PODCAST TRANSCRIPT:

Ian Robertson
Welcome back to Inspector Toolbelt Talk everyone. So today we’re going to talk about a question that I get asked a lot, I see it on the groups, and you know, it’s a question, especially among new inspectors, but even some, some of us experienced inspectors kind of watch different markets and we kind of ask this question. Should our clients be on the home inspection with us? It’s a big question because it obviously affects how we go about our day and our business, but it kind of has some deeper roots into into how our business operates, too, which we’ll talk about here in just a moment. But I have a definitive opinion on it, so before I let you know my opinion, you’ll probably figure it out anyways, as I’m talking, let’s talk about the pros of having a client on-site with us, and the cons. You know what, a matter of fact, I’ll just tell you. My opinion is that our client ultimately should be on the inspection with us, not at the end for a quick review or on the phone later on, but actually on the inspection with us. And I’ll tell you why, because I’ve gone through this every way and backwards and upside down for 20 years. And ultimately, while it’s not my favorite thing, it’s what works out the best.

So here are some pros of having our client on-site with us. So first of all, in my market, it’s customary, and it really is market dependent. Some markets, you know, the home inspector almost never meets the client, which I find odd. You know, the agent will schedule it, and the home inspector will inspect, and they send in their report, and then off they go. Some are kind of a mixed bag, like we mentioned just a minute ago. You know, the client shows up at the end and you give them a review. But there are some definite advantages to having the client on-site with us.

First of all, less questions. So questions are going to happen. The best way to handle a question is right there with the person with the thing in front of you. Here’s the reason why. Have we ever gotten a call from somebody with a question, hey, you said my heating unit was gas, but I don’t see any gas pipes going into it. And after 20 minutes on the phone, we’re like, take a picture, text me a picture, just anything to see what they’re looking at. And finally, we get a picture of their electric water heater. Like, that’s not your heating unit, man, that’s your water heater. Well, it says heater on it. What am I supposed to know?

It’s one of the reasons why big corporations and small corporations alike no longer have phone support. You ever notice that? Go to a website and there’s like, no phone support? Because unless you’re standing there looking at the thing with them, it’s really hard to connect people’s thoughts. Somebody who’s never seen a heating unit, never owned a home, doesn’t have a construction background, can be asking you about one thing, and we think it’s another, and we’re just spinning our wheels trying to answer their question. So if there was any underlying frustration at that point, we’ve burned through any runway that we had with that person. Every client that I’ve had that didn’t show up to the inspection, I’ve had some level of that because, you know, they’re going to want to talk to the home inspector, unless it’s one of our, you know, there’s a couple of rich areas around here, and the guy’s just jetting around, doesn’t really care. But when they’re not in town, they have all these questions, and it’s really hard to get through them. I’ve had times where I’ve actually said, let me go back to the house. Early on, I’m just like, it’s just gonna be so much easier if I could just get this done and point to you. One of them was a wood destroying insect issue. I found carpenter ants and old termite tubes, and they just couldn’t figure out what in the world that I was talking about. And finally I just drove over and explained it to them. So less questions, because we can answer 99% of them on-site. And then the questions that they do have are going to be usually follow-up questions like, oh, the contractor said he can fix that foundation wall with carbon fiber strapping instead of excavation. It’s like, well, okay, those are different kind of questions then. You know, how does my heating unit work? Or, you know, how do I fix this squeaky door? It’s nice when somebody’s on-site, answer all those questions.

