Originally Posted By: ismetaniuk
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This membership was a big waste of my time!
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Igor
Top To Bottom Inspections
Glen Spey, NY
This membership was a big waste of my time!
Originally Posted By: jonofrey
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Igor,
That's three things.
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Inspection Nirvana!
We're NACHI. Get over it.
Originally Posted By: arosenbaum
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| jmyers wrote: |
| Igor,
That is how I learned to be an auto mechanic, what is wrong with that? 
BTW....Chiltons is wrong at times, just like the newbies. Learning is a difficult process sometimes. Joe Myers |
Very true.... Chiltons is wrong sometimes..... I am a 21 year old newbie(started learning about the biz when I was 1
but I have had experience in lots of plumbing (worked next to a master plumber), framing, etc. If I didn't have any experience at all in those fields, I don't know what I would do. I know one thing..... I wouldn't give up on being a home inspector. A few reason why I wanted to become an inspector was to find things in a house (someone's shelter for themselves and their kids) that could harm them, the entrepreneur part of it all, and the income part. I would learn everything possible before I even do one inspection. I've been in 100 year old houses and 1 year old houses. There is a lot of different things to be learned, but they can be all be learned (but not in a week course class... no matter if everyday was 24 hours long). Also, actually being in those houses have helped, instead of looking in a diagram in a book and saying "I wonder what that looks like in real life." But, in contrast, books have helped me wonders.
Even though I think I've had more experience then Brandon, I do believe I'm in his shoes. I'm a newbie... one of the youngest, and in a field with guys that are twice my age and even older (and a lot wiser
), I need to try harder. I need to be wise and not do an inspection until I feel I am ready, and I think Brandon feels that way, too. I want to gain other inspector's respect, along with their friendship. I don't want to gain any enemies, because everyone has their own wars/enemies, and I don't want to be another on their list....
So we should all get along and dance
Originally Posted By: jonofrey
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Aaron,
Well done and well said! You like that marshmallow guy, don't you?
--
Inspection Nirvana!
We're NACHI. Get over it.
Originally Posted By: arosenbaum
This post was automatically imported from our archived forum.
Yep
He was "made" on the other forum (www.s-seriesforum.com) for this one guy that was really big and was going on a diet
Originally Posted By: nelliot
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Ig,
You must have been born a HI! The way you talk it seems that if you don’t have experience in a related field one cannot or does not make for a quality HI…
Let me understand where you come from...
Do You mean to say that the brightest minds in the medical field all had health care backgrounds?...
How about Engineers they all come from a related field?
When you worked your construction job or whatever job you had before HI did you have experience when you started? I mean at the beginning!
I think SOMEONE should take a look back down the road from whence he came and do a little remembering. Maybe then you can be a little more supportive and patient with someone that may someday be your peer and and ally.
I am a relatively new HI and sit in the local affiliation meeting only to hear the veteran HI guess and ponder questions like "What is an acceptable method of attaching rolled roofing to the sheathing? In Arizona we have a lot of flat roofs (more common than not). The point is they should know. I also went through training with a Construction Super and a Licensed RE Broker. Myself having a varied background in customer service,retail and aviation. The Broker is still trying (since April) to become State Certified. The CS had a degree in electrical engineering and is certified although his reports lack substance. Among the other students are contractors, laborers, heavy equipment operators a handyman to this day he is not certified to work in AZ. I was led into this line of work and am a fine inspector passed through all required hoops first time with God's helping hand
and would put my reports up against any one of you! 
I may not be the smartest HI the world has ever known but I do know that there is always room at the top and there is always room for improvement. If you don't learn something new everyday then you're all mouth and not enough ears.
Originally Posted By: jmyers
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Aaron,
I was trying to point out that many of us did not start out being smart, just like you. With time, education and the help of others we have "learned" to become sucessful.
If you don't know what is wrong with what you are looking at, make sure you recommend further evaluation and corrections by a professional that does. It does not take an engineering genius to see that is a vertical crack in the foundation. Now if it were a horizontal crack, you can bet I would recommend further evaluation by a engineer!
I did my first brake job on my car when I was 16. It took me most of the day to switch two sets of pads. Now that I am older (or wiser if you prefer) it takes me a couple of hours, tops! I am just as confident that first brake job was as good as the last! Don't sell yourself short because you are young, people will pick up on it. Here is what you do, when you state something, make sure you know what you are talking about, people will respect you more if you just say, "I don't know".
