the door and the fee’s are piling up. We’ll for the buyer, it’s a built in re-negotation tool. The standard real estate contract has a satisfactory (to the buyer) home inspection contingency clause.

In Arizona, after acceptance of an offer, there are no more counter offers except in the case of a contingency such as a home inspection. You can’t just decide not to buy the place without giving up your escrow funds unless a contingency is in force.

If a buyer is not satisfied with the condition of the property he can ask for the escrow funds to be returned and continue his house search, or, if he still likes the home but not at the cost of repairs, request of the seller, re-negotiated terms covering some or all of the anticipated costs.

The seller upon notification of an unsatisfactory report, also has the right to refuse further negotiations, return the escrowed money’s and wait for another buyer, or, the more probable response, re-negotiate the terms with respect to the inspection report.

In a buyers market, this is powerful stuff that can save you big dollars if the property needs some work.

Having major repairs or large maintenance issues addressed at the negotiation table will greatly enhance the homeowner experience. Not to mention keeping some of your hard earned cash in your pocket.

A client last week sent me an email expressing thanks for the great job and gave me a few details on how the transaction turned out. She was one of those clients that didn’t think she really needed a home inspection and was sort of talked into it. In effect she re-negotiated to the tune of $9,500.00 as a result of the report, which was a bit more than the anticipated repairs to the property.

According to the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI), a home inspection on average, returns about 10 times on your money. Not bad odds, and my direct experience proves this out. Just a hand full of the hundreds of inspection I do a year have less than the inspection fee in reported repairs.

Warning: Home inspections are not a commodity, you can’t buy the exact same report from two different providers. The experience and education that each individual home inspector brings to the table varies widely. As such, price shopping for a home inspection is akin to price shopping for a brain surgeon.

Not getting the best you can afford may have dire consequences to your pocket book and rainy day fund.

Bob Kille

Acuspect Home Inspections

www.acuspect.com 520-237-8965

by Bob on August 10, 2008

Everything Tucson

home inspection tucson If your new to the area the first thing you might want to do is get a bookmark on your computer to Tucson.com The site is a great resource site for all things Tucson. There is a great guide for those of you new to the area called, Tucson Newcomer & Tourist Guide. This site is like a window into the heart of Tucson. If your just looking for Real Estate try Tucson Homes I do suggest however that you use one of my recommended Realtors as I personally know this group as stand outs in their profession.

by Bob on August 7, 2008

Nothing Like A Big Smile

Just came back from a new construction phase inspection with another unbelievable site supervisor quote. “Son, your not allowed to inspect any of the installed hardware fasteners except for the heads. Pulling nails to check for size and length is not allowed on our sites. If your in doubt, just let us know and we’ll check it out for you”. My smile doesn’t get much bigger and the quiet little head shake that went with it must not have registered because he let the subject drop. I guess he was still trying to figure out how he was going to get the framers back to pull all the incorrect nails from every single connector in the building.

Poor old Da-wayne, yep, I know him from another “fastener” debacle that almost cost him his job last year. Might I digress, last year under his watch several of the homes I was inspecting were coming up with improper hardware and nailing. Da-wayne stuck to his position that all was well. That I didn’t know what I was talking about – even though I backed up my reports with code references and installation instructions. Now here’s a lesson for you – always know who you are dealing with.

My client just happened to be well connected with more than a few lawyers on staff, those lawyers contacted my other clients who had the same problems and poof !!! I get a call from the V.P. of Operations, he’s located in Texas but is willing to fly in to meet with me on Monday if I’m available. Monday, Monday, what a day at the office. I get paraded into the conference room where upon Da-wayne shoves the plans at me in protest of my faulty reporting. Ok, I’m up to the challenge, I find the plan details showing the connections and specified hardware.

Mr. Big is looking on now and Dawayne says in a loud voice, “that’s right, that’s what’s installed”. I give my biggest smile and the quiet little head shake. Then I ask, Dawayne, did you even read the report, or look at the installation issues first hand? His voice escalating now – “all of the hardware and fasteners are correct to the plans, I’ve even brought in a box of the installed nails to prove it. Ok Da-wayne, lets see what you got.

Da-wayne proceeds to point out that the clips called for in the plan to tie the roof down are Simpson A35’s and that the nail specifed is a 10d nail. Wow Da-wayne, youre right on both counts, let’s see that box of nails you brought in. That’s a nice look’n box there Da-wayne, its even got the nail size printed out for you on the side. Da-wayne, do you know what the difference is between a wire nail and a common nail? Umm, ah,, – well it’s about 17% different in width. The Simpson A35’s called for in the plans require 10d common nails (.131), not a 10d wire nail. And, oh, by the way, you don’t have Simpson A35’s installed, you have USP AA35’s which may have similar load characteristics but very different foot prints and approved applications at the roof shear transfer.

The room got pin drop quiet until Mr. Big started asking some questions like, how did this happen? Da-wayne quickly put the blame over to purcurement and suppliers. Mr. Big saddles on over to me with a practiced leading handshake and palm at my shoulder to guide my way towards the door, kinda like the doctor’s office, a very practiced movement. I did get an invite back for that Friday, and all my inspections were paid for by the builder.

So, that was my last experience with Dawayne, I’m a bit surprised he didn’t take notice of the big smile and quiet head shake..

by Bob on August 3, 2008

National Home Inspector Associations

ASHI – American Society of Home Inspectors

The American Society of Home Inspectors is a not-for-profit professional society whose members include private, fee-paid home inspectors.

Arizona ASHI

The Arizona chapter of the American Society of Home Inspectors.

CREIA – California Real Estate Inspection Association

The California Real Estate Inspection Association. A non-profit voluntary membership organization that provides education, training, and support services to the real estate inspection industry and to the public.

NAHI – National Association of Home Inspectors

The National Association of Home Inspectors, Inc. (NAHI) was established in 1987 as a nonprofit association to promote and develop the home inspection industry. The mission of the National Association of Home Inspectors is to promote excellence and professionalism in the Home Inspection industry; to provide a standards of practice and a code of ethics; to educate its members; and to inform the public of the benefits and scope of a professional home inspection.

Inter NACHI – National Association of Certified Home Inspectors

The National Association of Certified Home Inspectors (NACHI) is a non-profit organization of the nation’s best real estate inspection professionals. NACHI.org helps a home inspector become certified.

AII – The American Institute of Inspectors

The American Institute of Inspectors® is a non-profit corporation that has been set up for the benefit of residential and commercial buildinginspectors across our great nation.

by Bob on July 29, 2008

One Contested Seat

board room meeting I just submitted my ballot for the Arizona ASHI chapter leadership and while doing so, it struck me that there was actually a contested seat on the board. So what that means is – only one home inspector out of 135 Arizona ASHI members thought he was better qualified for the position than the selected/persuaded opponent. A home inspector who actually stood up and is asking for the spot for his own reasons.

What could some of the reasons be? Well, chief among them, becoming known. This may not be his reason of course, but it could be yours. There is also the nice attribute of having something meaningful on your list of credentials and a nice healthy networking experience.

Given the choice, so few home inspectors step out of their comfort zone and up into an easily attainable spot of notoriety among their peers. Why do I say – easily attainable, well for the most part, most of these guys had to be asked/persuaded to volunteer by someone who wanted to vacate the spot. Very few actually campaigned, or for that matter, asked for the seat.

I ask you, what better way is there to become the professional home inspector that you aspire to be? Not many of us are comfortable in a leadership role, but that uncomfortable edge is where life is lived and rewarded. The REWARDS you say? Yes, the rewards can be staggering on the road less traveled. At times it feels like a super highway the way things hit you so fast.

There’s only room at the top for those that put themselves in a position of learning and serving. I can’t think of a better place to stick you neck out for the first time than that of the company of your peers. I hope to see at least two contested spots next year, heck I might even throw my hat in the ring again.

by Bob on May 27, 2008

Professional Inspection Services

Acuspect Home Inspections offers a full range of inspec home inspector tions to fit your needs. A quick look at the Credentials page should ease your mind as to our superior education and qualifications in the home inspection field.

A full description of inspection types are listed below. Sample reports of our work product can be downloaded from the individual services links.

We are currently undergoing training and certification for the Energy Star inspections, this service should be available by the end of 2008.

Meth-amphetamine residue testing is now available for those properties that may have been exposed to meth-amphetamine use or manufacture. This is especially important if the property in question is a hotel or rental type property such as a four plex or apartment complex. This simple test can limit your liability to a known clean state at the time of purchase or give you the information you need as to the level of contamination in the property before you close escrow. Most states are in the process of enacting laws that give access to the property to the buyer for meth-amphetamine residue tests.

by Bob on May 25, 2008

Testimonials

Well, after much more waiting and anticipation, we finally agreed on a price just yesterday. We had an estimate for the repairs that Bob itemized, and it came to over $8400! So with a portion of that, and the termite and A/C replacement, we asked for a repairs allowance of $12,500 – and had to counter and negotiate several times again! We finally agreed on a price of $$$k, YEA! I’m happy and pleased with that, and we are closing on Monday!

So thank you both for all your help. I hate to think if we hadn’t gotten an inspection, etc. But we did and have some work identified that I want to do ASAP. Lori Carroll – Tucson

Bob, I’ve received your reports, they seem to be well thought out and very professional. It looks like I’ve made a good decision. Jack Maxson – Green Valley

There is lots to write about Bob, Gayle and their company. However, one short phrase will do: “The Best!” Acu’Spect is the only company our office recommends as providing the best and most comprehensive home inspection. Charlie Kentnor – Realty Executives Southern Arizona

by Bob on May 25, 2008

Credentials

Please read through the following professional designations, memberships and accomplishments for a better understanding of our level of expertise in the field of home inspection. A home inspection is NOT a commodity, but a highly skilled area of expertise in common building practice, related building codes and building envelope science. Pricing is generally reflective of an inspectors background and knowledge base in these areas. [Read more…] about Credentials

by Bob on May 25, 2008

Be Sure – Protect Yourself

A home inspection is probably one of the most important services used in property transactions today. Although the process of buying a new home is very exciting, it quickly becomes overwhelming without good advice and guidance. While the home you have selected may appear to be just what you’re looking for, be sure, protect yourself. Have a licensed home inspector check the home for major deficiencies.

