inspector skill(s)

[Les]

What is the most important skill a home inspector must have?

[StevenT]

All of the above.

Kinda like asking: Which is more important... to inhale or to exhale?

[Les]

Steven, I see your point! Let's see, do I want to inhale or exhale? I know all about plumbing, but I did NOT inhale!

[kurt]

I'm the only one that voted "Other".

Maybe that's because I inhaled.....[:-paperba

[Les]

............I did not inhale that air!

[Bain]

This poll is without merit. The most important skill isn't even on the list. What good is a home inspector without his most finely-honed craft? That of which I speak, of course, is Kung fu.

[John Dirks Jr]

Hands down, communication and writing. If you get stumped on other things, usually you can research to find your answers.

If you cannot communicate well, especially in writing, what good is anything you know?

[Marc]

I's wit John and dem udders. If ya can't cumunicake, ya isn't anee good fer anyting.

Lern sumptin from dey mastr

Mac

[Nolan Kienitz]

I's wit John and dem udders. If ya can't cumunicake, ya isn't anee good fer anyting.

Lern sumptin from dey mastr

Mac

Marc,

You have had far too much gumbo today!! []

I agree with "communications" ... it is the 'key'. I worked in the "communications department" with The Associated Press and I often commented at how bad we were with 'communicating'.

Turns out ... not just at The AP ... everything we do relies on communications. I'm a ham radio operator and it is all about 'communications'. A lot of us hams don't communicate the 'best', but most strive to always improve.

[John Kogel]

Hands down, communication and writing. If you get stumped on other things, usually you can research to find your answers.

If you cannot communicate well, especially in writing, what good is anything you know?

You could take a lot of pictures and use those to communicate.

So change mine to good photography skills. That and a deadly spinkick. []

[Les]

isn't this entertaining? I will let this go a couple more days then see what I can make of the false positives.

[kurt]

You could take a lot of pictures and use those to communicate.

So change mine to good photography skills.

That's an interesting idea, one that's not given nearly enough consideration.

While one's writing is important, communicating an idea with a picture has inherent benefits.

We still have the bulk of HI's fiddling around with boilerplate machinery that stresses defect recognition and the ability to hit a button on screen to insert canned verbiage into pre-formatted software contrivances in language foreign to nearly all consumers.

HI's exist in an odd bubble that ignores the revolution and changes in communication forms of the last 20 years, and the fact that the next generation (those now moving into household formation) barely reads at all; their world exists in pictures and videos.

[Les]

see? I like the direction this is going. No John, the full nelson hammer lock is not a requisite skill!

[Jerry Simon]

During my first five years or so, I felt that finding defects was much more important than the communication of same. Heck, my client was usually with me, saw what I saw, and I felt that was good enough. However, my writing/report was a mish-mash of inspector-speak drivel.

I now give them equal weight; finding, then reporting.

[kurt]

All true. I was talking more about the form of reporting. Finding the stuff is easy; getting it ALL across to the customer is the hard part.

We place too much emphasis on words, not enough on pictures.

[Jim Baird]

...would've checked other and defined as observation skills and on-the-feet-adaptability in terms of process. You have to be able to take in and process the unexpected. Have to adjust field routine to what you find, but if you cannot communicate your findings it is of no help to be observant, Watson.

[kurt]

"The roof shingles are lacking granule, they're curling up, the rain slots are worn out, and they're badly worn at the eaves. Have additional analysis by a licensed competent roofing contractor."

Or.....

"The shingles are worn out; replace the roof."

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I propose that the first comment is meaningless to nearly everyone and the 2nd is structured and understandable to modern humans.

[hoosier inspector]

Teaching is the best way to describe what I do. Investigation, analysis, and prescription are all important and necessary, but useless if not communicated effectively. Communication is so much blather if not anchored in an understanding of the subject. I inspect structures, but report to my customers on their potential home. A good teacher uses his or her skill set to assemble a course that reaches each student on a personal level. It seems to me that the trade is slowly spiraling down a path that is taking the customer out of the equation to produce a product instead of a service, much like our educational system. I try not to "teach to the test" and hope my customers come away better suited for home ownership than when we met. I vote for Other.

[rkenney]

"What we've got here is failure to communicate."

[Rob Amaral]

A healthy appetite for wanting to read, research...

[Les]

A healthy appetite for wanting to read, research...

Rob,

I had forgotten about that!

I do read at least 30minutes every day. Dedicated reading. Reading for fun more like 3-4hrs per week.

Read Read Read.

[John Kogel]

A healthy appetite for wanting to read, research...

Rob,

I had forgotten about that!

I do read at least 30minutes every day. Dedicated reading. Reading for fun more like 3-4hrs per week.

Read Read Read.

Yes, if you can't read, you can't play here. []

So what does your poll tell you that a pole or a Pole could not have told you? []

[John Kogel]

A healthy appetite for wanting to read, research...

Rob,

I had forgotten about that!

I do read at least 30minutes every day. Dedicated reading. Reading for fun more like 3-4hrs per week.

Read Read Read.

Yes, if you can't read, you can't play here. []

So what does your poll tell you that a pole or a Pole could not have told you before? []

[Les]

John, really does not tell me much. I used it to talk a little about communication rather than bedbugs! it was not intended to be science, just a tickler.

It brought photos to the fore and got us talking about reading - it did something.

[SafeKey Home Inspection]

It's really hard to pinpoint the most important skill, but I think I would have to say communication skills as well. Good pictures don't mean much when the comment or narrative looks illiterate. Attention to detail is a must!