How to Recognize a Soft Home Inspection Report by Jim Bushart.

jburkeson1 · March 3, 2013, 8:12pm

Jealous? :-k

Or… Are you just one of the disgruntled users who has no recourse because you signed away your right to complain?

I know you can’t answer that, can you? #-o

jlevy1 · March 3, 2013, 9:31pm

Ask Nathan how active my account is. I think I have had an account for two years and have only given out about 33 Recall checks. I just don’t see the ROI, but I don’t want to let the thread go in that direction.
…and you thought you knew me.:o

ldapkus1 · March 3, 2013, 10:52pm

You’re just kidding right?? I thought Retard Check was the greatest thing that happened to mankind since the development of toilet paper.

tpappas · March 3, 2013, 11:25pm

Client safety is a pretty good ROI for me

jlevy1 · March 3, 2013, 11:45pm

Not if the client couldn’t care less.

mlarson · March 4, 2013, 12:04am

What, It doesn’t;t work as promised?

Who da thunk.:roll::roll:

jlevy1 · March 4, 2013, 12:11am

When I get clients that say “Do I have to pay extra for that? Because if I do, I don’t need it”. That is poor ROI in my book.

jburkeson1 · March 4, 2013, 3:32am

Nathan has already stated on this message board that he is not interested in non-users obtaining information, why is that do you think?

Anyway, I understand your not wanting to share your reasons due to possible lawsuits you might incur, but the simple fact that you have limited your clients exposure speaks volumes… BTW, Your secret is safe with me.

gromicko · March 4, 2013, 4:25am

LOL. That’s what they advised me many years ago when we were 1/10 the size of ASHI. Now they’re 1/10 the size of us. I like the trend the way it is continuing.

As my ancestor Genghis Khan once said: “It is not sufficient that I succeed — all others must fail.”

ccurrins · March 4, 2013, 4:34am

I thought recall was free. Free to everyone. Free! Free! Free! At least that’s what Thorn has been preaching.

jjonas · March 4, 2013, 4:44am

You ain’t been paying attention! :mrgreen:

NOTHING is 100% FREE !!!

escanlan · March 4, 2013, 12:57pm

From the Federal Trade Commission regarding the use of the word “Free”.

§251.1 The guide.
(a) General. (1) The offer of ``Free’’ merchandise or service is a promotional device frequently used to attract customers. Providing such merchandise or service with the purchase of some other article or service has often been found to be a useful and valuable marketing tool.

(2) Because the purchasing public continually searches for the best buy, and regards the offer of Free'' merchandise or service to be a special bargain, all such offers must be made with extreme care so as to avoid any possibility that consumers will be misled or deceived. Representative of the language frequently used in such offers are Free’‘, Buy 1-Get 1 Free'', 2-for-1 Sale’‘, 50% off with purchase of Two'', 1 Sale’‘, etc. (Related representations that raise many of the same questions include XX Cents-Off'', Half-Price Sale’‘, \1/2\ Off'', etc. See the Commission's Fair Packaging and Labeling Regulation Regarding `Cents-Off’ and Guides Against Deceptive Pricing.‘’)

(b) Meaning of Free''. (1) The public understands that, except in the case of introductory offers in connection with the sale of a product or service (See paragraph (f) of this section), an offer of Free’’ merchandise or service is based upon a regular price for the merchandise or service which must be purchased by consumers in order to avail themselves of that which is represented to be Free''. In other words, when the purchaser is told that an article is Free’’ to him if another article is purchased, the word ``Free’’ indicates that he is paying nothing for that article and no more than the regular price for the other. Thus, a purchaser has a right to believe that the merchant will not directly and immediately recover, in whole or in part, the cost of the free merchandise or service by marking up the price of the article which must be purchased, by the substitution of inferior merchandise or service, or otherwise.