Second thing is liability, and this is especially if we don’t wear a body cam. And there’s a whole different podcast talking about body cams, but there have been so many times where somebody has been freaked out, got upset at me, said I did some damage or whatever. And you know, the client and agents that were there with me inevitably go, Ian was with us the whole time, except when he was in this crawl space. And unless he unplugged your refrigerator in this crawl space, he didn’t do it. And then people like, all right, fine, that makes sense. So you kind of have witnesses to what you’re doing. And in this day and age, you know, a lot of people have cameras in their houses anyways, but it is a level of protection. You know, people can say, I watched Ian do this, and this is what happened. Also, I kind of like not being the last person there. When I leave a house, typically there’s going to be other people there. So I’ll give an example. The power went out at a house one time. And if you know anything about certain air handlers, they don’t automatically reset sometimes. So the power went out and the heating unit didn’t turn back on because it needed to be manually reset. So middle of winter, they were all upset. They didn’t have any frozen pipes. They were freaking out, Ian turned off the heating unit. It really helped me. When my clients were like, no, we were there with them. Heating unit was running, and Ian left before we did, and heat was still on when we were here. That makes for a lot of help with liability, and not necessarily big liability. We’re not talking like, you know, walls caving in or anything like that. We’re talking, you know, stupid stuff, like I’ve mentioned it on the podcast before. Guy tried to accuse me of spoiling $5-6,000 worth of wine. And in addition to the video that I had taken, I also had my clients that were still in the house after I left, and they also vouched for me. They’re like, Ian didn’t unplug refrigerator. We saw that fridge. There was a light on the front. It was still running when we left. So second reason, liability.

Third reason—less complaints. Now we may say that’s a subjective thing, but let’s just talk statistics. When I review our clients coming in and stuff like that, I’m not going to go overly granular in this analysis, but I used to look at where the complaints would come from and how they would happen. And there was a disproportionate number of complaints that would happen with people that weren’t at the inspection, so much so that it was like triple any other complaint, any other situation, it was triple or more sometimes. And the complaints were silly, like, I can’t think of any solid examples at the moment, but they were usually stupid things that were in the report or if they just asked me, I would have explained it, but they didn’t ask. You know, things like, why don’t I have a 40 gallon water heater? I’m like, because you’re in a town home and you have a 30 gallon water heater, and that’s what fits under the stairs. You know, silly things like that that people get themselves worked into a tizzy about, because, remember, they’re buying a house, and psychologists say is one of the top five most stressful things that we can do in life is buy a house and move. So people are gonna be freaking out about little things. When I’m on site with them, I can kind of calm them down a little bit about the things that don’t matter. They’re like, oh, this draft hood, it doesn’t go outside. It has return air draft to it. I’m like, oh, okay, it’s an outside wall. You can pay someone to put that in. Oh, you can put them in. Yeah. I’m like, and at the end of the day, you don’t really have a gas stove. Are you going to be cooking here, like, professional kitchen? Yeah, it’s a preference, but it’s really not the biggest deal in the world. You know, it’s a 1970s house, so they didn’t put them in a whole lot in my area. You know, things like that. That would have been a complaint later on, instead, I was there with them, talked them through it like, okay, cool. So statistically, speaking for me, way less complaints, way less complaints, because I can put out those fires when they’re still small, and I can talk them through some of their crazy thoughts.

Another reason is they help find things for us. I am dead serious about that, especially the wives. I don’t know why, but the wives were just always so observant, and they’ll just start pointing things out. I can remember a gazillion different, that’s obviously exaggerated, a ton of different examples of times where I’ve walked into a basement and, you know, the wife will be like, how come those tiles are under this area are smaller than the rest of the tiles? I’m like, oh, geez, those are nine inch tiles, good catch, you know, things that you know we’re probably going to find anyways, but sometimes, hypothetically, maybe not. And they’ll ask questions that maybe we weren’t asking ourselves, because sometimes we get caught up in our own mind as inspectors. Let’s be honest, I’m looking for the same things on the same house as I’ve inspected 20 houses in the neighborhood. I know what I’m looking for, and this is the one house that has something different. Sometimes our clients and even the agents will find things for us, or especially the agents can educate us sometimes. Maybe I’ve never inspected in a neighborhood before and the agent will be like, oh yeah, just like all the houses in this neighborhood, it has XYZ right over here. I’m like, oh man, okay, now I need to remember that for the next time I’m in this neighborhood. Or, you know, my brother lives down the road, and you know, he has termite traps all around his house, because everybody does here. I’m like, oh, okay, well, now I need to remember that about this neighborhood. Maybe this house doesn’t have termites, but maybe the next one will in this neighborhood. It’s a wonderful education to have our clients and the agent there with us.