I believe Igor was trying to convey that one day a mechanic decided he was going to be a home inspector without any experience or training, other than the fact he lived next to a general contractor for a few years. Not that he could not be a good home inspector, just he lacked the knowledge of what to look for.
I believe you are going to make a good home inspector and you should stop selling yourself short because of your age and/or inexperience. I am fully confident that you know enough about home inspection that I would hire you and you would do a fine job. Maybe it would take you a little longer but who cares, I am not going anywhere!
Joe Myers
Originally Posted By: bfralin
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Igor,
OOOOOHHH...MMYYYYY!!!!!!
You feel better now?
Brian
Originally Posted By: Brandon Ellerbee
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Arron, yes I am in the same boat as you. I haven’t had any personal experience. All I’ve done is taken a course in HI and read lots of books and had my ears open when I’m around contractors.
Someone mentioned the medical field. ALL doctors have to go through studies in the classroom before they can work on real people. Well I've gone through the classroom and am now performing on patients (houses) for a huge dicounted price (for experience purposes only).
And to Igor, look I don't want any harsh feelings, but I think instead of putting newbies down, maybe you could offer to help out with questions we have. Most new HI I've heard of are pretty young, so we WILL have a hell of a lot of questions about certain things. And ya know me personally will be coming to people like you to ask if I have questions.
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Brandon
All American House Detective
Originally Posted By: psabados
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Hey Brandon
Just a tip! Watch the way you relate to conditions in your report. I know this board writing isn't report writing, but. After med school the graduate spends several years of. . . . . Residency, under the tutelage of the older and hopefully wiser old doctor.
Resident Doc's have one big advantage that you don't. They get paid while in training. You don't. Best case that you can get is maybe a ride-along or two.
This is a great organization with lots of exchanges going on and comradery. Out in the sea of life its big fish eats little fish. I never met or talked with Igor, but he's been around awhile. I'll also bet even money that he has trained a few people in this profession. He's giving you a plain, in-your-face warning about what to expect. This business has gotten very serious over the last 15-20 years, very serious.
Good luck guys, study hard, observe carefully, ask for help when needed and for crying out loud, QUIT DISCOUNTING!!!!!
Paul
Originally Posted By: jburkeson
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| jmyers wrote: |
| There is much truth in the statement, "it's not so much what you say but the way you are saying it". |
Ain't it the the truth, every day, more and more I learn that I am not so much in the home inspection profession as much as I am in the communication business.
Home inspection skills can be honed and mastered over time through experience, but without communication skills TODAY, you might as well go back to whatever you are doing before, because you ain't going to make it as a home inspector.
We serve the public in a position of trust and that trust must be earned. Before we can dazzle them with our superior trechnical knowledge we must gain entry into their sphere of trust through communication.
Joe Burkeson
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Joseph Burkeson, RPI (Hooperette)
?Anyone who has proclaimed violence his method inexorably must choose lying as his principle.?
~ Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn
Originally Posted By: jmyers
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Joe B,
I have to agree with you 110%, communications is a large part of this business. It is hard for most to believe but missing one simple word can really get you into a world of trouble. You really don't realize how poorly you communicate your thoughts with others until someone reads back to you exactly what you wrote!
That is one thing no book will ever teach you, just something you have to learn for yourself.
Joe Myers
Originally Posted By: arosenbaum
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Thanks Joe for the kind compliments
I know what you mean about the brake pads.... but doing brake shoes (on the back of a 2wd drive truck, etc)... thats a pain... the first time I did it, it took me 7 hours because my buddy's step dad tried to help and while we were gone.... he did one side TOTALLY wrong and usually when you do shoes, you take off both wheels and drum and look how it is... but we had to figure it out ourselves
Thanks again though for the kind words....
Originally Posted By: rbracklow
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| lfranklin wrote: |
Its a top seceret. 
If you knew what they were made from, you would never try them. |
Nah, it ain't no secret - "Chiltons and crawl space Possum"!! What better dish is there?
Originally Posted By: jmyers
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The best way to get the first hand experience is with a veteran inspector on vacant homes. Unfortunately those don’t come along often and if you can’t get there you probably won’t come across another one for a considerable time. Take the opportunity if you have it.
While I am not saying to go into the field uneducated, I am saying that you are most likely educated enough to become a home inspector. If you are uncertain of what you are looking at, just write exactly what you see in the report and let the professionals decide where to go with it.
Even the old veteran inspectors call each other from time to time to ask for opinions, that is called smart, not uneducated. He** there for a while I was asking a different inspector a question for each inspection I did, just so happens that I know so many I don't think they ever caught on!
Joe Myers