(2) The term regular when used with the term price, means the price, in the same quantity, quality and with the same service, at which the seller or advertiser of the product or service has openly and actively sold the product or service in the geographic market or trade area in which he is making a Free'' or similar offer in the most recent and regular course of business, for a reasonably substantial period of time, i.e., a 30-day period. For consumer products or services which fluctuate in price, the regular’’ price shall be the lowest price at which any substantial sales were made during the aforesaid 30-day period. Except in the case of introductory offers, if no substantial sales were made, in fact, at the regular'' price, a Free’’ or similar offer would not be proper.

(c) Disclosure of conditions. When making Free'' or similar offers all the terms, conditions and obligations upon which receipt and retention of the Free’’ item are contingent should be set forth clearly and conspicuously at the outset of the offer so as to leave no reasonable probability that the terms of the offer might be misunderstood. Stated differently, all of the terms, conditions and obligations should appear in close conjunction with the offer of Free'' merchandise or service. For example, disclosure of the terms of the offer set forth in a footnote of an advertisement to which reference is made by an asterisk or other symbol placed next to the offer, is not regarded as making disclosure at the outset. However, mere notice of the existence of a Free’’ offer on the main display panel of a label or package is not precluded provided that (1) the notice does not constitute an offer or identify the item being offered ``Free’', (2) the notice informs the customer of the location, elsewhere on the package or label, where the disclosures required by this section may be found, (3) no purchase or other such material affirmative act is required in order to discover the terms and conditions of the offer, and (4) the notice and the offer are not otherwise deceptive.

(d) Supplier’s responsibilities. Nothing in this section should be construed as authorizing or condoning the illegal setting or policing of retail prices by a supplier. However, if the supplier knows, or should know, that a Free'' offer he is promoting is not being passed on by a reseller, or otherwise is being used by a reseller as an instrumentality for deception, it is improper for the supplier to continue to offer the product as promoted to such reseller. He should take appropriate steps to bring an end to the deception, including the withdrawal of the Free’’ offer.

(e) Resellers’ participation in supplier’s offers. Prior to advertising a Free'' promotion, a supplier should offer the product as promoted to all competing resellers as provided for in the Commission's Guides for Advertising Allowances and Other Merchandising Payments and Services.‘’ In advertising the Free'' promotion, the supplier should identify those areas in which the offer is not available if the advertising is likely to be seen in such areas, and should clearly state that it is available only through participating resellers, indicating the extent of participation by the use of such terms as some’‘, all'', a majority’‘, or ``a few’', as the case may be.

(f) Introductory offers. (1) No Free'' offer should be made in connection with the introduction of a new product or service offered for sale at a specified price unless the offeror expects, in good faith, to discontinue the offer after a limited time and to commence selling the product or service promoted, separately, at the same price at which it was promoted with the Free’’ offer.

(2) In such offers, no representation may be made that the price is for one item and that the other is Free'' unless the offeror expects, in good faith, to discontinue the offer after a limited time and to commence selling the product or service promoted, separately, at the same price at which it was promoted with a Free’’ offer.

(g) Negotiated sales. If a product or service usually is sold at a price arrived at through bargaining, rather than at a regular price, it is improper to represent that another product or service is being offered ``Free’’ with the sale. The same representation is also improper where there may be a regular price, but where other material factors such as quantity, quality, or size are arrived at through bargaining.

(h) Frequency of offers. So that a Free'' offer will be special and meaningful, a single size of a product or a single kind of service should not be advertised with a Free’’ offer in a trade area for more than 6 months in any 12-month period. At least 30 days should elapse before another such offer is promoted in the same trade area. No more than three such offers should be made in the same area in any 12-month period. In such period, the offeror’s sale in that area of the product in the size promoted with a ``Free’’ offer should not exceed 50 percent of the total volume of his sales of the product, in the same size, in the area.

