For all of you who take photos at an inspection, do you ever give allthe photos to the client when the report is completed? I mean, other than the photos included in the report, do you ever give more than the inspection report photos?
I have now had several clients ask if they can have a copy of all the photos that were taken during the inspection. I am not so sure I want to hand them out, outside of the pictures chosen to be a part of the report.
The additional pictures could possibly lead into other future problems or questions and then come back and bite me (us).
I take a lot of pics during the inspection to document the condition of the homes’ components at the time. Just in case 6 months later someone decides to say something was missed or broken I have a record on file. I do not give them all the photos, only those pertinent to the inspection. I also take a picture in cases such as an access is blocked or the attic is inaccessible due to 20 years of crap stored in the way, etc. You may have a right to be a little cautious. After a certain amount of time I usually go through the files and purge useless photos. Besides, how do they know how many photos you took?
I send copies of the photographs that explicitly depict what was discussed in the inspection report only.
There are a lot of pictures that I it take for reference and future protection and identification (such as HVAC, water heater, appliance data plates) that are used just for recording and identification purposes. Those I retain.
I have never had any questions on photographs from the client, but I can see where you are coming from. I have had pictures that were not reported on in the report that almost slipped through without being written up. Luckily I caught it. It would be evidence of an error/omission had it been missed.
I end up taking about 100 to 150 photos of the average inspeciton and I give them all to my cllients. Three reasons;
1- It is an added feature of my inspections. “You get all the photos so that you have a visual record of the condition of the house on the day of the inspection should something go missing or be found damaged when you move in.”
2- Can provide visual proof that we did address a certain problem and there is the photo provided to remind you. And provides visual proof that we did talk about any issues pictured as confimation of the verbal part of the inspeciton.
3- Has on many occaisions allowed me to help the new home owner to locate things like basement drains, attic hatches, electrical panels etc.
Me too. I also include, on the CD, soft copies of the inspection report (.pdf format) and numerous articles from the NACHI Citizen Information Center that I’ve branded with my company name.
In my report it explains that many photos are taken during the inspection, but that only those photos deemed pertinent by the inspector will be used in the report.
Clients can and will ask for anything under the sun, it is incumbent upon the inspector to set the expectations prior to the inspection.
I email all the photos via MSN Slide Show Presentation with the report. No CD’s, no paper, no envelopes, no mail or ups. When the client clicks on “Play Slide Show” in the email window, the program loads, the photos are enlarged, captions are added to each photo and the program rotates automatically through the photos. The client can back up, stop or scroll forward. The client can print, save and or download the photos to their systems. The client can also forward the email and photos to the agents, other contractors for estimates, relatives, etc…
Like James, I include ALL pics taken during the inspection. It only takes a few minutes to burn a CD when writing the report. Clients and agents seem to like it so why not.
Plus, as George eluded to, it’s another layer of protection for both the client and myself.
Boy, you guy are really behind the times. I take photos inside and out of the whole house, Roof,exterior walls, driveway,sidewalk, inside, floors walls,ceiling … I offer these photos to the client for $35.00 at the time of the inspection. 2 weeks later 75.00, 1 month later 150.00. After 2 months $1500.00 for achieving and processing. To this date I have provided over 30 at inspections and 2 after 2 months for a lawyer representing the buyer. Most of these are used for flipping and insurance discounts if available. I have this addition on my contract for them to select or decline.:mrgreen: </IMG></IMG>
Boy Joe, I am agreeing alot with you tonight. ;-} Yes, you really have to know your market area to make these type of marketing choices. This has worked for me, but maybe not for others. Keep up the great work Joe.
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Which seems to be up and running as far as the search engine goes. My partner in Montreal and I have some fine tuning to do this weekend and then I’ll be uploading tons of more information, updating all the service providers, and moving on to advertising and marketing.
I’ve had many positive comments from Clients and Realtors here concerning abouthomes.info. I’ve been advertising and marketing it heavily through my own home inspections, through various community groups to which I belong, and through my domestic parnters’ Realtor involvements. As I see what works around here, I’ll be able to be more effective when I take my marketing and advertising to other cities and states.
I wanted to include all photos, but my attorneys convinced me otherwise unless I was willing to check every square inch of every photo to make sure that it didn’t show something that I should have discussed. I do check every square inch of photos that I include with the report, and I often put a great big arrow over something that I don’t want the Client to focus on in order to obscure it and force him to focus on what I want him to see in the picture. As my attorneys said, “There is only one industry where the public gets to see ‘all’ the photos, and that’s the movie/television industry. And that industry edits their pictures to show the public only what they want the public to see. You should do the same.”
Since I take hundreds of pictures but only use 5-50 pictures in the report, I decided that I didn’t want to take the time to examine every picture carefully.
I take photos inside and out of the whole house, Roof,exterior walls, driveway,sidewalk, inside, floors walls,ceiling … I offer these photos to the client for $35.00 at the time of the inspection. 2 weeks later 