I have been using on site report system using pocket pc and wireless printer.I have signed up with reporthost and seem to like it.I have been spending a lot of money on the binder report system from nachi store and they are very nice and the clients like them.Should I do away with them and save myself the money and use something like Reporthost and E mail the client the report? Seems to me the client look at that binder one or twice and then file it and never use it again.
Thanks,John Cubit
JC Home Inspections
Manchester Tn.
I was looking at them but decided to go with Dominics home inspector pro his customer service is second to none. I saw some InterNachi members have some good testimonials on report host, you might ask them how report host is working for them. Looks like Vaughn uses them im sure he would be happy to answer your question.
John,
I currently use Home Inspector Pro. Prior, I used Reporthost (and still keep it as emergency back-up. Dom can’t keep up his pace forever!) I and my clients liked it very much. They had an issue with photo uploading time, but have since solved it, and is no longer an issue. As a Nachi member, your first 15 reports are free. No cost to you to give it a real test-drive. That is the only sure way to know if it is right for you.
Jeff
I use both ReportHost and Home Inspector Pro and like them both. Each has advantages and disadvantages. Equally each has personal preferences I like and dislike as well. Both make a fine printed report if you choose to stay that route or provide it as an up-sell option to your clients as I do.
It simply boils down to your personal preferences and what suits you best for the needs.
Do away with the printed report. Not only will you increase your profit margin, but it will reduce your overall inspection-time and increase your efficiency.
I don’t have a ton of time with it but I really like ReportHost and tell the customers I am going green. I have heard a ton of great things about Dom and his awesome customer service. Let us know what you end up using. Hey Bob what do you use?
Marketing my friend…
A bound report is only included as part of a premium package in my business, but it continues to bring in more compliments and referrals. Plus on average I make $125 more than my competition with only $10 and 10 minutes invested. Not a bad ROI…
People really like to have something in their hand when they walk away. They will get a report one way or the other but they do want to feel like they are getting something tangible for their money.
Having said that lose the printed report, go electronic, and give them a homeowner manual when you leave.
I should have remembered that,I have seen it enough. Does Home Inspector Pro create a pdf or a web based report? In other words do you send them the report or send them a link where it is?
They get an automatically sent link through email.
The report is compressed for fast load.
My typical 50-70 page reports are around 2 MB.
The link goes to HIP server,where it stays at least 5 years.
Each upload allows 2 simultaneous sends (usually the Agent)
The software has a address book where you can add Agents and then just click to choose them for getting a copy.
There link is a little different because they have access to a group of any others they are associated with at one time.
They get this by creating a password.
PDF allows for better segregation of sections when printing whereas a Web based is continuous scroll.
HIP is especially different in that the sections are indexed in a superior manor over the one or two others that now, also use click able bookmarks, in that it is one the side and always visible from anywhere in the report.
I often include well over 150 pictures in my report and the speed of upload is extreme on HIP.
Takes less than one minute to finish .
On high speed internet.
Rural communities aren’t so lucky especially for 2M and higher PDF files.
Just this week did the phone company finally render me and my neighbors capable of obtaining high speed access. Until now we have had to pay for expensive satellite and radio technology in order to achieve similar speeds and capabilities.
True. There are other options. It was just a small segment of homes on our road where all utility lines are buried. Phone company didn’t see it as being cost effect until they got tired of answering service calls for the failed buried lines after every rain and thaw.
I only give this as an example, that there still remain many clients who may not have high speed access and having to wait a day for a file to download via 56kbps phone modem is quite frustrating in today’s superior technology world.
Additionally we have to keep in mind that some email providers limit file size transmission. I have had to resize more than one PDF report because my client failed to receive it due to size limitations/restrictions. More often this occurs with my commercial clients and with reports only slightly larger than 6M.
Ok here is my two cents. I emial a PDF same day and provide a hard copy the next day, that comes in a binder with coded referrence material that the report refers to (report & ref binder work together as 1 package). I pay $26 per ref binder. after 40 to 60 inspections in a month it can add up. I consider the binder as part of my marketing. I have considered dropping the binder but it is one of the main reasons why I pick up 1 to 3 new referring agents a month and now after 4 years I get referrals from 129 different agents even in a down market. Now one thing I do ask the new agent is why are they not happy with the inspector they were using, their answer, is cuz they r not printing the report for them. I know what your thinking, they can pay for printing cuz the amount of their commisions. We use a couple of large color laser printers and it only cost us a couple of bucks to print hard copies for all parties. So i am more than happy to provide hard copies if it takes business from my competitors and drops it in my lap. So IMO I would continue to print reports.
A web page will take just as long to load as a well optimized pdf will. The web page has the same pictures, usually about the same size. The only difference is it’ll load progressively. Then of course a web page doesn’t look the same on a big screen. As people now get 24"-30" monitors the web based report images start to look extremely small.
