A little less information next time please!

     Matt Stigliano reminded me the other day of how I approach Inspection Report writing.  When I started doing home inspections there were several companies offering Inspection Report Writing software----none of them would do what I wanted them to do----especially when it came to pictures.  They have gotten much better, but now that I have a Bazillion hours creating my own (in Excel), the thought of changing takes on the proportions of the government bailout.

      From the beginning, I wanted to produce a written record of the house that was very specific to that house at the time of inspection----with as little CYA and filler as possible.  I wanted to avoid the kind of canned verbiage that was common with these commercial programs.  Take for example this common commercial software idiocy:  "There are missing light switch covers at one or more locations."  Who the heck comes up with this stuff?  I will come back to how I approach this a little later.

     My reports are broken into four basic components:  1. The Cover & Index, plus the Buyer and House information (the kind of stuff that would be on the MLS listing); 2.  The Summary Section (this is all the safety issues and stuff that is going to cost a bunch of money to fix); 3. The Information & Maintenance Sections (this is where all of the "details" about the house gets listed; and, 4. The Narrative Sections (this is where I discuss in detail the kinds of stuff that might end up in the summary). 

     What I am attempting to do with the report is to not only provide the buyer with a document that they can use in determining whether they want to buy the house or not, but also a place to put all the other information about the house that I accumulate during the short time I am at the inspection-----the beginnings of their owner's manual if you will.

     Since my primary note-taking tool is my camera, I can gather tons of information about the home that would not be possible to collect in the context of the inspection if I had to rely on pen and paper---unless the inspection was to take much longer.  I photo all data plates, temperatures, water pressures etc so that not only are these things documented but I can then transfer the information to the report when I get back to my office.

     So my report would not just say:  "Clothes Washer---present" (assuming there is nothing wrong with it), but would say:  "Clothes Washer, Kenmore (Whirlpool), Serial # xyxyxyxyx, Model # ABxxxxyyyyssss, Overflow Pan present without drain, No High water alarm present, Water Shut-offs present, Rubber hoses present (little blurb about what is wrong with rubber hoses), Drains to Stand Pipe, etc."  We are assuming in this case that there really isn't anything "wrong" with the washer.  Otherwise I might add things like dents, and chipped enamel, whether the unit is nearing its expected life, signs of past flooding, present leaking, draining to the laundry sink (and issues associated with that practice), ungrounded electrical outlet, etc.  In other words I am attempting to document everything I can, and in the process give the buyer real information in a context that is relative to only that item I am talking about----and in the context of the age of the home and what was required at the time of installation and/or construction.  This approach is then applied to the whole house and its many components, and provides a document that is very specific to that home and doesn't contain 10 pages of information that has nothing to do with that house.  I do everything possible to minimize statements like:  "Leaking pipes in basements and crawl spaces are common with older galvanized pipes"----when the house doesn't even have a basement.

     Regarding my little rant about the missing light switch covers, I would comment on the missing covers based on how many were missing.  If there is only one missing I say where it is missing.  If they are all missing I recommend that all switch covers be installed where missing.  Again, it is an attempt to convey what is going on as opposed to writing less----and as a result not providing any real information.

     The absolute worst kinds of reports are those check-list type reports that are twenty pages (in triplicate) of mostly boxes to check that have nothing to do with the house and in the end provide virtually no information of any real value.

      There are those that will argue that what I am doing is "too much" and not necessary for the buyer to have to make a decision about the house.  But from the get-go, that is not what I am interested in.  That part is easy.   I do not see myself as merely someone to facilitate a sale----I am an information provider.  My business model as a builder and now as an inspector has always been to provide real service---to do what I can to make sure the buyer has an experience of being taken care of.   I am also sensitive to the fear that so much information will be overwhelming at an already emotionally overwhelming time in the buyer's life.  A very important part of my conversation with the buyer is to prepare them for the "volume" of information.  I like to warn them that all my reports are really long even if there is nothing wrong.  Basically it is the Narrative portions of the report that has the information that is typically considered the stuff that would help the buyer make a decision---and that information condenses-out even further in the Summary of "Significant" findings.  Most of the agents I have the pleasure to work with appreciate this framework that I use.  They know that "information" protects them. They also help to prepare the buyer for what to expect from my inspection and the report----long before the buyer calls me.

      I have had many buyers come back to me years later and say how they used the report as a punch list of things to do on the home and as a resource for information about the house when they couldn't remember some detail about the house.

      While my inspections take typically 3-4 hours----it is pretty rare for me to get the report done in less than 6 hours.  For this service I am able to command higher prices per inspection than some of my competition, reinforcing the notion that you get what you pay for when you hire an inspector.  I have yet to have a buyer tell me they would appreciate it if I would give them, "a little less information next time----please."

       Click here if you would like to see my Sample Report.

Charles Buell