Play the accompaning video on the right side of the screen to find out more about how an inspection can save you money before you buy.

Having your new home professionally inspected by our home inspection company as early as possible in the buying process can possibly save you thousands of dollars on items which you may be able to have the seller or builder correct.

Sellers should depend on an accurate home inspection to maximize their knowledge of the property in order to make intelligent decisions before executing an agreement for sale or purchase. If you are planning to sell your home, a home inspection prior to placing your home on the market provides a better understanding of conditions which may be discovered by the buyer’s inspector, and provides you an opportunity to make repairs that will make your home more desirable to potential buyers.

Are you building a new home? Construction inspections throughout the building process are vital. For example, a foundation inspection before the concrete is poured, so that we can check the reinforcing steel and the slab thickness, an inspection after framing and rough-in of the electrical and plumbing systems and before installation of the sheetrock and insulation as well as a final walk through with the builder could save time and costly repairs later on. Schedule an on-site consultation anytime during the construction process. Written reports reference the adopted codes of the jurisdiction so there is no doubt as to what the process for correction is.

Our company is dedicated to providing you with valuable information about your new home. We thoroughly inspect all major components of the subject property to expose unknown defects, and advise you about future maintenance about your home once the purchase is complete. Our company will give you the information you require to make an informed decision.

by Bob on May 23, 2008

Green Threshold – Sustainability Mixer

If your interested in “Going Green” and have time to mingle with like minded folks down in the Sierra Vista area you might want to check this meeting out… A mixer is scheduled for Friday, July 11th at 6:00pm. It is potentially going to be in C.J. Crowell’s home (GreenLight, Inc.). We need to assess accessibility.

Two other notable events:

1. Cochise County Board of Supervisor’s Green Building Work Session – The BOS will be having a work session on Tuesday, June 10th at 2 p.m. focusing on the possible establishment of a Green Building program in Cochise County . Good News! (The great news is that we got Susan Buchan back from Pima County. She is the Cochise County Planning Department’s Incoming Director!!)

2. Southeastern Arizona Solar Power Forum – Southeastern Arizona Economic Development Group, Cochise County, and Cochise College are co-hosting an all day Solar Power Forum on Saturday, June 21st at the Cochise College Campus in Douglas. The goals of this forum are to highlight the many business opportunities for the solar power industry in our region, to increase solar power and technology awareness in Southeast Arizona, and to bring together those who are considering doing business in this area with those who can provide professional consultation, materials, goods, services, real estate and general information.

by Bob on May 1, 2008

Events – News – Attractions

These posts will be about local events, news or attractions in Souther Arizona. The following communities in particular: Vail, Tucson, Rio Rico, Tubac, Green Valley, Sahuarita, and Corona De Tucson.

by Bob on April 30, 2008

Can You Afford Not To?

Play the accompaning video on the right side of the screen to find out more about how an inspection can save you money before you buy.

Our company is dedicated to providing you with valuable information about your new home. We thoroughly inspect all major components of the subject property to expose unknown defects, and advise you about future maintenance about your home once the purchase is complete. Our company will give you the information you require to make an informed decision.

by Bob on January 24, 2008

Welcome to Acu’Spect Home Inspections…

A home inspection is probably one of the most important services used in property transactions today. Although the process is very exciting, it quickly becomes overwhelming. While the home you have selected may appear to be just what you’re looking for, how can you be sure there aren’t potentially serious unknown defects which can make your investment in your future a costly one. Having your new home professionally inspected by our company as early as possible in the buying process can save you thousands of dollars on items which you may be able to have the seller or builder correct.

Sellers depend on an accurate home inspection to maximize their knowledge of the property in order to make intelligent decisions before executing an agreement for sale or purchase. For homeowners, an inspection may be used to identify problems in the making and to learn about preventive measures, which might help avoid costly future repairs. If you are planning to sell your home, an inspection prior to placing your home on the market provides a better understanding of conditions which may be discovered by the buyer’s inspector, and provides you an opportunity to make repairs that will make your home more desirable to potential buyers.

Are you building a new home? Property inspections throughout the building process are vital. For example, a foundation inspection before the concrete is poured, so that we can check the reinforcing steel and the slab thickness, an inspection after framing and rough-in of the electrical and plumbing systems and before installation of the sheetrock and insulation as well as a final walk through with the builder could save time and costly repairs later on. Schedule an on-site consultation anytime during the construction process. The inspector will also be available to talk with you about any concerns or problems you have during the entire building process, while printed reports will be provided at the time of the inspection for both you and your builder.

Our company is dedicated to providing you with valuable information about your new home. We thoroughly inspect all major components of the subject property to expose unknown defects, and advise you about future maintenance about your home once the purchase is complete. Our company will give you the information you require to make an informed decision.

by Bob on August 26, 2007

Home Inspector Round Table

Bob Kille Acuspect Home Inspection The Arizona American Society of Home Inspectors educational conference has come and gone. As always, the ones who just can’t get enough education, stay awhile and talk over a few beers.

The last to leave the conference room, it struck me funny that those that need the interaction of the fellowship the most, the new entrants, sought out their education only from the classes offered. It has been my experience that going early and staying late has always been much more educational than the actual event. The lunches and the breaks are where I have personally benefited from a lot of good inside advice, well worth the admission.

In my opinion these events are more about creating relationships than they are about the class offerings. That’s probably a secret, whoops. While the classes may be educational, not showing up early and/or staying late to strike up conversations at these events is a huge mistake. If your the insecure type and just can’t get up the nerve to start up a conversation or step into a gathered circle, seek out some help before its too late.

Home inspection, in case you haven’t figured it out yet, is a relationship business.

by Bob on April 4, 2007

Right Between The Toes

Bob Kille Acuspect Home Inspection This short essay is about initative and addictive behavior.

It just so happens that my sister is in the handcrafted soap business and is struggling to get it going. Much of what she sells is done through craft shows at a display booth. Like all the others, your at the mercy of the traffic flow past your booth. Any signage or hawking you can do to get a prospect to stop is what makes or breaks your day. Similar to your home inspection ad copy in any medium.

So on with the story, I’m on the phone speaking to my sisters signifigant other and he starts telling me what happened to him out at the craft show he did alone over the weekend. The show had a fairly light attendance and Ronny who is addicted to talking (just ask anyone) wasn’t getting anyone to stop at the booth. Ronny, I should mention is a Harley rider and looks the part, beard, tank top, chained wallet, tattoos and all. Yep, selling soaps and lotions at a craft show.

When an addict needs a fix he doesn’t stop to think about all the reasons why he couldn’t possibly get it, he just focuses all his energies in one direction. So here’s Ronny with no one to talk too and getting sore feet to boot. Then it hits him! Ronny had a recent heart bypass and takes along a folding recliner and foot stool when doing the craft shows. He could get it em out and rest his feet or…

He could sit the ladies down for a free foot massage using the featured lotions.

Out came the recliner and down sat the ladies. The booth quickly became a “giggle fest” as Ronny put it, that lasted the entire day. Other vendors came down to see what all the fuss and traffic stoppage was about and so did the local TV crew. The next day was the same and along came another TV crew for the nightly news. If this wasn’t enough, one of the other vendors has a local radio show and asked Ronny to come down to the station for a live interview for Misty Mountian Soap Company.

In my opinion the ladies just wanted a biker to massage their feet and bought the lotion as a souvnier. Just kidding Ronny.

Initiative and addictive behavior seem to have alot in common. Think about it.

by Bob on March 10, 2006

Simultaneous Diversity

Bob Kille Acuspect Home Inspection Know what the worst number in business is? It’s the number One. One product, one service, one marketing strategy, one key client, one key market, you get the drift.

Relying on the “One” is a setup for disaster and why diversifying not only your business model but the way you think is worth considering.

Most self-employed inspectors think only in terms of “Present Income”, not in terms of locked-in future income or equity. Think retirement. You need to develop a business strategy that takes “both” into consideration through to implementation. An example of this would be thinking of your business as a job, to pay your bills, instead of as a way to retire with multiple income streams.

Consider this, most home inspectors try to achieve whatever success they seek sequentially. First, they get an education. Next, a job or start a business. Next, attempt to make a good income. Next, after about seven years they start to think about savings and retirement. And so on.

Entrepreneurs who get wealthy, and I’d like to someday count myself as one of them, live simultaneously, not sequentially. This is both a different mindset and the use of a different set of practical skills. Developing new ways to make your home inspection business grow and resources to do it requires “Thinking”, “Next step planning” and action.

The “Thinking” and “Next Step Planning” are two distinct aspects of a project and both must be given equal continual attention. Anytime you have to do something again and again, the systems approach is best. A to-do list just can’t handle the complexities of several open projects.

So, to this end I’ve been setting up a system for a “Daily” routine that involves planning and review of my projects. I’ll post some of my thoughts on what worked and didn’t as the year stretches on.

by Bob on March 3, 2006

Whatever

Bob Kille Acuspect Home Inspection Some times people just don’t get it, for whatever reason. Here I was at a re-inspection of a nice new big custom home at the pre-drywall stage. Our site supervisor is insisting that I shouldn’t ding him for a minor staircase imperfection of 1 inch in height difference between the risers.

With a big smile on my face and my head moving slightly left to right I waded in with the motor skills studies that determined why risers can be no more than 3/8ths difference in height.

