Time to vote. Which HomeGauge inspection report is the best? Winner gets $500.

Vendor Forums HomeGauge
21

I found a lot of nice information as well. My curiosity is how some of these guys find the time to put all the comments and photos in the reports.
When does it become too much?
My always evolving goal is to provide a report that includes an abundance of information while shaving time off completing the actual report. Comments and images can become automatic or by selecting specific items in the materials section.
Every photo you add and every click you make is seconds and minutes extra you spend, while the whole idea of software is to make your life easier by saving time.
I also wonder if providing a over abundance of information on a sample report may not set the stage for disappointment if you don’t actually deliver the equivalent product.

I seem to include more photos and details when a buyer is not present. If they are there, they know where the water heater and a/c is. They know what the interior looks like.

and FWIW, no I wouldn’t use a raccoon for my sample, it was a joke. I also wouldn’t put a thermal image of dead hanging beef in it either.

22

The report I submitted was from an inspection, not a purposely built sample report. It is a juggling act of info vs. time.

23

That I can agree on.
I like your report Scott. Looks great, by far one of the best.
I don’t necessarily think 12 photos of a/c vents are needed though. :smiley:
I typically will put 1 or 2 just to show the units were working. If the buyer is there with me, I will take the photos, just not put them in the report. I’m also not a fan of the checklist but that’s just a preference.

24

Sean makes a point Scot as that was what glared at me .
On the other hand take those redundant shots out and you might have had my vote.

Are you doing these on mobile ?

25

I am using a Note 3. House today had 5 registers, like I said past instances have shaped some things on the report.

26

Don’t think my comment was intended for Scott, there are several others with lots and lots of pictures.
Some of mine do as well. Like i said before I take lots of photo, but depending on the situation, I will leave many out. I put more in when the client is not at the inspection. I almost always take one of the working stove and microwave. While I may save a few seconds of my life adding them to the report, I have the photos in case anyone ever says the stove wont work when they move in.
I am planning on making some report changes thanks to all the other good examples.

27

I thought all of the reports are well written and I may do like Nick and vote for each one!!

Well done and nice looking reports, I would hire you based on the reports.

Nice work to Russell from Home Gauge!!

28

My report was an actual inspection and the report was completed at the home. In and out in 3 hours. Done, paid and on to the next one.

29

When does the voting time frame end?

30

Hopefully not for awhile haven’t had a chance to review them all.

31

Ditto… which is why I asked.

32

Plenty of time. As long as folks are voting, we’ll leave the voting booths open.

If you find that you like more than one report, you can vote for more than one winner.

33

My entry was a real live report as well. The customer didn’t buy that house and hired me again (twice) so I’ve won no matter what :slight_smile:

I’ve enjoyed this contest, got some ideas to improve my stuff as well…

Al in CT

34

#3 due to diagrams and photo.

David Johnson

35

Funny story about my sample report that I posted. It was conducted for another home inspector who was trying to buy the house and couldn’t do his own inspection according to the law here in Pennsylvania. He was a good friend of mine at the time and he wanted something he could negotiate the price of the house down with the seller. He already knew most of the stuff that was listed in the report, but there were things that I found that he had no clue were there or could cause a problem later on down the line. Report was done onsite using HG Companion on an old PDA before Android tablets were in wide spread use. Diagrams are attached to the comments to auto load when they are selected. Pictures were added in at the end of the inspection on a laptop and emailed onsite using a mobile hotspot.

36

#5 S. Ramos

37

#2 for my vote.

38

Kate,

I also love Scott Gilligans use of the icons, but when writing the report you have to be ever so careful that the icon matches the narrative (See section 3.0 - to me the Icon say OK, the Narrative says monitor).

I like Sean Foggartys use of the header to include the image of his business card and mug shot, although up here in regulation land (aka Ontario) he’d probably get clobbered by the Ministry of Labour for inadequate use of fall protection.

Scot Bakers and Ron Clelands use of font colors attracts the eye to important parts of the narrative making it easy to identify the really urgent concerns. Like it and use that myself. I also like their neat use of the InterNACHI certifications. Good use of InterNACHI marketing. Another good marketing tip from Scots report is the Pre-closing walk-through plug at the end. A great piece of advice on generating repeat business.

Looks like Steve LaCombe had the same problem as me with the InterNACHI logo on his report. I fixed it by linking to the log at nachi.org itself.

I voted for mine. Not because I thought it was any better than anyone elses (or any worse), but I need the $500. (Brutally honest :smiley: )

Go InterNACHI :nachi:

Go HomeGauge and FPPI

39

Good contest. Anyone else want to cast their vote?

40

I voted for #11, Leni Inkster and Marcel Gratton, one of my distinguished members and I fully admit this is biased! HomeGauge is an excellent product! NOW do they offer a BILINGUAL (French - English) version for my members?

G