In August of last year, I reluctantly left my home in Green Bay, Wisconsin and returned to my childhood roots of Upper Michigan. My first challenge was making it through the winter. My second, was to develop business as a Home Inspector in a State that, to my profession, seems like the old Wild West. Do we have Inspectors? Yes. Are they trained? Some are. Are they Licensed? No. In fact, this state has no HI standards and no regulation requirements of any kind. What this means, of course, is that customers, particularly home buyers, are not always getting what they pay for; a thorough, competent, detailed, timely and complete inspection and report. There is a bill in Michigan which will be introduced in the next week or two that I will talk about in an upcoming post.
For now, I would offer the following: As a real estate professional, consider the trust that is engendered when your buyer does hire a competent Inspector who not only points out problem areas in the home, but who also puts repair items and deficiencies into perspective for the buyer. Consider the training the Inspector has received.
How many years has he/she been doing inspections?
Is this his/her full-time occupation?
Does the Inspector explain and comfort or detect and discourage?
Does the Inspector have a quick turn around time?
Can the report me emailed?
Is it Password protected?
Does the Inspector offer on-line payment?
On-line scheduling?
For the past three months, I have been traveling throughout Upper Michigan; from Marquette to Copper Harbor; from Escanaba to Ironwood; meeting with Realtors, telling them about the services which set me apart and listening to their feedback and concerns. Now is your chance.
Do your customers complain that they can't get in touch with an Inspector or that he/she never returns their call?
Do you find Inspectors consistently calling out items for an electrician, plumber, structural engineer to evaluate?
Do Inspectors tell your clients that components need to be replaced that are running fine just because they are older?
Let me know your thoughts as I strive to be the best Inspector in the UP and have a great weekend!
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