His argument back to me was that the tile floor was not yet in place and that should bring up the lower riser by about 5/8ths of an inch, which by the way would put him at the 3/8th inch maximum tolerance from highest to lowest risers.

That sounded logical until I asked if the stairs were going to be left bare, without a floor covering of their own. To this he replied that, the carpet would be minimal in thickness and shouldn’t really be considered because it would only put the risers out of maximum tolerance by just a bit.

So if my math is approximately correct, carpet padding is about 1/4″ and the carpet itself even if on the thinnest of sides would measure at least 1/8″ in thickness, leaving a 5/8th difference in riser heights. Just a bit over the max of 3/8ths, a bit being 60%.

I received the same story again on how expensive it would be to start over to fix the slightly over tolerance issue. My first suggestion to him was to let the sub contractor worry about that and his first concern should be to the safety of the occupants. I could tell that I’d lost him on the safety concern so I put it another way.

Imagine, after documenting the safety hazard at the stairs you fail to do anything to correct it and someone get hurt using the stairs. I wouldn’t want to be the one explaining to a judge that it was just a “little bit” over tolerance would you?

Well, I thought I had em, but site supers can be tough minded and this one was no exception. His reply was that the boss wasn’t going to make him fix the dang stairs anyway as an accident is unlikely, so let’s just move on.

I paused a moment, and asked what’s going to happen when the house is resold and the home inspector declares the stairs a safety hazard? It’s clearly out of tolerance and the Registrar of Contractors Workmanship Standards would clearly dictate that the stairs be made safe, i.e. reconstructed.

Add attorney’s fee’s onto whatever it costs to reconstruct the stairs at that late date and your boss will probably see the wisdom in calling back the sub contractor to fix it now. “Whatever” is the educated response mumbled my way as he saunter off clearly disgusted with me, not wanting to discuss the rest of the list.

Funny how things work out. Not one hour after leaving the site I got a call to do a home inspection on a brand new home in the same neighborhood, same builder, different staircase, same stair problem. Yep, a 1″ difference at the first riser on a real nice all finished wood winding staircase, sides wood paneled with a nice custom Newell post at the first tread.

Whatever happens, and it won’t be coming out of my pocket.

by Bob on February 25, 2006

Make Cents

Bob Kille Acuspect Home Inspection Those of you who read my posts generally know my business philosophy of paying out for any compliant, whether valid or not, up to a point of course. When you do a lot of inspections the addresses and clients are mostly vague memories so when you get the question, “do you remember the job you did at such and such, for Mr. & Mrs. blankety blank about 3 or 4 months ago?”

Well, I got that question as I was getting out of my car from the realtor, who happens to be by the way, one of my better sources of referrals. One of the reasons he uses/recommends me is that he knows I’ll take care of his clients without question. What I mean is, without “PROBING” questions.

Here’s why probing questions are out, and it’s a funny thing. When you start to question, you’re mind, unknown to you, is really just trying to justify why you shouldn’t be held responsible for the yuckety yuck problem. And in asking the probing questions your voice betrays you by sounding a bit indignant.

Questions with this tone, and its not one you can easily refrain from, also puts the realtor who brought up the questionable oversight on the defensive. What you really want is them to feel relaxed with the impression that they’re helping you with your relationships. i.e. (your customer base, and don’t forget the realtor is part of your customer base).

To combat this unconscious indignant tone and to put the realtor at ease I say, in an upbeat or apolegetic way, “So what did I miss?”. Thereby taking the position that whatever the problem is that comes out of his mouth is my fault, and the questions that I ask are ones geared to fix the condition while assuring him that the bill can be sent to me.

Whatever you do, make sure to thank the realtor for bringing this to your attention. I try not to offer any assitance in resolving the matter outside of an offer to pay, as quite often I’m never contacted for payment and I’ve still made good on my word to take care of any compliants.

So to get to the meat of this post, in being so ready to take responsibility with just a vague memory of the property, I had just agreed to fix the sellers problem. Turns out the realtor was the listing agent and the seller was renting back the property. When they were fixing to disconnect the washer at move out but the valve was stuck open. They complained to their listing realtor (the realtor in question) that the home inspector should have caught the condition so they shouldn’t be responsible because after all, it wasn’t their house anymore. Now, doesn’t that make sense?

I know, I know, there’s lots of good reasons why this shouldn’t be my problem and that just goes to show you why you shouldn’t go down that bumpy road with your voice betraying your real feelings all the while souring your relationship with the realtor.

You’ve got to know what the lifetime value of a good realtor is, so that this all makes cents. Yes I mean “cents”. Last year I performed over 30 inspections for this realtor at approx $300 each or $9,000 dollars worth of gross income. To make him feel any other way than that of helping me when he presents his sellers dilemma would be foolhardy at best.

My only problem now is to figure out how to get a wavier & release form signed by my client to make the payout. Company policy is never to payout without a signed wavier & release. Had I know from the start before I agreed to pay, whom I was paying, I could have at least requested that my client make the request. Now that it’s akward, by that, I mean to go back to the realtor to explian all of this, I’ll probably let it go and just pay the seller.

by Bob on February 12, 2006

Packy

Bob Kille Acuspect Home Inspection

Of all the things I could be writing about from my experiences at the NAHI & NACHI national conferences I pick this one experience cause it just sticks in my craw. I can’t decide if I’m just getting old and boring or if there’s a bigger cultural reason for rudeness.

All right, I’ll set the scene and you decide. I was with a new group of friends that I’d met at the vendor booths. We were all standing in the lobby waiting for a table at the local Olive Garden. Among us was a nice young girl who says she can’t order alcohol because she’s only nineteen.

Lets just call her Packy for now. Packy wants to know if I would be so kind as to order her a drink from the bar to which I respond, what will you have. Sex on the Beach or a Blow Job she replies with a straight face.

Not being much of a barfly in the last decade I wasn’t sure if she was putting me on or not. I’d be embarrassed to drink it yet alone order it, but here I go up to the bartender to ask for a Blow Job.

Yeh, it was embarrassing, the bartender didn’t know how to make one and I sure as heck wasn’t going to say I knew so the bartender points his finger at me and starts telling the patrons that the drink I ordered is called a Blow Job, did anyone know what’s in it. Turns out, someone did.

When I returned to the group with Packy’s drink and a slightly flush face I notice that Packy was busy with her phone, look like text messaging. So I’m standing there with her drink in my now cold hand chatting up and laughing with the others for a few minutes.

Curious to how someone could text message for so long on a phone I asked her who she was talking to, without looking up she states that she’s playing pac man on her phone and is nearly finished.

Now I don’t know about you, but as far as I can remember whenever I stood around with a group of friends talking and joking, none of them were playing pac man on their phone like the rest of us didn’t exist.

So I gota ask myself, were we that boring or is there a generation x/y thing going on here.

by Bob on January 22, 2006

Part II Worst Inspection Report

Bob Kille Acuspect Home Inspection As promised, the rest of the “Worst Inspection Report”.

In the last post on this topic I eluded that the report format was basically a check box with some arcane letters standing for a particular condition. When a notable defect or condition was encountered the inspector added a corresponding color-coded comment. The rest of the text of the report was mostly disclaimers and minor adjuncts as to how the inspection was performed.

So, what happens with this type of report is that, the reader quickly surmises that all he has to do is read any colored comment and he’ll have assimilated the germane issues of condition prior to escrow. What you have to remember though, is what effect color and font type/size has on the reader. The buyer as most realtors recognize is already in a state of buyer’s remorse and is looking for either a confirmation that the choice was a good one or an easy way to keep looking without explaining his fears. The (RED) color coding may not seem like a grievous error on its own but added together with the rest of the mistakes makes mountains out of mole hills.

The rest of the mistakes? Well, I didn’t spend too much time unwrapping this story but in the few moments I did leaf through the report the following small errors caught my eye.

First thing I noticed right off was that the summary was at the end of the report and in the same red ink to further inflame the buyer’s psyche. These along with the small italic text (10pt), which can only further frustrate someone who’s anxious and has poor eyesight.

Also included in the report were pages such as “Crawl Space” when none existed. And weird comments such as “Did not walk flat roof – viewed from ladder with binoculars”

The next objection I had was that some of the comments had two recommendations listed instead of one. Comments should always follow the: Observed, Warning & Recommendation sequence for the observed condition condensing any recommendations into one statement such as: “Further review is recommended for a better understanding of repair/replacement costs and/or present condition”. Recommending how to fix or repair something should be avoided.

I only know the following because I was asked to perform the same inspection just days after this inspector made his appearance. The inspector missed broken seals at 3 large thermo panes and an improper roofing tile installation at the ridge.

Try to make your reports follow a logical sequence in plain type large enough for the average 60 year old with as little red ink as possible. If you include a summary, be sure its placed at the beginning of the report. The sum of the parts always adds up to the whole, and if the whole experience of using your service isn’t outstanding in the opinion of both the buyer and Realtor, your days are numbered.

by Bob on January 1, 2006

The Chicken Count

Bob Kille Acuspect Home Inspection It’s the new year and already I’m counting my chickens before their hatched. You see, today is my day to put together the report binders for the comming year. The first thing I do is to figure out what each binder is worth given the average price of a home inspection and then as I’m putting them together the chicken count starts up in my head and even tho its supposed to be bad luck, I can’t stop.

But seeing as last year and the year before were banner years and the same ritual took place I’m start’n to think that having a positive outlook is working for me. Some would argue that the set number of binders made up on this day would limit my belief system as to how much more is out there.

Not true I’d argue, as in the closing days of 2005 I landed a quality control contract for the new year with one of larger custom home builders in my neck of the woods and no binders required. Just a quick summary nailed to the wall of the garage and I’m out’a there.

I guess the point of this post is to suggest that you stay open to other avenues of growth. Try to get another pillar under your inspection bussiness so that a downturn in one aspect is softened by strength in another.

