Russell, let me preface what I’m going to say by stating that I think Homegauge is, by far and away, the best inspection program in existence. Over the years, I have tried them all, and there’s no comparison. I want to make that clear up front because you’ve previously taken personal offense to a couple of my posts criticizing your program, and that is not my intention…unless you choose to make it so.
Truthfully, the only reason I upgraded to Version 5 is because I really like one of the new print formats, which is not available in Version 4. I have no use for the rest of the new features, but I was hoping the rest of Version 5 would be at least the same or better.
If you honestly don’t see a difference in the two pages I posted, then there’s no chance of the problem every being acknowledged and fixed. There clearly is a difference, and it’s enough to make a normally excellent report look unprofessional - in my opinion.
I thought I clearly stated the problem, but again… I used the exact same pictures/drawings for both pages. I did not alter them in any way. Version 4 created one page and Version 5 created the other. Plain and simple. Yes, the difference is there are clear and concise borders around the pictures in Version 4, and some of the borders in Version 5 are missing. You seem to think that’s not a big deal, but it is to me because my clientele are used to a very clean and concise report, which is why I chose Homegauge in the first place. The page from Version 5 is not that. All I’m asking is what happened in Version 5 so that the borders are no longer complete after a PDF rendering?
I agree with you that HTML rocks, and the report looks better, etc… The problem I have with it is the delivery. The only reason I use PDF is the 99% reliability and control I have over delivery of the inspection report. The majority of my buyers are Asian with about 20% of them being offshore residents who speak very little English. All of their business is being handled by their realtor who does not want to log in to a site and hassle with a download, etc. Believe me when I tell you that our realtors are extremely busy, and they don’t want or need any more transactions than necessary. I’ve been told that many times.
The vast majority of the inspection business here is through referral of the buyer’s realtor. So, in March of 2014, I sent an online survey to 150+ of the realtors that use my company the most, telling them I was considering using your “Services” for report delivery, etc. Every one of them except 3 said they did not want to “hassle with that” - “too much trouble” they said - “love the PDF format and how quickly and easily it arrives by email”. You have to understand that we are a very small state, and all it takes is one small problem with a download or inability to access a report, and word gets around that your business is not reliable with report acquisition. I have lived here all of my adult life, and believe me when I tell you that is a reality. I have read several times in the HG forum that inspectors do have problems with your site, and I just can’t take that risk with yours or any other cloud delivery.
My market is very different because the inspection report is pretty much a necessary evil rather than an absolute determining factor in buying or not buying. Real estate is so hot and dynamic here that pretty much everything sold is “as is”, and the report is more of a formality and many times done only through the insistence of the buyer’s realtor. Average days on the market is under 2 weeks, and properties usually sell for over asking price with multiple backup offers. The bottom line here is that buyers aren’t interested in wasting their time looking at videos or logging into some site to download things, etc. Tech-savvy or not, the majority just don’t care. That’s not saying that those features aren’t awesome in the right market, but that does not mean every market.
Your response “I feel these minor differences bother you more than your customer” implies that you think you know my market better than I do. I take that as an insult. Russell, you might have the best software inspection program on the market, but you DO NOT know my market and my people. It’s arrogant of you to think you do. The inspection business is very competitive here, and I haven’t been extremely successful for 15+ years by not knowing my market and not generating a report that I’m proud of and is well-accepted.
Since I think that anything that does not pertain to HTML and cloud delivery will never be improved upon, I will call next week and take you up on your offer of a refund. Version 4 has been working fine, so I’ll continue to use it.