Hello fello inspectors, I just started my company and was wondering what the process you guys use for new clients. Do you guys use the pre-inspection agreement provided by internachi? If, so do you also use docusign to get it signed and retuned prior to inspection. (Also, does anybody know a cheaper alternative to docusign?) What other documents do you provide to the client? Standards of Practice? Code of Ethics? And how do you send these over to make it easy?
What website builder do you guys use?
Also, I’m currently using palmtech but what apps do you guys use? Is it fast and quick with pictures and dropdown? I’m looking for something fast and professional.
All answers are much appreciated, best of luck to you all!
Seth, I’m retired now but the Internachi pre=inspection agreement is great. Docusign I heard was good but don’t know any others, but definitely prior to leaving my house for the inspection. I had a link to the standards of practice in my pre-inspection agreement at first, then I made it a part of the agreement itself. It was all done by email.
Hope this helps.
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There is dotloop as well. I use it extensively for Real Estate transactions
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What state are you in?
I’m in Florida
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So am I.
This is what I send via email to the clients.
To:
Inspection of:
Inspection Date and Time:
To comply with Florida Home Inspection Disclosure Statutes 468.8321.
“468.8321 Disclosures.—Prior to contracting for or commencing a home inspection, a home inspector shall provide to the consumer a copy of his or her license to practice home inspection services in this state and a written disclosure that contains the scope and any exclusions of the home inspection.”
I have attached to this email message the following documents.
-
Florida Home Inspector License
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Standards of Practice for Performing a General Home Inspection
Please reply acknowledging that you have received these documents
Payment is due at the time of inspection unless other arrangements have been made.
If you have any questions please feel free to give me a call 386-454-1584
Thank you for choosing 1st Pro Inspection
Sincerely
Roy Lewis
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Thank you Roy, great info! So what you’re saying is you don’t require them to sign anything but just to reply to the email to confirm they understand the standards of practice?
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Why is no one using the pre-inspection agreement signing program offered by InterNACHI? https://www.nachi.org/agreement.htm. This is one of the benefits of InterNACHI. You simply use clients email address and have them electronically sign the pre-inspection agreement that you have created. No need for docusign or other programs.
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Matt you are right! I am going back to the original InterNachi agreement! not sure why I drifted away from it myself, I guess I thought I could change it up to better fit me. It’s obviously better off not tampered with
Thank you Matt! What type of receipts/invoice do you use?
I have a square account to accept credit cards, but it can also do invoices and receipts.
I’ll send you an invite to square later today
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Matthew J Atwood
Atwood’s Home Inspection, LLC
Leavenworth, KS 66048
913-297-4687
Good questions Seth. I know it can be overwhelming getting started in this biz. I use the pre-inspection agreement written for my state (Louisiana) with some minor tweaks. But the Internachi form is great as well. I use SignNow. It’s about $7 per month. I email the agreement to the client. He/she digitally signs it and emails it back to me. I print it out and place in a client file, as well as save it in a digital file on my computer. I also send a separate email with the standards of practice and code of ethics. BTW-I always have a hard copy of the agreement and standards/code of ethics for the client during the walkthrough. I don’t want there ever to be a claim that they didn’t get the documents. I usually shoot a text message to the referring realtor to let him/her know that I have their client under contract and give date/time information. I then contact the seller agent (if different) to inform him/her of the upcoming inspection and get the passcode for the keybox (if one exitsts). As far as software, good luck. There’s a bunch out there. Most will let you sample before committing any money. I use Tap Inspect. I like the look of the report it produces. It is simple to learn, works great with my iPhone and relatively inexpensive. I pay $5 per inspection, but if you do volume, there are other plans that will bring that price way down. Hope this helps.
Thank you Scott, awesome information! Much appreciated, I’m looking into your suggestions now! What type of insurance plan do you recommend carrying? A premium or a basic general liability in my state Florida the cost difference is huge.
Amount of insurance needed is often a topic of much discussion. Depends on who you ask. My state license requires $300,000 in both general liability and errors & omissions insurance. I rarely inspect million dollar homes, so I settle for the $500,000 E&O insurance. I do carry a million dollar GL policy however. The cost for it is small compared to the E&O.
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You may want to check again. Florida does not require E&O insurance. Only general liability.
I just changed over to biburk insurance they gave me 1 million w/ no deductible $300 a year.
I don’t carry E&O insurance it just gives them a reason to sue you. But between the 350 to 400 pictures per house and my video I do for myself that’s like 2 minutes as I walk out of the house I know I’m safe prove everything is turned off if ever a question.