Don’t put all your eggs in one basket and your chicken count just might be higher than you thought possible. Happy New Year!

by Bob on December 19, 2005

The Un-negotiable Letter

Bob Kille Acuspect Home Inspection This is the next installment of the “Least Restrictive” article in which a fellow home inspector was heading for court over the word “few”.

It’s Friday evening about dinner time when the phone rings and a message is left. Dear home inspector, I just wanted you to know that I’ve sent out a letter detailing my demands for payment in the amount of $5,400 for the damaged adobe bricks on the yard wall.

This is a non-negotiable amount as it is considerably less than the $8,700 estimate in my possession for the total work needed. If agreement on this matter is not satisfied by next week the matter will be taken up in civil court, not in mediation, as you seem inclined to believe by virtue of your contract.

Well, have a nice weekend.

Yeah, right. I think that any communication back to him should be in the same manner, at his home phone Friday evening so he can mull it over the weekend.

If you haven’t read the previous post, the client in question is a shyster-lawyer. My theory about how all this is going to go down is one step closer to happening. The Theory? That the lawyer wants our good man to submit the claim to insurance so he can collect an easy $5,000 by merely writing a letter.

Most attorney’s know that insurance will settle almost immediately for sums of $5,000 and less because to get any type of defense set up and ready will cost at least that with no confidence in the outcome.

So what’s my advice to our hero?

Our home inspector has a lot going for him and I’ll just list the positives; mediation – arbitration in the contract payable by party taking action, fence is outside the scope of a home inspection – commented on as part of the pool barrier and listed in satisfactory condition for it’s age, inspection report recommends further review by expert on the effected “few” bricks. Total of 200 bricks with minor deterioration at the face per experts report.

Now the negatives; client claims that an adobe wall partitioning his property line is not a fence but a barrier and that it is in the scope of a home inspection, client claims that he relied on the word “few” to mean 3 bricks thereby negating the need for further review, client maintains that the condition or absence of the clear sealer for the adobe brick was not reported on and that its absence would have been germane to the sale price, client claims about 275 badly deteriorated bricks per expert.

So here’s the scoop as I see it.

Lay out the case in terms of money and lost opportunity costs and offer something reasonable as relates to his bottom line to make it go away.

Our lawyer wants to go to civil court – 1/2 day at $250 per hour = $1,000
Court remands the case back to mediation as per contract, lawyer pays the $500 mediation fee, losses 1/2 day at $250 per = $1,000

Mediation unsuccessful as lawyer wants the un-negotiable sum – case moves to arbitration per contract, lawyer pays the $500 arbitration fee, losses 1/2 day @ xx = $1,000

I happen to be a certified AAA mediator and I can tell you that neither party will get what they want in mediation or arbitration. So worst case for our home inspector is 225 blocks @ 12 bucks each = $2,700 + $600 for sealer = $3,300

At this point our hero and our lawyer have about 2 days into this if you count the prep work. So our lawyer is out the court and mediation costs, plus the time off @ $250 per hour. That adds up to, lets see…. $5,000 and change.

H’mm, doesn’t sound so appealing now does it?

Our home inspector also has some lost opportunity cost which add up to about $1,200 for the two days and possibly some legal advice amounting to $500 bucks, figure two grand. And don’t forget the possible worst outcome of $3,300 for a total of about $5,000 and change.

Arbitration is binding, but if the worst case happens to our lawyer and he gets a pittance he may take you go to civil court anyway to throw out the binding settlement agreement, 1/2 day @ = $1,000 If there’s a reasonable settlement @ about $1,500 – $2,000 your both still out your opportunity costs. Which in his case out weigh the settlement for a loss and that’s why he won’t take this the distance.

As you can see the math just doesn’t work for the lawyer unless there’s an easy settlement.

My advice was to put this all down is a similar fashion but without the specifics or admittances and offer up a one time offer of $1,500 to let him save face and get this nusiance over with. A little laungage about seeing it through to the end if the offer is declined wouldn’t hurt.

It will be worth watching just to see if my theory is correct. I’ll post more news as I get it.

by Bob on December 17, 2005

Worst Inspection Report Award

Bob Kille Acuspect Home Inspection Not long ago I was giving some advice to a new inspector after an ASHI meeting, seems he was having trouble like most new inspectors getting business and he was losing money. I gave him some of my best stuff (raise your prices) and at the end of the conversation he asked me if I would look over one of his reports and let him know what I thought.

Well, I just had to say yes as he had been telling me all about how much this report cost to put together ($26.00). Yes, that’s American green backs. A small fortune if your doing any kind of business, to give you an idea it would cost me $15,600 just for reports if I was to use what he’s put together.

Time just kinda slipped by and I didn’t get to his report in the fashion I had envisioned. Here’s what happened and I hope you pay attention to this poor guys mistakes.

I received a call from a realtor I hadn’t heard from in a while, she was a good for three or four inspections a month in the past and I was really happy to hear from her. Thought that I’d lost her. Happens.

She wanted me to come and inspect a property that had just been inspected by another inspector, who by the way killed the deal. She now had a new buyer and wanted to make sure that a repeat of her last experience was not forthcoming. She also wanted to discuss the last inspectors report as it seemed very out of the norm to her.

So I’m at the house and see the last inspection report on the counter (guess who’s) and I ask how it was that the home inspector in question got the job. Turns out that he joined the local chamber of commerce, sat in on a meeting, won a door prize of $50.00 in gas coupons from our realtor. In a stunning moment of clarity he promptly types up a $50.00 off your next home inspection coupon and mails it to our realtor with a note of thanks.

As you can imagine, she was very impressed and thought she’d pass the coupon on to her buyer. Basically, she was going to give our new home inspector a chance to get her business. And boy did he BLOW IT! Not even a pretty binder was going to help him now.

Fresh from school or perhaps an inspection conference, our new home inspector has come equipped to evaluate the homes electrical circuits with a new fangled device called a Sure Test Circuit Analyizer. Somehow all of the circuits in this 5 year old tract house were faulty and the house was a fire hazard waiting to go up in smoke at anytime.

At least that’s how the red inked comment that took up one full page made the house look to the buyer, and to me as well. A full page of red ink, might as well been his own blood for what it cost him.

No, it’s not over. This is just the start of this inspectors woes. Tune in to my next post and we’ll continue with our worst inspection of the year award.

by Bob on December 11, 2005

Least Restrictive Wording

A fellow home inspector related the story of a complaint letter received from his client complaining of deteriorated burnt adobe brick exterior. The letter detailed how many bricks were bad and their location according to the Brick Adobe Company who was retained to do an evaluation after close of escrow.

The home inspection report did reveal that a few of the bricks had some minor spalling and recommended further review of the building’s brick by an expert for a better understanding of the repair/replacement cost and present conditon.

In the letter received, the client explains that he did not have an expert evaluate the building as recommended as he relied on the word “few” in the inspection report to mean 3 bricks and that 3 bricks were not sufficient in his mind to call in an expert and pay yet another inspection fee.

In his mind the “least restrictive” wording of the comment lets him decide if the recommendation needs to be followed without consequence to himself as the informed client.

This story gets a little better, as it turns out the client is a Lawyer. The client asks that our inspector pay the $8,750 somolians for the Brick Adobe Company estimate of repair. The repair includes a 3,500 dollar weather sealing for the brick as the Brick Adobe Company assures the client that the inspector should have called for sealing of the brick in his report. Isn’t that the way it always goes?

So what happened? The inspector did exactly what he should have done, he communicated with the client immeadiately and informed him that he would take a look at the effected areas. He then called a fellow inspector with tons of experience and hired a qualified evaluation from another expert, The Adobe Doctor.

Turns out that most of the effected brick was in the fencing. Fencing according to the Arizona Standards of Practice is not included in the scope of a home inspection and of course the report specifically states this fact but then makes the fatal mistake of commenting on its condition as generally acceptable.

Commenting on the condition of anything not in the scope of a home inspection pulls it into the scope and once inside the scope an inspectors inspection of the item must rise to the level of a professional (for hire) inspection.

This is a good story thou, as it turns out the company our inspector hires for the second opinion just 2 years ago repaired and resealed the entire building. There’s still 2 years left on the warranty! What luck.

Our inspector is now armed with what in most people’s minds a very good case against any payouts, right? Wrong. Our client the Lawyer, knows that any action he takes will cost our inspector 2k minimum just to put up a defense. He also knows that the insurance company will settle any claim out of court for less than 5k.

Stay tuned, I’ll let you know what happens

by Bob on October 28, 2005

Examination By Peers

Bob Kille Acuspect Home Inspection Yesterday I had the opportunity to take a review by peer exam for the Arizona ASHI master inspector program. The program is not yet in place and the exam was only a trial so that the chapter could get some experiences in how best to proceed with the program.

My self and two others took the exam which consisted of; doing a home inspection, relating the major defects in an oral exam and then a small question and answer session followed by a show and tell photo exam.

The oral exam was a bit more difficult than I thought it would be. Many of my disclaimer types of comments are written in my report and I couldn’t recall exactly what they said when asked because I wrote them once a long time ago and really haven’t been asked about them since.

Even some of the terms I was using in my oral exam didn’t match what I had written. It’s kind of a high-pressure question and answer with the examiner playing stupid if you didn’t qualify what you were saying in layman’s terms.

The assumption that your client understands what you’re saying just because his head nods is probably a mistake. I think we get caught up in using the terms that as home inspectors we use everyday and expect that others are just as conversant in them.

Yeh, I failed. I needed to get a score of 10 must report on items in the home inspection and came up short by 3. Not to give too much away but I blew it in the areas of access, structure and appliance venting. Not inspecting one of the building’s rooms didn’t help either. How’d that happen?

