Integrity Home Inspections Blog

What do Realtors look for in a home inspector?

Scott Hand-Integrity Home Inspections (Integrity Home Inspections) — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 03:57:05 -0500

We are all in this industry together! I think it would be safe to say that most home buyers opt for a home inspection as part of the contract.

My question is: What do you look for in a home inspection company?

Do you provide your clients with options? Do you tell them to open the phone book or Google? Or do you refer them to one you're comfortable with?I feel it is important that, however you do it, you refer them to one who is trained and certified. Since there are no regulations on home inspections and no licensing requirements for home inspectors in Iowa it is important that you choose an inspector that is a member of a national inspection association. By doing this, you will be referring your client to an inspector that cares about their business and how they conduct their business. National inspection associations such as NACHI, NAHI and ASHI are the big three you should be looking for. Each have a Standards of Practice that they follow and each are very similar. Choosing an inspector solely based on price and who is not a member of an association could be a big mistake. Who's Standards are they inspecting by? Every inspector should be inspecting under nationally recognized Standards of Practice.

Since most inspectors work for themselves as a small business, personal integrity is important. Are they spending the necessary amount of time at the property? Do they have the clients best interests in mind? As I am sure there are Realtors out there that refer a particular home inspector because his reports don't "kill deals". I'm sure there are Inspectors out there that will conform to that way of thinking just to retain referrals from those Realtors. The proper way of think on this is: if an Inspector finds a significant problem in a home and reports that problem as a major issue and the buyer backs out of the deal, there are other houses out there. Realtors put a lot of time and effort into narrowing down the options for their clients and what a disappointment when you think you have the perfect house picked out and there ends up being a major deal breaking issue. A home inspector should be writing their reports in a way to describe the issues correctly and emphasizing the importance of repairing or replacing without "scaring" the client. Any Realtor I have come in contact with seems to have the clients best interests in mind.

I take my business very seriously and I am very interested in finding out what some of your thoughts are on this subject.

Thanks for your time!

Scott Hand of Integrity Home Inspections.

www.inspectintegrity.com

New to The Rain!

Scott Hand-Integrity Home Inspections (Integrity Home Inspections) — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 21:34:15 -0500

Hello everyone,

My name is Scott Hand and I'm from Des Moines, Iowa. I have a wonderful wife of 11 years and three spoiled dogs, a Shih Tzu, a Border Collie and an Alaskan Malamute.

I am a new Home Inspector here in Iowa and I'm absolutely lovin' this website. Everyone has been so nice to me since I joined a few days ago.

I am looking forward to making some new friends and building some lasting relationships in the Real Estate world.

I would love to get some advice from all of you seasoned professionals out there of the best way to network on this site.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. And thanks in advance for the help, as I am sure I will recieve from many.

Please check out my website and feel free to comment or critique me on it's impact to a consumer.

www.inspectintegrity.com

Thanks again,

Scott Hand

Integrity Home Inspections

www.inspectintegrity.com

New to The Rain!

Scott Hand-Integrity Home Inspections (Integrity Home Inspections) — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 21:33:48 -0500

Hello everyone,

My name is Scott Hand and I'm from Des Moines, Iowa. I have a wonderful wife of 11 years and three spoiled dogs, a Shih Tzu, a Border Collie and an Alaskan Malamute.

I am a new Home Inspector here in Iowa and I'm absolutely lovin' this website. Everyone has been so nice to me since I joined a few days ago.

I am looking forward to making some new friends and building some lasting relationships in the Real Estate world.

I would love to get some advice from all of you seasoned professionals out there of the best way to network on this site.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. And thanks in advance for the help, as I am sure I will recieve from many.

Please check out my website and feel free to comment or critique me on it's impact to a consumer.

www.inspectintegrity.com

Thanks again,

Scott Hand

Integrity Home Inspections

www.inspectintegrity.com

Prayer

Scott Hand-Integrity Home Inspections (Integrity Home Inspections) — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 20:26:38 -0500

I never used to believe in it. Never thought that if I ever did it, it would ever work. I always thought that there is no way you could do it and have it actually happen. It had to be just a coincidence if anything....Boy was I wrong!

