General Business

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 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 May 20, 2005

Lazy Man’s Bet

Bob Kille Acuspect Home Inspection I don’t know about you, but sometimes I just don’t feel like dealing with the phone. Yesterday I had to take the day off to drive my wife to the peridontics for some minor oral surgery. She generally answers my home inspection phone calls and just before we left she reminded me twice to forward the phone to my cell. My mind start to rationalize that people can wait till we get home and there probably won’t be any calls anyway, blah, blah, blah.

What’s a missed opportunity worth? Not only did I not book the four waiting inquiries for inspections, I lost the future referrals that most inspections generate. The realtors who called ended up using another firm, and guess what, its entirely likely they could actually like the new inspector better than me. So if you care to add it all up, I lost the four inspections, the additional future referrals that the inspections generate, and quite possibly a realtor or two. Realtors are generally worth 10 -20 inspections a year, the inspections plus the referrals generally generated would be in the range of 8 – 20.

So figure, 18 present and future inspections lost if I’m lucky. At $300.00 per inspection I most likely lost a minimum, (minimum is a key word here) of $5,400 dollars because I was lazy and didn’t feel like answering my phone.

Keep in mind that everything you do is cumulative. The phone doesn’t ring today because of today’s efforts, it rings because of your total past efforts. All your marketing to make the phone ring is useless unless you answer the phone when it does ring. A very good case can be made for the call centers specializing in booking inspections. This is a referral business, either past customers or realtors generate the most and least costly sales year after year. Indeed, they can be counted on if your any good at what you do and your marketing follow up is in place. The follow up and referral generation (past efforts) is the reason that so many inspectors with 5 to 7 years of experience are booked out at least a week in advance.

$5,400.00 lost to the lazy man’s bet. Bet they can wait till tonight, I’ll bet there won’t be any solid inspection inquires. I’ll bet this figure is way high and the realtors will stay loyal because, blah blah bla. Poor bets for a guy who doesn’t answer his phone in a profession where time is of the essence.

by Bob on May 3, 2005

Smack Down

Bob Kille Acuspect Home Inspection You can never tell just how well you’ve handled a customer complaint until you get the better business bureau smack down. For instance, I received one in the mail today dealing with a home inspection customer compliant I had four weeks ago. Actually, when the call came in it was more of a “just wanted to let you know you missed a coupla things” kinda gripe. I took in all three of her comments and then preceded to let her know why these weren’t really mistakes at all, and a valid reason for the one item I did admit to missing. Now that’s a mistake. She felt as if I was making excuses rather than taking responsibility for the three issues raised. (A water heater that wasn’t left on, a dishwasher not checked due to the water supply not being on, and a missed warped header over a closet door) I made the remark to her that I was sorry she felt that way, which seemed to anger her more. It was a strange call, which became stranger as in her letter to the bureau she claims 20 plus items missed in the inspection report.

Usually when a client wants their money back they say so in the phone conversation. Or so I thought, now comes the better business bureau to champion her cause. The client wants an apology and her money back even though the report detailed numerous items to be resolved by the builder. The following is a snippet of my reply to her:

I understand that you feel as though you received a poor inspection of your property, and that my explanation of the three items you shared with me sounded more like excuses than proper procedure. To this, I do apologize.

I hope that the nine items of concern that were discovered through the inspection process and disclosed to you in our summary report were resolved by the builder to your satisfaction including the missed warped header. If you had other issues with my inspection that were not covered in the report please take a moment and read through the Arizona Standards of Professional Practice that is contained on the inside cover of your report. It would help me a great deal to know what issues, if any, you have that did not meet the standards of practice.

Better communication skills might have saved me from this, remember to listen and ask questions rather than defend your position. You could profit from my mistakes.

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