Well, it happened because I was out of my normal routine. First, because this is a controlled environment you couldn’t use your own ladder. Second, you were not to occupy the same general area as one of the other participants which in my case altered my path. That’s how I missed the exterior storage room, bumped into another inspector and took another route. This can typically happen to you on a normal inspection when the client pulls you away to look at something and you don’t quite get back to where you stopped your routine.

Of the three items missed only one was something that I didn’t already know which had to do with access. The structure mistake was one I don’t think would have happened if I had been able to use my own equipment. The venting issue is one in which I don’t have any excuses, not that I’m making excuses, I just plain missed it.

It was a good experience and one that has me thinking quite a bit on how easy it is to mess up and a reminder that there’s still more to learn. Of course your most expensive mistakes are your best-learned lessons. I got to skate on my structure mistake which if in real life had come back to haunt me would have cost twenty large.

by Bob on October 19, 2005

In The Closet Of Course

Bob Kille Acuspect Home Inspection If you’re in this business long enough you’ll pile up a few good stories like the one that follows.

As usual, I arrive on the job 20 minutes early and find that the realtor is already there with the front door open. As I’m walking up the sidewalk I notice a weird look on her face, possibly anxiety I’m thinking.

Wrong, it was fear. Apparently the car in the drive wasn’t supposed to be there, nor was the wine and cheese on the kitchen counter as this was a brand new home, never lived in.

She had arrived just minutes before me and had heard noises, to scared to check it out she immediately asked me take a tour of the house. Well, it turns out that the master bedroom door was locked and after knocking softly with no response I gave it a good whollping. This had some effect as the door opened and a gentlemen with messed up hair stood there and asked what I wanted.

I replied that I was a home inspector with an appointment to inspect the property. Oh, he says. Is it that time already? I’ll just finish up and get out of your way.

The realtor and I waited in the kitchen for a few minutes trying to figure out who he could possibly be and what he’s doing there. Didn’t take long to find out who he was as when he came into the kitchen the realtor recognized him right away as one of her doctors. This was one of his investment properties. The real surprise was right on his coat tails, his secretary announced her presence and sashayed out the door.

The master bedroom closet contained a large sleeping bag and a comforter spread out on the floor. Who’d of thought? Here’s the funny part.

When the clients arrived a little later, we were all standing in the kitchen and the wife says to the husband, “Honey? Where would you put the secretary?” As you could imagine the realtor and I just busted out laughing and then told them the story.

by Bob on August 28, 2005

Pricing Strategies & Coupons

Bob Kille Acuspect Home Inspection I just love the coupons that my competitors put out that have a limited time offer or some other incentive for a customer to act now. Many startup home inspection firms offer their customers special discounts if they’ll give them a try or place an order before the end of the month or year-end or whatever. An example of a call to action in the coupon might look something like:

I can only offer you this discount if you buy before March 30th. After that, it’s back to full price!

But the truth is, if the customer calls on May 5th with a nice, big easy home inspection order and wants the discounted price, nine out of ten companies will give it to them. What you don’t realize is that, by going back on your word regarding the time limit, your also training your customers/realtors to expect that your always going to sell at the lower price, and that those “limited time offers” are available any time they ask.

Oh, and what happens when you don’t give it to them? That’s right, you said the magic referral reversing charm, the charm that won’t let you pass go, the word without equal, NO.

Here’s the danger, discounting your price with gimmicks in relation to other home inspectors fee’s will put you into the perceived category of a low rate home inspector and when you finally figure out that you can’t make the home inspection business profitable at these prices, it may be to late to push the price.

Unlike the larger franchise firms that have a coupon marketing system with a huge budget to combat the perceived value to product pricing, and the budget to bleed money for an extended period of time your in a no win situation using the coupon strategy.

So if your determined to use the coupon strategy to build your business, “Mean what you say, and say what you mean”.

You just might make it.

by Bob on August 8, 2005

Hallmark “When You Care Enough”

Bob Kille Acuspect Home Inspection I was reading an article about Joyce Hall, the founder of Hallmark greeting cards and thought I’d share his personal motto and how it fits into a business model. His motto is very similar to one I had adopted somewhere in my first year of business.

In his memoirs, “When You Care Enough.” Hall explains how he adapted a sign posted by one of his college professors, “Time is Money – save time” into a motto for himself: “Time is everything – save time”

In my business model I also hold a similar belief/motto, “Save Time – Create Relationships” This has proven itself, dare I say, time and time again.

Somewhere in your business model you have to address the issue of repeat business, how you’re going to get it. In every business there are only thee ways to grow a business; increase the number of customers, increase the average transaction value, and increase the frequency of repurchase.

For most of us, I’m referring to the home inspection businesses under five years, generating repeat referrals from your realtor contacts ( inspections ) may very well be a function of respecting their time. In my area, yours may be different; an average inspection time is about two hours. After that magic number expires the realtor starts to get annoyed and doesn’t really care how good you are anymore, they’ve got places to go and your holding them up. This especially applies to the high producer types.

My business model takes into consideration how long an inspection takes, where can I reasonably save time while still staying within the standards of practice and completing a competent home inspection on site. The business decision of doing the most comprehensive and all-inclusive inspection versus an on site inspection that is competent and referral generating is one worth considering.

For example, I don’t include photos in my residential reports as it takes an extra ten to fifteen minutes. This ten minutes would more times than not put me over the two hour self imposed limit. Remember, I’m doing the report on site, printed and handed over with an explination of the summary items. That’s a whole lota stuff to get in in less than two hours.

I did some homegrown research on the whole business of photo inclusion in the reports and here is what I found out. I asked fifty realtors if they would rather leave ten to fifteen minutes earlier or have photo’s included in the report; here’s what happened. A total of four out of fifty realtors stayed the extra ten to fifteen minutes. All four of them had out of town buyers who weren’t present at the inspection.

Before I get slammed, by all you inspectors who include photo’s in your reports, I will admit that using photo’s is one of the factors involved with getting higher referral rates from past home buyers. At this point in my business I get 70% of my business from realtor referrals. As the years go by, and my prices have increased, so have my past customer referrals. It may be time to start looking at a limited number of photo’s in my report and putting a little more effort into past customer marketing to increase the number of non-realtor referrals.

The “Time Is Everything – Save Time” motto seemed to work out ok for Mr. Hall and my own interpretation of the saying “Time Is Money” hasn’t hurt me any either.

by Bob on August 6, 2005

Home Inspection & Profit

Bob Kille Acuspect Home Inspection I was speaking with a fellow inspector who wanted to purchase the 3D software and home inspection data libraries when the subject of pricing a home inspection came up.

Most inspectors, in order to figure out there pricing, start calling around and asking other inspectors prices on a fictional home. They do this until they’re satisfied that they know what to charge for the common shapes and sizes. This is a very dangerous strategy for pricing your services and should be avoided at all costs.

The first thing you need to figure out is can you “afford” to be a home inspector in your area. You have to do the math. Take the number of anticipated inspections per year; multiply by the average inspection fee of your competitors for gross income. Next, add up all your fixed costs and subtract it from the calculated gross. Leave 10% for business profit. Can you live on what’s left? Don’t forget any of the fixed costs. There are at least 20 fixed costs associated with the home inspection business. If you can’t think of twenty, your going to need help to calculate your total fixed costs. It’s crucial to have an accurate number here.

To figure out your total fixed costs and projected profits along with your average hourly rate, go to: www.inspectorsuccess.com and download the “PROFIT CALCULATOR”.

If your just starting out you should figure on about 100 – 150 inspections your first year. More if you’re an exceptional marketer. Your next year should produce 200 – 250 home inspections. The average home inspector inspects approximately 250 – 350 homes a year. Can you hang on long enough to get to the numbers that generate a profit after all expenses? Do you have a reserve fund that you can draw down on? At “their” average prices are you creating any equity/savings?

There are number of items that influence the prices in your particular area especially if the market is small. In particular, the one I ran up against was a local firm that did a volume business with three inspectors and kept the prices low enough to discourage others from entering the field. It worked.

I spent about 6 months trying to get into that market place with very limited success. My prices were $50 – $75.00 higher than his because my fixed costs were higher and volume was lower. To compete with him at his pricing I would have been out of business somewhere in my second year.

Out of business, without any equity to show for all the time, trouble, and expense invested in the process. Not to mention that had I stayed employed with someone else, my bank account would never have taken the $20,000 hit to get the business started. So many inspectors out there are just hanging on because they did they’re pricing based on someone elses fixed costs. Its little wonder only one out of five new inspectors make it past year five.

Without the proper pricing structure for “your” business the work will be frenzied, inadequate, underpaid, and, as a result, unfullfilling. It’s quite possible that owning your own independently operated home inspection company is not what it was cracked up to be. In short, to start your own business without the prospect of creating equity is not a good idea. Find your true fixed costs, add them to what you need to create EQUITY in the business after your second year estimated numbers. Try it, you’ll like it.

by Bob on August 4, 2005

Permit? We don’t need no stink’n permits!

Bob Kille Acuspect Home Inspection A fellow home inspector gave me a call late last night with a bit of information about one of my past inspections. Apparently, he was hired to inspect his old residence and to his amazement the house had been added to by about 2000 square feet. The owner of the house was, or claimed to be a builder.

The house was a real looker except for a weird floor plan off the master bedroom and my inspection revealed a number of common and not so common problems like inadequate combustion air supply.

On to the point, during the home inspection I had asked the owner if he had gotten permits for the additions and he said yes, they would be available to the new buyer (not to me). Of course this deal fell apart and now comes our next inspector, the x owner, who asks the same thing and gets the same response. However, having been the previous owner and curious to boot at the dramatic changes, he’s looking at how the additions were done in a more structural way.

One of the things that he noticed that I didn’t was that the owner had erected an adobe block parapet wall at the rear of the building to give it some character. To support the load a huge wooden beam was used. Here’s the kicker and what I failed to notice, you can’t support a masonry wall with wood.

