Scottpat

But the hammer is several thousand dollars cheaper. But you get more of an Oooohhh factor with the IR!

Kurt, I'm with you! When you have a special niche and a caller has a need that you can deliver on, that is about as good as it gets!

I rebuilt my website with www.weebly.com Extremely simply to use and maintain. It is inexpensive (they offer a free version but, you don't get much?.) and allows you total control over your site. I did it myself because I got tired of waiting for a company to do it and the fees they wanted to charge. I spent most of a rain soaked Saturday setting it up. The mobile deadline back in April drove me to getting it done.

Leighton, When I had to reestablish my business after my relocation nine years ago, I went to new subdivisions and wrote down address of homes that I thought were under one year of age. I then mailed letters to the "Owners" for 1 Year Home Warranty Inspections. They were simple letters and I had a great response of around 15%. I did this in several areas around the area. At every inspection I gave the owner 3 business cards and asked them to please tell their neighbors and friends about my service. This worked like a charm?. Neighbors talk to each other when they have a problem with their home! You might try this?.

Yesterday I had two callers that said they called me because they did not want to use the inspectors that their real estate agents gave them. I have found this to be the case with many of the folks that call me. Consumers are getting wiser when they make their selections it seems. I have nothing against getting referrals from agents, I just do not go begging for them to do it. When you are starting out in this business your have very few options and visiting the RE offices is about the quickest way to get that phone to ring. Just realize that if you depend on agents that you are at their mercy and if they stop referring that phone stops ringing. This is a bad place that you really don't want to go..

Most homeowners do not want an inspection! The less they know about what they are selling the better they are when it comes to disclosing known problems. It might not sound like this is honest but it is just a fact of selling a home. Open house events work if you take the agent on duty a little snack/bottle of water or something like that, so I have been told?. Do you have a good website? My website is the number one producer of business for me. Next are word of mouth referrals and then real estate agents. I do not market to agents or visit their offices, they have found me through their buyers that have used me after they found me from my website?. It takes time to get a business off the ground. Most home inspectors that are successful realize good profits in their third year.

I do good remembering what I had for lunch! Marc, the NHIE is not area specific. It is a national exam that way if a person moves from one area of the country to the other the same exam is accepted by 30+ states. The exam has changed over the years with the biggest change being the way the test questions are pulled from a pool of questions for each exam. It use to be that the exam had two "forms" or test. Out of those two test the questions were just jumbled around for each taker, so no two ever had questions in the same order. A few years back the item bank (question pool) reached a point that they had enough questions in it that they could pull random questions from the pool for each exam. It's a little more complicated but that is the basic way the NHIE questions are done.

The patent's will still be around regardless of who wins! If HomeSafe wins, Nick will be out a good amount of his members money! John, can you provide a cite/link/PDF etc? detailing what you are claiming ASHI has done?

This is comical! It is difficult to decide which one I want to cheer for. Both are deserving of each other and the web that has been woven.

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It does sound like a screwed install. If you had a flooring company install it they should stand behind their installers work.

Best advice I can give is to have spouse with a really good job! You are also in MS, so you will need to get a license. You will need to meet the state requirements, which are education, pass the NHIE, obtain GL insurance and E&O insurance. Then in order to inspect new homes in MS you will need to pass the home builders exam to obtain the NH designation on your license. You really need to have this?..

Yep, farm/ranch life is a great teacher. Growing up as a city boy, I learned real quick after marrying into a family that owned a cattle ranch. One of my many life changing experience was when I leaned on a Hotshot and one of the hired hands decided to push the On button!

Go look at the background for AFCI's? I think it was Eaton or another company that came out with them and they were about the only ones on the committee that developed the code for AFCI's?.. Makes one go, Hummmm!

I dislike TR receptacles from an inspection standpoint! AFCI's are nice now that they have improved them.. Even though TN has a statewide electrical code I know of a couple jurisdictions that do not require TR receptacles but all require AFCI's. How in the world is a child going to learn that they can't stick car keys into a receptacle if it is a TR type! We've all done it before and learned from that shocking experience!

I would say something like this "Many of the bricks on this home have visible cracks, the exact cause of the cracks is not known but it could be a defect in the brick or even mishandling when it was being installed. A concern is that water will enter the cracks, freeze and expand causing additional damage to the brick. This condition will not improve with time, it will only worsen. The builder should contract the brick manufacturer or a masonry expert for additional instructions on what needs to be done".

I don't check for permits, honestly I don't see folks waiting in line to pay for permit checking?.. I have used BuildFax a few times before but each time it was for a litigation case I was working on and I was looking for specific items? I would love to see us have access to CLUE reports over permits...

I'm getting too impatient with age?.. If I can't get the dang thing to work, that is pretty much what I say in my report!

I have Nest thermostats in my home and they are fairly easy. Honeywell and Nest are about the only two I see on a regular basis. Honeywell is not all that easy?..

Well, I don't carry matches or a lighter so unless the device has a built-in igniter it's not going to get lit? With many gas log fireplaces the air needs to be bled from the line and this can take a longtime. If it does not light after a few attempts, I report that the air needs to be bled from the line and to have the owner demonstrate that it works properly prior to closing. I don't light standing pilot's, but then I just don't see them any longer. I require the water to be turned on for me? I use to have a meter key (Long pole of rebar with a "U" at the bottom to turn the water on at the meter) that I kept in my truck but I took it out several years ago.

Well the sketch didn't make it?. How about a few pictures of the area.

Really, that was on a cell phone! That is a great photo! Send me a copy please.. hauscheck@gmail.com

Mike, that is pretty much true around the entire country. An insurance company will issue a binder so the house can close. Then the vast majority of insurers will send out a person to do a brief audit type inspection and if they identify problems like an FPE, Zinsco or K&T they will give the owner 30 days to correct the problems or cancel the coverage.

Jim nailed it as usual about the change in the ASHI SoP. Now, if I came across so many unreported FPE & Zinsco panels like the OP has been doing in FL, I would be throwing those inspectors under the bus. Tell those owners that they need to call their home inspector and ask why the panel was not reported and tell them to ask the inspector what they are going to do about it! This is this is the only way that those inspectors are going to get educated! The profession in FL was flooded with unqualified folks when they grandfathered just about anyone who had ever held a screwdriver when they started licensing several years back.

Yes, the "Code Check Complete" book is the best study guide. I would think that with the 120 hour class and the additional studying that you should be prepared fairly well. A word of caution?.If you have done well on practice exams and questions put out by a home inspector organization out of Colorado they are not the best measurement tool of your knowledge?.