(i) Similar terms. Offers of Free'' merchandise or services which may be deceptive for failure to meet the provisions of this section may not be corrected by the substitution of such similar words and terms as gift’‘, given without charge'', bonus’‘, or other words or terms which tend to convey the impression to the consuming public that an article of merchandise or service is ``Free’'.

jlevy1 · March 4, 2013, 1:22pm

That’s it!!! I’m moving to Tampa and not Melbourne!!!:mrgreen:

jburkeson1 · March 4, 2013, 1:33pm

What is they say… Location, location, location? In your case it won’t make a damn bit of difference, you’ll still be a Yankee from New Jersey.

jkeilson · March 4, 2013, 4:06pm

Good thread and it was time for it to be made…

Jim

mellison · March 4, 2013, 4:51pm

Great article Jim thank you. But it is a little one sided, don’t get me wrong, it needed to be; that’s what made it hard hitting. I just want to point out that there is nothing wrong with being non-alarmist. I enjoy some great working relationships because of this. And as I get to know fellow NACHI members there are plenty of us.
To me, being a non-alarmist is simply the act of kindness with no agenda. I sincerely want my client to be aware of everything possible with their home. In my experiences so far, nearly all issues found were reasonably correctable. I’ve used phrases like “this is a serious concern and must be addressed as soon as possible”, or “this is not safe and could cause serious injury or death.” The difference is, I didn’t WANT to come across issues like this. When I inspect a home I hope 1/ to find as much as possible if not everything 2/ there’s not too much wrong because bad news sucks whoever you are.
Because I care (I’m sure many of you do too) I get to enjoy working with the better Realtors. How? It’s simple; if I care and they don’t, they won’t refer me because THEY see me as an alarmist. But if they care also, then they repect me for doing my job.
Many preach against marketing to Realtors. Why shun your greatest potential revenue source? I don’t get it. As long as you’re willing to weed out the unethical types (they’ll usually weed you out if you’re good) you could end up with some really great business relationships.
That’s MTCs

Cheers

jbushart · March 4, 2013, 4:57pm

Thanks, Mark. I believe that the article addresses more of advertising one’s self as a “non-alarmist” rather than being one. That, at least, was my intent. I think there is a big difference between the two.

jburkeson1 · March 4, 2013, 5:40pm

My experience tells me the best way to develop business referrals is to keep a business-like demeanor when communicating with those associated with the real estate transaction. Leave all emotion at home and pause every time prior to communicating, the buyer, seller and RE agent bring far too much emotion to the inspection don’t get caught up in the wave.

There are many here who wish to dazzle their clients with their vast experience on every aspect, they explain in great detail information which has no bearing on true purpose of home inspection and sometimes they are completely wrong which only helps to confuse the participants.

I know that everyone goes beyond the boundaries of the SoP but before you do you should have a very good reason to do so beyond the ‘feel good’ aspects many use to justify spending four hours on a 2,000 sq-ft home which produces 80 page report that no one reads beyond the summary.

Spend an appropriate amount time on the big ticket items that truly impinge on the condition of the home, speak plain and communicate those conditions with the fewest words possible. Give your client the tools necessary to make good financial decisions and you will go far in this profession without having to soften something you most likely shouldn’t have been reporting on in the first place.

There is a voice inside all of us who continously comments on our actions, trust that voice.

gmathias1 · March 4, 2013, 6:21pm

Good post JB.
I do agree with what you said. One of the first things I learnt as a home inspector was how to talk to a client. I was at an inspection with my mentor and the light did not work in the stairwell. he asked for the ladder and checked to make sure there was power getting to the fixture. After the inspection he explained it like this. He could just leave it and put in his report: Fixture in stairwell did not respond to the switch. Recommend the bulb be checked and if not a burnt bulb, recommend further evaluation by a licnesed electrician. Or do what I did. Your choice. He did not alarm them by not checking.

About a month later I had the same issue. I did what he did and found it was just the bulb. After the inspection the realtor called to thank me for doing that because he had another inspector write in his report that it could be a potential fire hazard and should only be checked by an electrician.
There is a big differance between writing a soft report and giving the facts.