Back to the permits, come to find out that the owner only had a permit to add a small room addition off the garage. We never know when a permit has been issued or not and we really shouldn’t care except to note that our customer should receive and review all permits issued for construction. Our job as home inspectors is not plan review but documentation of what we see and to that end we should be putting the onus of any permit or review back into the realm of buyer due diligence.

I do this with a simple comment in my home inspection report when I suspect an addition.

Consult Seller: The building has had one or more additions or modifications for which a permit may have been issued. Municipal building permit research is highly recommended if permits are not provided for review.

Would this comment protect me? What do you say if anything? Feel free to comment on this entry.

by Bob on July 30, 2005

Home Inspection Sense

Bob Kille Acuspect Home Inspection This seems to be my week for complaint calls. Received another one on Monday, this one involves a copper-piping leak under the slab of a home built in 2000.

My client let me know straight off on the phone call that he was a homicide detective somewhere in California. This of course was to set the tone of the conversation and his position of authority. According to his lawyer’s (yes that’s plural), the homeowners insurance policy he has will not cover the claim so he is contacting me, the home inspector of record, to get information as to my insurance.

My firsts response to this was to restate that the type of inspection that he paid for was a visual inspection of the property valid only for the day of the inspection. Further, I explained that a home inspection is in no way a home warranty and assured him that even if I had E&O insurance they would not cover a NON-VISIBLE condition, even if discovered a day after the inspection.

A few half-truths here, I had occurrence insurance at the time of this particular inspection but no longer carry it. Which means that his home is still covered by my past E&O insurance policy. I now have the minimum state coverage of a $25,000 bond. I tried this tact (no insurance) because most lawyers won’t take a contingency case unless there’s deep pockets somewhere.

That leaves the complaintant with the hourly cost of retaining legal council for a case that may not be the best. Generally, if the case isn’t over $10,000 in damages and the case is not strong most of your better legal councils will tell their clients to forget it. However, if you have insurance the lawyers will make the claim and the insurance company will settle (non visible or visible condition) before legal expenses mount up.

The cost of a legal defense even in a frivolous suit can quickly become more than the actual claim. Both sides know this and this fact is why you will always pay your deductible in almost every claim, valid or not.

This particular train of thought, why a lawyer would choose not to take a case, is the basis for my asset protection strategy (no insurance, family trust, small asset list and corporate status). This complaint will make a good case study. I’m waiting with baited breath for the next phone call relating to this home inspection complaint. Will common sense win out?

by Bob on July 29, 2005

The “Perfects” Home Inspection

Bob Kille Acuspect Home Inspection Some things just don’t go away the way there supposed to unless you’re extra vigilant in their disposal. This post may sound familiar as today’s topic stems directly from the posts “Being Right & The Rest of the Story”

So why I’m I back posting on a supposedly finished relationship with Mr. & Mrs. Perfect? We’ll I’ll tell you, instead of slam dunking the ball when it was above the rim I let it come down to meet me for an easy lay-up. No killer instinct I guess. I think we all know how the story goes, yep, I dropped the ball.

Here comes another new office policy: never show up to a complaintants home without a waiver & release and blank check tucked in your back pocket. Strike your deal and seal it with a signature right then and there. Don’t be complacent and wait for a repair estimate or bill. Better to guesstimate and err a bit on the high side to get them to sign the wavier and accept the check. You’ll sleep better, I know.

So what happened you ask, it went something like this. It’s been a few weeks now and the “Perfects” haven’t sent me the bill for the stucco repair. That sort of lulled me into thinking that there not going to try and stick me with the unwarranted repair after all. Not so, the call came today and not only do they want way more than the agreed upon maximum ($500), but they have now added to there complaint list.

When the home was inspected it had a brand new coat of paint at the interior, its been raining lately and stains are now showing up at the window sills in the corners. They feel that a good inspector should have been able to detect the flashing problem by looking really close at the new paint. Exactly their words, I kid you not.

Next it seems that their sliding glass door makes a sound when it’s opened, apparently catching a bit on a warped track. This isn’t there only complaint about the door, no, it now seams as there is moisture between the panes. They have received an estimate from Home Depot for $1,000.00 for the complete replacement of the 30 year old sliding glass door assembly.

Rapid fire now, here comes a repair bill ($175.00) for the front door threshold that leaks. This was described and detailed in the report as a minor condition as the stain to the surrounding walls were very small (about an inch to each side) and no apparent rot was observed. They had the threshold removed because of its dirty/stained appearance and low and behold they found out there was a small amount of rot found on the bottom side of the trim and threshold. They felt that my report failed to adequately warn them about unseen rot at the stained locations (sounds like an attorney doesn’t it)

Last but not least, the stucco repair bill that I had been waiting to receive for the last 3 weeks exceeded $700.00 not the $150.00 to $250.00 that I had estimated. The increased cost was because they had the whole wall re-stuccoed and painted to make sure no one could tell the wall had been patched.

The “Perfects” suggest over the phone (speaker phone, two of them talking at the same time) that their attorney is now involved and that they are now seeking total reimbursement for the above costs known and unknown (attorney). It was extremely difficult not to lose my cool, I’m sure my voice betrayed me a bit as it went up an octave.

How did things end up? Not as bad as it could have and not as good as it should have. I explain to them as nice as I could that I didn’t owe them anything for the stucco damage (a small two foot long, six inch wide area damaged by an irrigation emmitter) as it was hidden by vegetation at the time of inspection, to which they expressly disagreed. I went on to explain to them that a home inspection is not a home warranty and that the glass was inspected at the time of inspection and was in good condition; remember this complaint was made 3 months after the inspection.

Next I tackled the door catching a bit at the track by saying that this is an older home and in my opinion for its age it was in generally acceptable condition just as the report describes. I surely didn’t owe them a brand new door was my stance. The door threshold may have only needed a bit of caulk, as 30 years of weather had not visibly rotted the surrounding frame. As to the window flashings I suggested that it was a matter between the seller and the buyer, as leakage was not disclosed in the seller’s disclosure.

After bringing them back a bit to reality, I proceeded to let them know I was still willing to work with them in the spirit of customer satisfaction, but couldn’t in good conscience buy them a new door assembly or door threshold and or make their entire 30ft exterior stucco wall appear brand new because they didn’t want ANY sign of repair.

They played their lawyer card and I played my more than generous card. We settled on $750.00, the wavier went out today certified mail. I pray that this is the last post associated with the “Perfects”.

by Bob on July 11, 2005

Home Inspection Payouts/Buyoffs

Bob Kille Acuspect Home Inspection Nothings ever a 100%, my business philosophy for home inspections is to pay anytime a client has a complaint whether I’m at fault or not if its under $500.00. This does three things, first it protects my referring realtor from any negative backlash and second, it allows me to immediately move on mentally instead of brooding, thirdly I won’t have negative comments being made about me. Mostly, I like to think about the payouts as a type of positive advertising in the relatively small community of realtors that I work with. This policy has gained me several realtors who actually told me the reason for choosing my company was exactly that. They heard I would take care of most anything complained about. Yes, that means I pay for things outside the scope of a home inspection. Yes, it means that I pay out if someone “feels” something should have been discovered even if covered. So I pay promptly and admit that the condition might have been discoverable or the lapse in communication was my fault. Which brings me to today’s post.

Received a call from a very distraught and upset client, I posted on his case in “Being Right” just a week ago. So, the rest of the story as Paul Harvey would say, goes like this. The realtor calls and gives me a verbal tongue lashing for giving into the customer’s demands so easily as this has emboldened the customer into thinking that he might be able to get some funds out of the other parties involved in the transaction. Namely him. The client may not be particularly rational in his demands, according to him, he “felt” as if the realtor made light of what was needed to bring the house up to his “standards”. He went on to tell me all about the “perfect” house they sold to move here. So, if I’m hearing this correctly, the reas0n the client is upset is that the house needed more work and money that what the realtor had told them to expect. This would be a somewhat valid complaint if your “standards” were perfection and quality. They basically gutted the house as nothing could be saved. This cost more than the repairs that were suggested by the realtor and my report. G0 figure. The report did list all the defects, minus one that was covered by vegetation, however the client felt that the realtors and I conspired against him in the estimates for repair. Of course I never give estimates for repair or replacement for that matter and reminded him of that at our last meeting, not that it mattered to him.

This was a 30 year old home and my client told me that I had failed to mention that the roof had been patched in the home inspection. He told me that he would not have bought the house if he had known this all important, crucial fact. Not that it leaked or anything its just that the interior ceiling patch was noticable. And this failure has caused him great pain and suffering. He actually said that. Like that would have been the reason to pull out and not the other 25 defects listed in the summary. I have since started noting in my report (not in the summary) any obvious patching to the interior ceilings and roofing materials.

So what I gather from the realtor is that the client is writing letters to the better business bureau, the board of realtors and has consulted his lawyer. I’m sort of out of this I hope, thanks to my business policy. Can’t wait till he signs the wavier and release form so there’ll be an end to this story, at least for me.

by Bob on July 5, 2005

Inspecting Nothing

Bob Kille Acuspect Home Inspection Typically in new home construction inspections you basically have 3 types of clients; the panic client, the referred client and the worried absentee client. Last weeks call was from an absentee client who has a foundation ready to be poured and she’d like to have it inspected. Get this, her biggest reason for calling me was that the builder was unresponsive to her inquires. Wouldn’t return her calls? She told me that she felt that the builder could no longer be trusted. This is exactly what happens to you if you don’t get back to a client who calls with a question or compliant. Anyway, I explain to her that the foundation inspection on a post tension slab not only has a county inspection but a special inspection by a certified post tension installer as well. That the need for a private construction inspection may well be overkill on this foundation, but if it would make her feel better about the quality of work I would gladly go to the site and document the present conditions.

