If you have had any good or bad experiences with an inspector I would like to hear your stories.

As a home inspector I have heard many times the words "Deal Killer" or "Alarmist" spoken about a home inspector including myself.

I was recently in a real estate office and was talking to the owner/broker and 2 of the agents.I have known them for many years and always enjoy speaking to them as the office is full of top quality people and agents.

I had just done an inspection for one of the agents and my client walked away from the deal. The agent was not upset nor did she blame me. I had just performed an inspection for the same client at a different house and it had similar areas of repairs. (Actually the 2nd house had a major electrical safety concern) I also note on my reports you need to take the house in perspective as there are no perfect homes out there. (I have not found one yet!!)

The 2'nd agent was complaining that here recent clients inspection took over 6 hours for a 1700 sq. ft. home. This was done by an inspector with nearly 10,000 inspections performed. (The company is a franchise and I question if the inspector has that much experience or just the company) She told me about the inspection, I listened and agreed this is way to long. Should be about 3 to 3 1/2 hours.

Then the office manager was upset with an inspector on a recent inspection. (Not sure of the details as she was busy and we were near the end of our conversation)

Now personally I talk in the same tone of voice, present the facts and report what I see to our clients.

I have never tried to "Kill a Deal"

Please share you stories.

A question I am asked numerous times during or after performing an inspection is: "Do you know how much the repair will cost and who can fix it"

My answer is: When I hire a contractor I find them with my Angie's list membership.

It is against my Home inspection associations Code of Ethics to directly recommend a contractor. Lets say I recommend an electrician to do the work and I say it will cost about one thousand dollars to my client(s). First I could be a 3rd party liability if there is a problem. Seconly if the repair was over the dollar amount of what I had said to my clients they may say "well my inspector said it would cost this much" It also may seem I am finding unnecessary repairs at the inspection so I can receive compensation from the contractor.

Now if you do not know or have ever never heard of Angie's list you can go to the link below and find out the benefits of being a member.

http://www.angieslist.com/Angieslist/

I personally for my own home have used Angie's list and for the majority of the time I have found above average contractors at a reasonable price.

I made a mistake in hiring a kitchen design company and a handy cap service by not doing the following.

Look for an A rated contractor with numerous reports from past customers and that they have achieved the super service award. Some also offer coupons. The Better Business Bureau is also linked on the Angie's site.

I have been a member of Angie's for about 5 years now.

I also earned the distinction of being one of the best contractors in the Northeast Ohio area that was published in the January 2009 Angie's List monthly magazine.

I have received the Angie's Award which is achieved by .... , you can view a copy of it here.

I wanted to tell you about my dog Maggie.

Last year we decide to get a dog. My wife found Maggie on the Internet. She was abandoned. It was the beginning of February 2008 when we visited Maggie at the rescuers home. Maggie was 6 weeks old.

We made Christmas her birthday so we can remember every year.

There were 3 other dogs at the rescuers home but they had scraggly hair. Maggie had the softest hair. We took her home the day we went to see her.

I have grown to love this dog. She is always by my side, never barks (Unless I tell her) and is fast and smart.

She is so full of love. She wants to jump and kiss everyone. (I never taught her to not jump on people)

What a loyal loving friend.

Pictured are Tyler (8 Years old) and Maggie

Hello my name is Dave and I am a new user to Active Rain.

I have been in business for 8 years and I am seriously thinking of enhancing my services and obtaining extensive training to enable me to properly perform energy audits and also purchasing a infared camera.

I feel more and more home owners are concerned about there energy expenses. "With an energy audit the owner will know exactly were their energy losses are". The cost of an energy audit is about $300 to $400 and takes about 2-3 hours to complete.

This photo was done at my home during a camera demonstration by a thermal imaging represenitive. I used my software program to show the real life picture compared to the thermal image. You can see at the bottom of the door there is a drop of 15 degrees due to a poor weatherstrip and seal.

Now the infared cameras range from $3000 to $20000. There are numerous types and the cost varies.

Training costs between $500 and $2000 plus hotel and travel expenses.

Before I offer this service I want to be well educated, trained and have the proper equipment.

I would just like to ask the real estate community there opinions on this service. The camera can also be used during a home inspection at an added cost.

Below are a few links with information on energy audits and thermal imaging cameras.

http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?c=home_improvement.hm_improvement_audits

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXPXE0qsmjg