A continuation of Just ‘Looking Around’
Experience and knowledge are incredibly important when choosing a home inspector or commercial building inspector!
“It’s unwise to pay too much, but it’s worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money — that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot — it can’t be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.”
A low-priced service is often a dead giveaway to inexperience and incompetence.
Caveat Emptor!
Below are some unbelievable yet TRUE examples of pretenders offering inspection services for a fee to unsuspecting clients… Click the drop downs to see for yourself!
Nah… you were actually right the first time! It’s just some COMMON insulation!
I’m SURE the unnecessary alarm you raised changed the “whole tone of the inspection…” and the transaction!
But a Professional Inspector would have known that.
I like your colleague’s suggestion of adding “Doorbell Expert” credentials to your marketing. I’m sure there’s a logo for this! It will help impress future clients that you are no longer inept at identifying even the most basic of house systems.
p.s. – It’s loose fill cellulose… one of the top three preferred choices of thermal insulation installed in homes across the country. But truly I understand the confusion when many of your similarly incompetent colleagues mistake it for asbestos, mold, and…. 100’s of pounds of BAT POO!!!
I’m going out on a limb here and call it a portable air conditioner not currently in service…
Or it could be HAL from ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’! Ask it to confirm its identity or “open the pod bay doors…”
It’s a condensate pump. Typically used when a floor drain or sink is some distance from the appliance that needs to dispose of condensation. I don’t suppose the condensate drain plumbed into it, and the clear discharge hose out of it provided you any clues…
Oh… I dunno… upper respiratory infections, sneezing, asthma, premature mechanical system failure, coil icing, reduced air flow… but nothing too serious. No need to alarm your clients.
And by the way… to add to your dilemma… your social media colleague is wrong.
But a (ehem) ‘Professional Home Inspector’ would know this…
But first, let’s address the specific things your clients should have been made aware of about your lacking knowledge and obvious inexperience before they hired you to inspect one of the most expensive purchases in their life…
Really folks! Identifying insulation is a pretty basic and fundamental skill needed to be a home inspector… especially for insulation as common (in both new and older construction) as loose fill cellulose in the photos.
Did you inform your clients you “don’t do old homes much”? What other basic topics can the social media platforms help you with?
On a natural draft water heater such as the one depicted in your photo… NO… no it can’t be used. A legitimate home inspector would know this, just as a legitimate contractor who obviously didn’t install this would.
It’s attic kitty litter!!! Your colleague on social media said so!
But yeah… go with upside down… your clients will appreciate that.
Let me know how that’s worked out for you.
Are you saying that the Certified Master Inspector® or “CMI®” designation isn’t actually earned? It’s merely paid for and fake checks for $1500.00 sent out to entice inspectors into falling for it?
For shame! Hope the general public doesn’t fall for this gimmick either!
BTW… is it just me, or does it seem that an unprecedented number of inspectors with CMI credentials are asking basic questions on social media groups?
SMH…
Not if your clients also used you for transportation to the property for the inspection!
But hey… don’t drop the Uber or Lyft gigs! They’ll come in handy for you when this ‘Professional Home Inspector’ gig surprisingly goes under.
Your clients need more help than we can provide for this most basic of pressing questions.
And for your second question… it all depends on the severity of the rust… if it is indeed rust since you had difficulty identifying concrete.
It’s a legit job request! (wink wink)
Mr. “John Smith” has used my services numerous times before… but seems he’s always in the hospital for something and his check with extra funds attached always bounces after I’ve paid the “caretaker” the earnest money with it. Sure hope Mr. “Smith” gets better soon.
(facepalm)
Sure they are a pain sometimes… but come on man! You’re giving the good inspectors a bad name… and the contractors over in the electrical group are laughing. I’m beginning to agree with both the comments there.
By the way… these aren’t permitted to be installed within the panel enclosure. Just an FYI