The “conditions”, well lets just say I won’t be using the above reasoning of overkill. Lets see, uncompacted and loose fill at the footing in several areas, rebar less than 3 inches from the soil at several locations, dobie chairs knocked over at several locations, dead ends not secured as required (2), cables closer than 6 inches to the forms and at least 6 cables so crooked it looked like five year olds put them in place.

After submitting my report to the client she was rightfully upset and called her sales rep demanding that the issues be corrected before the foundation is poured. This is the 1st of July, 1:00pm Friday. The pour is scheduled so were told at 5:30 to 6:00am on the 5th of July. Almost no time really to get the corrections made. The next call I get is from the office of the post tension special inspector who demands to know my qualifications for doing this type of inspection. So I tell him, I’m a recognized author of reporting software that deals with the installation of post tension cables and went to the post tension institute in Phoenix, which certifies special inspectors such as himself. That seemed to tone him down a bit and we discussed the report findings. He said he’d have a look. Whatever that means.

I just got back from the re-inspection of the foundation and I can now tell you what “have a look” means. Nothing. The pour was scheduled for 5:30am; they started the pour at 4:30am, yes its still dark at 4:30am. I arrived at exactly 5:00am to do the re-inspection only to find that the garage slab was the only thing left visible. Guess what, the only two conditions at the garage left visible were still uncorrected. What do you think was corrected in the rest of the slab? Nothing is my guess. Why move the pour schedule up to 4:30am?

I’m starting to believe in this women’s intuition thing, could she be right not to trust this builder? Or is this just another communication chasm that we so frequently run into with builders who look upon private inspectors with disdain as if were the ones causing the problems. I don’t know exactly what I’m going to say to my client, she spent $$$.00 to make sure the job was done right and got “Nothing” for her money. Anyone with any thoughts about what her next course of action should be? Please leave a comment.

by Bob on June 29, 2005

Home Inspectors Don’t Have To Be Right

Bob Kille Acuspect Home Inspection Customer compliant calls are probably everyone’s least favorite call to take. They usually start off with “you should have seen this or you missed this”. Be careful, humans have a tendency to parrot/copy the conversational tone or style of the person there talking to. Just listening to someone who is pissed off and making acqusations raises your response level and/or anxiety level.

So my day starts with one such call. Bob you should have seen that the entire wall stucco was deteriorated and falling off, I had a guy here who tells me the whole wall may need to be replaced. He says that the wood frame is most probably all rotted. Ok, ok, I did your home inspection when? Oh, about 3 and a half months ago, and just where is the location of the wall. Oh, you mean the wall that was totally covered by vines and azaleas. Yeah, that’s the one, I just had it all removed like you suggested. You do realize that my home inspection was a limited visual inspection right? We don’t want to hear any excuses, this is going to cost big bucks and your responsible, we never would have bought this house, yadda, better business bureau, yadda, state complaint, yadda, yadda. Ok, I’ll be out tomorrow at 8:00am to have a look and see what we can do for you.

Well I can say the rest of the day was shot, just thinking about the call kept my blood up. Long story short, I arrive the next morning with my best face on only to be greeted by the client with a scowl and the words, “I’ve spoken with my attorney” yadda, yadda. Well let’s just have a look shall we. The entire wall turned out to be two very small patches at two locations where irrigation emitters were placed. The paint had blistered and some of the stucco had turned to powder. Probably about a hundred to two hundred dollar repair if you paint the whole wall in the process. I suspect that the drip irrigation heads had popped off and the wall was wetted at these locations every time the system came on.

I make a practice out of making sure all parties are happy if reasonably possible. This was a no brainier; I informed my client that while there were limitations to the visual inspection, it is “possible” that it could have been discovered during the inspection. There’s no percentage in being right, I did however point out my limit of liability to the inspection fee paid, however, I went on to explain that in all cases that require less than $500 to repair that our company would take care of the invoice. This client actually thanked me for being in his opinion “the only reputable person in the transaction”.

You don’t always have to be right; the right thing to do more often than not is to “let” someone else be right. I’ll be using this example/story to show other realtors why they should use me instead of the other guy even if my prices are higher. This is the best advertising you could possibly do in a small community of realtors.

by Bob on June 26, 2005

An Inspectors Sour Feeling

Bob Kille Acuspect Home Inspection After my home inspection of a brand new, never been lived in house, I thought about calling the client and letting him know how things went. I don’t generally think about calling a client, but this report was gonna sour the deal to be sure. The realtor had already suggested to my client that he should use their guy to do the inspection. I guess I’ve got a reputation around here. My client thankfully liked the job I did for him last time and stuck with me.

Nine times out of ten, when you get a feeling about something you should act on it. A phone call today from my client underscores how people can interpret and blow out of proportion the comments in a report. To make things worse he acted on his fears and canceled the deal without speaking with me to sort out any concerns he had about the property.

I did this client a dis-service by not calling. I knew in the back of my head that a phone call was in order for this deal to stay in place. Frankly, this house and its conditions could have been fixed. Reports have a way of making things sound worse than they are. After our conversation, he said he had changed his mind and was willing to stay in the deal provided that the builder corrected all the conditions listed in the report, to which there were many.

Sour feelings require a pro-active stance, such as calling to explain conditions more thoroughly. Reports are short in there descriptions and much is left to an uneducated persons mind as to just how bad a condition may be. Make sure you always follow up in person on a report that gives you a sour feeling.

by Bob on June 18, 2005

Switch Me Twice

Bob Kille Acuspect Home Inspection Generally, when checking lights during a home inspection, I’ll switch all the switches on the wall in the opposite direction to see what comes on and then I’ll put them all back to there initial state. Exceptions to this?

I thought so, but once again paid for my mistake. Here’s what took place. I went into an attic and switched on the light, it didn’t come on. No problem, probably a bad bulb. Just then I noted that I had thrown the switch down to check the light which is off on a single pole switch. This left me thinking that the light indeed had been left on and had burnt out. So for safety’s sake I left the switch in the off position.

Ring, Ring. What did you do in the attic, my TV doesn’t work anymore. Apparently, the electrician wired her antenna to the attic light fixture and not a constant source because that would have meant another 10 feet of wire. The bulb wasn’t burned out just unscrewed so the switch could stay on.

Leaving power off to a fixture not in use logically makes sense, but it makes more sense to leave any room the way you found it. Call backs like this can really screw with your day. She lived 1 1/2 hours away from me and demanded that I return immediately for her evening programming.

Another long day that just got longer. Stop thinking so hard and just hit the switch twice.

by Bob on June 17, 2005

Only In America

Bob Kille Acuspect Home Inspection I read this the other day in a home inspection trade rag and thought I’d share it with you.

A Charlotte, NC lawyer purchased a box of very rare and expensive cigars, and then insured them against fire, among other things. Within a month, having smoked his entire stockpile of these great cigars and without yet having made even his first premium payment on the policy, the lawyer filed claim against the insurance company.

In his claim, the lawyer stated the cigars were lost in a series of small fires. The insurance company refused to pay, citing the obvious reason that the man had consumed the cigars in the normal fashion. The lawyer sued…and WON!

In delivering the ruling, the judge agreed with the insurance company that the claim was frivolous. The judge stated nevertheless, that the lawyer “held a policy from the company in which it had warranted that the cigars were insurable and also guaranteed that it would insure them against fire, without defining what is considered to be anacceptable fire” and was obligated to pay the claim. Rather than endure lengthy and costly appeal process, the insurance company accepted the ruling and paid $15,000 to the lawyer for his loss of the rare cigars lost in the “fires.”

NOW FOR THE BEST PART… After the lawyer cashed the check, the insurance company had him arrested on 24 counts of ARSON!!! With his own insurance claim and testimony from the previous case being used against him, the lawyer was convicted of intentionally burning his insured property and was
sentenced to 24 months in jail and a $24,000 fine.

This is a true story and was the First Place winner in the recent Criminal Lawyers Award Contest.

ONLY IN AMERICA!

by Bob on June 11, 2005

Four Bucks

Bob Kille Acuspect Home Inspection Surety bonds for the non-insured home inspection company are a necessary part of doing business in the State of Arizona and I’m sure there are other states that require them or soon will. I applied for one this year from the Ralph Rigo Agency in NY. After filling out the paper work, getting a cashier’s check for the five grand and checking off the expideted return request I waited for the bond.

Ten days after they recieved my money and still no bond I gave them a call. Seems they sent everything out priority mail 8 or 9 days ago and told me that I should wait another 3 days to see if it didn’t show up. That’s when things started to smell bad. I requested to talk the the owner Ralph but keep getting a different person who said they could take care of me. This is how they proposed to do it. Give us your master card number and we will re-issue another bond for you at the rate of $24.95 and oh yeah, by the way we will send it out right away by snail mail. Unless of course you’d like to have us FED EX it for an additional fee.

After explaining to the second lady for a second time that I already paid for the bond issue in my application but did not recieve it and I had already paid for an expidited mailing, she relented on the bond re-issue of $24.95 but she couldn’t priority mail it unless I paid for another expedited fee of $4.00. It was lost on her that I already paid for the priority mail service. Her reply, we can’t help what happens to the mail and that I should be happy that there gonna re-issue the bond without charging me again.

I couldn’t believe my ears, were talking about 4 bucks! I ask again for Ralph, a ten minute wait on hold and Ralpf comes on to explain that “we don’t control the mail and that if you want your bond priority mailed out the next day, to please give my credit card info to the receptionist”. I explain again that it’s already been paid for so would he please send it out ASAP to which he replied, it will go out regular mail. I’m getting the feeling they never sent it out at all. When I asked if they had the tracking number Ralpf steadfastly refused to believe there was any such service offered with priority mail and even if there was they wouldn’t bother with it. Hmm, legal paperwork representing $5,000 deposited in a trust account and no tracking number.

