How do you handle situations where a client is out of town and you only meet with the realator for the home inspection. Do you fax the pre inspection agreement to the customer before the inspection?
Yes, fax, email or whatever but an agreement is important for all to know and agree to what is being done for how much, in advance of the work.
CLIENT OR REPRESENTATIVE can sign it. The agent would be the Rep.
I use the Inspection Support Network which emails the agreement out 15mins. after I book the inspection. It then captures an electronic signature.
thanks for the advice!
I e-mail it to them and have them sign and either fax or e-mail it back to me before I will do the inspection. I also tell them to go ahead and put a check in the mail to me with the original signed copy, and I will send them their report as soon as I finish the inspection and have received the check.
Check in the mail? sounds old school. Scan/email or fax, and a credit card # over the phone and your done. Money is in the bank tomorrow.
PayPal… credit cards, debit cards, instant transfer cash, E-checks.
Email &/or Fax
Buyers Rep can sign PIA
Same here except for the check thing. Email, with agreement attached, explains procedures to pay online in advance of inspection. Agreement and $$$ are both in hand prior to inspection.
I figured the average cost per inspection for using a (more or less free) credit card system was $10.00.
Yea it is old school, but when I started, I polled the first 10 customers I ever had who were paying me in cash/check. I asked them if they preferred to pay in cash or if they would be just as happy or happier to have paid an extra $10.00 and paid with a credit card instead. Every one of them replied “cash/check”. If you do 200 inspections a year, at $10.00 an inspection, that’s $2000.00 you are paying for the convenience of a credit card.
For that kind of money, I’ll be a little more patient on getting paid and pass the savings on to my customers. 
BTW, Usually I end up having the check prior to the inspection (because of scheduling). That’s better than most who pay at the inspection itself. I’ve only held the report a couple of times, and then only for a day or two. No big deal.
Hey Eric It depends on the state but here in Oregon it is required to be signed before the inspection is done. I do not give a inspection to anyone with out a signed contract. Email them the contract and have them fax or email back. Alot of times the realtor will help out with this and you can have them send payment or put it on a cc. I have alot of out of town customers and this is what i do and it works for both payment and the contract.:mrgreen:
The online system Nick offers for free is great.
Has anyone here used, or is using DocuSign?
What is a fax? :-k 
I use an electronic agreement with Homegauge. Love it. I also have it as a PDF posted on my website and they can download it, fill it out, and fax it to me if they want.
No agreement. No inspection.
I use an electronic agreement built into my Home Inspector Pro website.
Always send email agreement prior to inspection and ask for a check. Farthest away client was in Belgium. Received check and signed agreement day before inspection. Don’t do credit cards. Almost always get checks. Sometimes cash (from Canadian customers) and never ever have had a check bounce.
I use the one from NACHI and it works great.