The next reason is you get to schmooze. I’m sorry, but you’re going to get way more five star reviews if they’re with you and you’re talking and you’re building a relationship. You’re gonna have more of a chance for that agent to refer us if they’re not judging us based on just the report, but who we are, how we interact with their clients, our integrity, you know, how we go about the inspection, pointing out everything, but at the same time, not freaking people out about, you know, a stair rise being eight and a 16th inch, instead of eight inches, you know, they get a feel for us. So, it gives us a chance to schmooze, even if we’re not a good schmoozer, it will let them see our authenticity, and that’s more important to a human being than schmoozing. Schmoozing is just a way of saying they get to know us.

The next thing is, it helps us make less mistakes. I made a mistake as I was saying make less mistakes. But oftentimes when we’re alone, that’s when we’re prone to make the most mistakes. So when somebody was overseeing a project, people made less mistakes than when they weren’t overseen. Now I’m not saying that our clients are overseeing us, but when they’re there, there’s a slight subconscious mental pressure of, I gotta perform here, I really have to do a good job. So for me, personally, I loved it when I was there, because I like that added slight edge of pressure of I need to know what this is, I need to know what that is, I need to find that. I’m going to climb behind this wall with my butt hanging out and my feet in the air, because they need to see me perform. There’s a little bit of an edge to it, and I liked it. Made me work harder.

The next thing is, or the last one that I’ll mention in this regard anyways, is it saves overall time. Now, people argue with me with that all the time that, oh, it doesn’t save time. Okay, hear me out. So I’ve timed it with myself, and I’ve timed it with another home inspector. So just hear me out, when I’ve timed it with myself, I take into account the whole time. I take into account the actual before the inspection, talking with the client, the actual on site, driveway speech, then the actual inspection with the client, then after the inspection, doing a little bit of a review with them, and then questions and comments afterwards. So when I compared it to the client not being on the inspection, to the client being on the inspection, overall, the time went down, not ridiculous amounts, not like we turned a three hour inspection into a 45 minute inspection, but it did go down, you know, maybe like a half an hour or something along those lines, depending on what time of year, what client it was, because what took the most amount of time was the people that weren’t going to be there took a little extra time hiring me to begin with. So instead of one phone call saying, okay, oh, this sounds good, we’ll see you there, and they’re like, we’ll figure that stuff out and ask those questions when we get there, people that weren’t going to be there would give me a list of things they wanted me to look for. They’d ask extra questions. It might turn into two phone calls, once in a blue moon, even three phone calls before the actual inspection, and even if it was just one phone call, and they still hired me, after the inspection, the questions were brutal, just lots of questions, sometimes multiple phone calls, sometimes another call from an agent. Then they would explain it wrong to their agent or their attorney, then the attorney would be calling me, my client said that the foundation wall was collapsing. I’m like, no, it was just this. It always turned into more time, and to be frank, a little bit more stress in that regard. So if you’re just talking statistics, it shortens our overall time that it takes surrounding an entire inspection from the math that I’ve done. When I even did it with another inspector, and for the life of me, I can’t remember where he’s from, I know it’s down south, I want to say Mississippi or Louisiana, but in his area, the clients, if they came, would always come at the end. And I always told him, I’m like, man, if you could get your clients to come with you take time..he’s like no, I don’t want to, I don’t want to. It bothers me. I like to focus. I like to..and I get all that. So he had a client follow him on inspection. He got all irritated, and then he was just like, Ian, I had no idea. They were there. They didn’t call me afterwards. Nobody had questions. They left me a five star review. He’s like, I’m gonna start trying to get my clients on-site with me. So he did it too, and in my opinion, and in his, it worked better, but, and here’s the but, there are some downsides, and they come down to three big ones for me that I will never get over. I don’t think I will.