So Ralpf, I say, are you telling me that you’d rather lose a yearly recurring customer than place my bond in a $4.00 priority mail package? I kid you not, his reply, “I’ll place your bond in the mail”. Things must be done a whole lot different in NY. Is it possible that this is standard operating procedure, hold back the bond and see if the customer will pay for a re-issue? In effect paying for it twice. Sounds like NY. Hope I haven’t been scammed for the $5,000 to boot.

by Bob on June 8, 2005

Inspector Brush Off

Bob Kille Acuspect Home Inspection Its hard to convince someone of the importance of a home inspection on a brand new, never been lived in home. The building had to pass inspection, right? Sometimes a few examples help a prospective client see the possible value of checking the builder’s work. Today’s inspection for example, provided me with at least a couple of good stories.

Many patios have what we term “typical cracking” which is cosmetic and usually caused by shrinkage or a small amount of settlement. When I made the remark to my client that the house still needed some work to be finished and the only thing that really concerned me was the significant cracking at the patio, he replied, significant? The builder told him that all concrete cracks, just a matter of where. That this was typical and nothing to be concerned with. Now there’s a brush off. Funny, the front patio, same size and configuration had no cracks to speak of.

Significant cracking, i.e. differential elliptical movement surrounded all of the bearing posts that carried the patio cover. The cracks were a 1/8″ to 3/16th’s wide with vertical movement of a 1/8″ to 3/16th’s. The post areas were sinking. Needless to say, I recommended a structural engineer to evaluate with repair as necessary.

The second example derived from this inspection was that the built up paper roof was never coated with the required UV protectant such as elastomeric. There was a guy there, not sure who he was exactly but, when I was relaying the fact of the missing roof coating he breaks into the conversation and say’s “around here the builders regard the coating as optional, it’s not really needed except to reflect the heat”. I let him save face by remarking that he would be correct if this was a rubberized built up roof, but it wasn’t.

Stuff like this happens all the time on the brand new ones. You can use these examples if you like, in your presentations.

by Bob on June 7, 2005

Just Another Lazy Day

Bob Kille Acuspect Home Inspection Every day brings a new perspective to the written words I use in my report software. Today I got a call from an irate home inspection customer who wants me to buy him a new water softener. This one’s 15 years old and leaking from the connections at the inside area of the tank. Here’s the deal. I inspected this house, oh about 8 weeks ago. In the report I list the visible water connections at the outside of the softener as corroded and needing repair along with the water heater, which was in a similar condition. The client who received a home warranty has American Home Shield stop by to evaluate and repair the corroded piping, however, the representative informs the new owner that water softeners are not covered. Hence, the call to me with a request for replacement? Seemed an odd request at first.

Apparently, the corrosion on the inside was much worse than the outside and the client feels like I should have told him the unit was in replacement condition instead of a repair. I must have inspected it as it was commented on. Well here’s the crux of the problem, I use a summary for everyone’s convenience and here’s where things went wrong. Not that the use of the summary failed it’s just that I got lazy, again. What I did was to combine the fact that the water heater and softener had a similar problem in the condition statement for the water heater. After all they were right next to each other.

Why was that such a bad idea you ask? Well, let me tell you. The condition of the water heater, which we must report on, was in a “Repair” state. The water softener which is outside the scope of a home inspection was in a “Further Review” state not only because its outside the scope but its also 15 years old showing corrosion on the outside connections. The “Further Review” statement was in the report at the water softener section to explain things such as outside the scope of a home inspection. This generic statement is not sent to the summary unless there’s a visible condition to attach to it. I figured, wrongly, that the water heater statement was good enough for summary purposes, a separate comment would take another half a second to include and just think of all that wasted ink and paper.

If a water softener appears to be in good condition I still put in a “Further Review” comment which doesn’t go to the summary. However, if I see an obvious deficiency it is noted and put to the summary with basically the same statement listing the visible condition. The fact that most clients never read the full report is not lost here. While I could defend the report and the full contents, I goofed and I paid.

by Bob on June 3, 2005

Home Inspectors And Resistance

Bob Kille Acuspect Home Inspection My home inspection today started off just like any other inspection of a new home. Arrived 15 minutes early, met the owner and like some nervous nellie’s she followed my every move. Were at the garage when I performed a pressure test on the overhead door opener. This is done by standing at the door and when the door gets to about my wrist I give it some resistance. Sometimes the opener will quickly reverse other times it take a bit more resistance. How much more resistance to give it before quitting is a function of good judgment. Ever get that feeling of “something’s wrong” Yeh, that’s right, something just didn’t feel right just before it reversed. With nervous nellie standing there I didn’t want to examine the door just yet.

Anyway, on with the inspection of the exterior, the metal paneled garage door down. I notice that there’s a damaged top panel at the garage door and point it out to the owner who says “that was never there before” and gives me a look. I couldn’t say that it wasn’t there before as the garage door was up when I arrived.

Now its time to start taking a good look at the door. I notice that the door has windows at the upper panel; gazing at the rest of the neiborhoods garage doors I see that no one else has this type of panel. The owner admitted that she installed them herself to let in more light. The attachment point of the opener was where the damage was and you could not help but notice the small amount of metal it was attached to after her modification.

Now I can’t say for sure if I damaged the door with the pressure test or if the door had already been damaged when I arrived and the test just confirmed or made worse the damage. This could explain the “something’s wrong” feeling during the pressure test. I do know that I’m going to closely look over any door with a row of windows in the top panel and I’m sure as heck going to start my inspection with the door down from the exterior.

by Bob on May 27, 2005

Devil’s Side

Bob Kille Acuspect Home Inspection I recieved a call today from a seller of a property I inspected recently. She was having trouble understanding my home inspection report. She had several complaints for me. First, for her, the front of the house has three sides. The left, right and middle sides? So when I remarked in my report that the foundation sill plate was below grade at the front side it left her asking at what side of the front?. That’s when the conversation went south for me as I didn’t realize at the time that the front of a home has three sides. I just assumed that if you looked at the front of the building you could ascertain for yourself where the grade was high. That assumption alone cost me twenty minutes on the phone. Alas, she may have a point. The report could well have said “at the front right side”

Next up was the comment that the seller’s discloure statement wasn’t present at the time of inspection. This is a standard comment inserted into the report to confirm that no one presented me with any additional information as to the past or current condition of the property. Heaven forbid, this comment was incorrect as she had the disclosure in her files and someone should have asked her for it. She apparently wanted me to retrack the statement because the wording of it made it look like she was hiding something. There goes another ten minutes trying to explain that the purpose of the statement was for my protection against possible false claims of someone saying that I had read them and had full knowledge of all contained seller disclosed conditions.

To explain why window bars at the bedroom windows are a reportable safety concern even though the previous home inspector didn’t point it out when they bought the home took more than one attempt, four to be exact. She says to me, just because you have to have a step stool to get to the top cotter pins doesn’t mean the iron bars won’t release quickly after all four pins have been pulled. What could I say to that, this was after my forth attempt.

Well she-devil went on to some other non issues and trying to keep my voice down was hard. I could feel myself ratch it up a bit at times. Even knowing I was raising my voice it was hard to stop. I hate to give up so I hung in there until she quit. I did ask her to call back if she needed more clarification, which is kinda like turning the other cheek so to speak.

Oh, my point. I think I’ll take a closer look at the wording of my comments to see if a little more explination might help. For instance the security window bars. A better explination of what a quick release is and why it would be necessary with a smoke filled room. “Devil’s in the details”

by Bob on May 24, 2005

Masked Man

Bob Kille Acuspect Home Inspection The other day I attended an InspectVue users group meeting. The author of the program Lorne Steiner was there explaining the in’s and outs of his program and awnsering questions. As with most meetings of this sort “Lorne” went into a standard speech that lasted about 20 – 30 minutes on just why the software was so great.

One of the most interesting aspects of the speech was that home inspectors should be paid more, and that an illusion or perception of being overpaid, was held by most realtors and clients. Lorne then went on with a solution to this problem by explaining that if you were to finish your reports back at the office, no one would know how long you worked for your money. Interesting thought.

In my opinion, and do about 600 inspections personally a year, this is not a good idea unless you just don’t enjoy maximising your earning potential and free time at home with the wife and kids. For me, it takes an extra 20 minutes on site to get the report printed and handed over to the client. Off I go with check in hand. How many things can go wrong if you don’t finsih up then and there, plenty. One of my greatest benefits to my realtors who use me regularly is that were all done when we leave. No loose ends.

It may be better to educate the general realtor population as to the true costs of scheduling, expenses, liabilities and total hours worked per day rather than altering what you do to fit there present perceptions. For instance, go to www.inspectorsuccess.com and download the Profit Calculator. Using the Profit Calculator showed me that there is a cost of $140.00 in expenses for each inspection booked. The parameters used were; I wanted to do about 350 inspections a year and make $50,000.

I think what was really going on was that Lorne has had unfavorable remarks made as to how long it actually takes to input an inspection on site with his software. An average on site inspection time of two hours or less is expected and generally sought out by busy realtors. If your taking more time than this at an average inspection you may well want to finish at home to keep your realtors happy. Taking your work home to finish, sort of masks the input time drawback. Nice spin don’t you think?

by Bob on May 22, 2005

Eye Remember

Bob Kille Acuspect Home Inspection Some things seem like small details, like the type of tape used for the testing of electronic eyes for the exterior lamppost or garage lights. Generally the use of black electricians tape is used to cover the eye and it sometimes takes a few minutes for the light to come on. Most often I continue my home inspection routine and glance back to see if the light activated. Occasionally, I’ll forget to go back and take the tape off before leaving the inspection site. Nothing like a call back to take a piece of tape off.

Use friction tape. It falls off after a day or two all by itself. Friction tape is made of cloth and has less adhesive. I wrap the lower part of my screwdriver with a good bit of it so it’s handy and with me at all times. Haven’t had to go back for this oversight since I switched to the friction type. Just one less detail to remember.

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