I am talking about PRAYER. I was always "that guy" who would try to find another way to explain when things happen to people after they said they prayed for it. This journey I am on has lead me to one of my first big epiphanies...PRAYER ACTUALLY WORKS.

I come from an extensive sales background. What I have always taught my employees was..."if you don’t ask, you don’t get".

I have applied that same thought to prayer twice now. (yes I am keeping track)
Both times that I have put together a prayer...something happened within the next couple days that changed what was wrong to what is right, now.

I am still struggling to become the man I am supposed to be spiritually. Probably always will. But my thought proccess has now changed abit about prayer as well. I was thinking that I don’t want to pray too often. Don’t want to seem greedy. Now my thinking is, He knows my heart. I should pray everyday. And I should pray for small things as well as any big things that I feel are more significant.

I am trying to stop putting myself first. I did this for many years. I have been making an extremely good living over the last ten years and that went to my head alittle. I will tell you what...Material things don’t mean that much to me anymore. My thinking for a long time was, "I will BE more significant in life if I make more money!". I was a workaholic. Not anymore. It is hard to break out of the workaholic mold when you are doing what you love to do. However, you leave behind the things that are much more important. My relationship with my wife has grown since I stopped working so much. I now have time to concentrate on my business. Which is important if you want to work for yourself and no one else. But the big change is I also have more time to concentrate on my relationship with God.

I will continue to pray for the things that need help, in others lives and my own. I have been blessed with a number of different people that seemed to have suddenly come into my life within the last few years. I feel that they were all put there to help me get to where I need to be. I have probably had this type of thing happen to me a number of times in my life, maybe on a smaller, less obvious scale, but I was too blind to see. This quite possibly could have been God saying, "okay stupid, here is yet another chance I am giving you to find me and make the changes you need to make. This is your last chance". I don’t know about last chances but I do know that this time He smacked me in the head with a baseball bat and made me see!

I have to make a commitment to this daily. We all know that if you don’t use it, you lose it. I don’t want to lose this. It is making me a better person. And God knows there ain’t nothing wrong with that.

Iowa's Newest Home Inspection Company

Scott Hand-Integrity Home Inspections (Integrity Home Inspections) — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 20:22:36 -0500

Integrity Home Inspections is Iowa's newest Home Inspection company.

I am new to this site and think that it is a great way for us professionals to network and help each other become even more successful than we already are.

I am exited to see so many real estate professionals here that I have a chance to meet and discuss different topics involving the real estate industry.

Please visit my website @ www.inspectintegrity.com and see what you think.

Thanks to everyone so far who has helped me navigate through the site.

Thanks again,

Scott Hand

Integrity Home Inspections

Altoona, Iowa

scott@inspectintegrity.com

Why use Integrity Home Inspections?

Scott Hand-Integrity Home Inspections (Integrity Home Inspections) — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 08:45:48 -0500

INTEGRITY HOME INSPECTIONS is the premier home inspection company in the Des Moines area. I can be trusted by home buyers to help them make informed buying decisions. My home inspections typically range from 2-3 hours long depending on the size of the house and you are invited to follow along with me as I perform the inspection.

I take great pride in every inspection I perform. When the inspection is over, I will prepare a detailed inspection report regarding the property.

I am not a big Multi-Inspector firm, so your inspection will be conducted by the owner of the company. And nobody treats you better than the owner!

When you want a home inspection done with Quality and Integrity, call on a company you can trust, INTEGRITY HOME INSPECTIONS.

My background is extensively in Management and customer service. Bottom line, I know how people want to be treated. Coming from a professional background, I understand the importance of building relationships, retaining those relationships and going the extra mile to do what's right.

Personally and Professionally I can be counted on to always be on time, thorough and honest.

My reports will be written in a organized systematc way, so they can be easily read and understood.

I am AHIT Certified. A member of the InterNational Association of Certified Home Inspectors, as well as the President of the Iowa Chapter of the InterNational Association of Certified Home Inspectors. And I am ready to serve the needs of Agents in and around the Des Moines area.

I believe that it is not so much how long you have been in business, but how you conduct your business that matters. You can count on Integrity Home Inspections to be the company that will help you close more deals and ultimately make more money.

Call me today @ 515-299-0366 to schedule an inspection. Or visit my website at www.inspectintegrity.com