First of all, the best part of our job, in my opinion, is the house itself. I love houses. I love inspecting. I love being in the attic. I love finding things. I love learning new things when I find a component that I’ve never seen, and I love discussing it with other inspectors, and I love getting dirty, and I even like the report writing part. The most annoying part of the job was the people. People are stressed when they’re buying a house, they can be in your face, the agents and the clients. And even though I have really great agents and clients and I really do, I do enjoy all of them. Sometimes I’m just like, just give me five minutes alone. Sometimes I go up in the attic and just type some things out my report and just take a break because the attic doesn’t take a super long time, but it’d be like, 100 degrees outside, and I’d still be in the attic an extra 5, 10 minutes, just to have what the agents jokingly call happy Ian time, it’s like, okay, I just need five minutes from the intensity of this client because it’s not just that one client. By the end of the week, it’s 5, 10, 15, 20, 30 clients, all with the same level of intensity of, “I’m buying a house. This is critical for me.” It wears on you. And while some clients help you find things, you know you’re going to have those clients that you’re like, okay, I haven’t gotten halfway through the inspection yet, and you’ve bombarded me with more questions than I can mentally handle as a human being. So there’s the annoying factor.

Second part, it is the hardest part of the job, in my opinion. So not only the annoying factor, if everybody’s cool and happy and chill, it’s still the hardest part of the job. You have to wrangle people. You have to educate people. And I say wrangle, it’s like, there’s people walking around your inspection. We have open electrical dead fronts, and we have heating units, and there’s literally fire and electricity and all sorts of things. And sometimes they bring their kids and their relatives and the father-in-law. It becomes the hardest part of our job. Easy part is for me to say, hey, that heat exchanger is broken. That’s the easiest part telling you what’s broken. Hardest part is, hey guys, can we not stand so close behind me when I’m in front of the electric panel? Here’s my speech about electrical panel safety, yada yada yada. So it does amplify the harder part of our job.

Third, safety, man alive. I know I just touched on that with the electric panel, but man alive, the safety part. Oh my goodness. Every ladder I’ve put up on the roof, I’ve had to stand at the bottom of it and tell the people, do not climb my ladder. And people are like, it’s a ladder. They start climbing the ladder. It’s like, what are you doing? You’ve never been on a roof. I’ve been climbing roofs since I was a kid. You’ve never been on a roof. What’s going to happen? You’re wearing dress shoes. Get off the roof. I have, and I’ve told the story on the podcast too. I had an agent follow me, and he fell through the ceiling. I told him, do not follow me into the attic. He goes, I’m going to do the best I can for my client. And he falls through the ceiling. Ah, man, it stresses me out just talking about it, but it’s the safety part. So I’m willing to sacrifice certain things for the benefits. The safety part, I give a speech. I make them sign things in the agreements. I might actually do another podcast and talk about the safety, that the client agrees to not use any of my equipment, not touch my tools, not touch my ladder, stand X amount of feet away, all this other stuff, and that my client is responsible for anybody with him or representing him. So in other words, you’re responsible for your agent’s behavior, your three year old kids running around the house, all that stuff. I also put in my contracts, and I make it part of my speech that there’s only a certain number of people allowed on-site, and that came from an inspection where there were so many people on site, I literally stopped the inspection, and I told the agent, this is too much. And she’s like, oh, I agree. And I said, if you want the rest of your home inspection today, all of you but my client and one other person has to leave right now. And I said it just like that with my dad voice, and they weren’t happy about it, but they were respectful, and they left. And from that point forward, I’m like, you are allowed to have your agent and two people, including yourself, so three people total, and I have all these things. And, you know, I tried using the ladder sign, like, step back, don’t use ladder. But it was always blowing off, losing it, you know, it just was a pain. So I give a speech, and I have them sign agreements, and I’ve had to remind people, remember in your agreement that you agreed not to use the ladder. I’m also willing to sacrifice a little bit of my own peace of mind with the annoying factor, because I’d rather deal with the annoying factor and the hardest part of the job, the people, just to have them there so that, like I said before, it minimizes my time with the annoyingness.

Now again, I love my clients, I love the agents that we work with, awesome people, but it’s the situation with the people with everything around it, and in a short period of time, I’m trying to find out everything that’s ever happened to this house, everything that’s happening right now and everything that ever will happen. And you’re asking me why two by fours aren’t actually two by four, okay. But I’m willing to sacrifice that because of all the benefits that we mentioned—lessened liability, less questions, less complaints. They help us find stuff. You get to schmooze and advertise a little bit, and that’s the big one for me. People who like you will recommend you more. So if they’re not on the inspection with you, they didn’t build that relationship, and they didn’t get impressed when your feet are dangling out of the attic and you’re covered in cobwebs and you’re explaining to them this complex issue, and they’re like, oh my goodness, this guy’s amazing. You don’t get that advertising. They’re going to be less likely to refer you, even though you didn’t the same amazing job when they weren’t there. It saves overall time and less mistakes, because we have a little bit of an edge of pressure there for them watching over us.

So that’s my opinion. That’s what I have found over the past 20 years. If you have a different opinion, let me know. But should the clients be on our inspections with us? In my opinion, yeah, I think they should. Thank you for listening in, and we will see you next time on Inspector Toolbelt Talk.

Outro: On behalf of myself, Ian, and the entire ITB team, thank you for listening to this episode of Inspector Toolbelt Talk. We also love hearing your feedback, so please drop us a line at [email protected].

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*The views and opinions expressed in this podcast, and the guests on it, do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Inspector Toolbelt and its associates.

PODCAST SUMMARY/BLOG

The age-old question that plagues both new and seasoned home inspectors continues to spark debate: Should clients attend their home inspections? After two decades in the field, I’ve experienced every possible arrangement, and I’ve come to a definitive conclusion that might surprise some professionals in our industry.

While client presence during inspections isn’t always the most comfortable arrangement for inspectors who prefer to work uninterrupted, the benefits significantly outweigh the drawbacks. The most compelling advantage is the dramatic reduction in post-inspection questions and confusion. When clients witness the inspection process firsthand, they develop a clearer understanding of their new home’s systems and potential issues. Think about it – how many times have you received a call from a confused homeowner who couldn’t differentiate between their water heater and furnace? These misunderstandings become virtually non-existent when clients observe the inspection in real-time.

The liability protection afforded by client presence cannot be overstated. When clients and their agents accompany you throughout the inspection, they become witnesses to your actions and processes. This simple fact has saved countless inspectors from false accusations regarding damage or overlooked items. In one memorable instance, a homeowner tried to claim that I had unplugged their wine refrigerator, resulting in thousands of dollars of spoiled wine. Thankfully, my clients who remained in the house after my departure confirmed that the refrigerator was functioning when we left. These situations highlight why having multiple parties present during an inspection creates an invaluable safety net against unfounded claims.

Statistical analysis of complaint patterns reveals an interesting correlation: complaints are approximately three times more likely to come from clients who weren’t present during their inspections. The reasoning is simple – when clients attend inspections, inspectors can address concerns immediately, clarify misunderstandings, and provide context for findings that might otherwise seem alarming when presented only in a written report. This immediate feedback loop allows inspectors to gauge client reactions and adjust their communication accordingly, preventing minor issues from escalating into major complaints.

Perhaps surprisingly, having clients tag along can actually improve inspection quality. Many inspectors report that the slight pressure of performing under observation keeps them sharper and more thorough. Additionally, clients often notice details that might escape even the most meticulous inspector. I’ve had numerous experiences where observant clients, particularly spouses, pointed out anomalies that led to significant findings. This collaborative approach enhances the inspection process and ultimately delivers better results for everyone involved.

The relationship-building aspect of client attendance cannot be underestimated in a referral-based business. When clients witness firsthand your expertise, thoroughness, and professionalism, they’re far more likely to recommend your services to friends and family. This direct interaction provides opportunities to demonstrate your value that simply cannot be conveyed through a written report alone, no matter how comprehensive. The personal connection established during these shared experiences forms the foundation of trust that drives future business opportunities.

Despite these substantial benefits, legitimate challenges exist when clients attend inspections. Managing client safety becomes a significant concern, particularly around ladders, electrical panels, and other potential hazards. The necessity of “wrangling” clients and their entourage adds complexity to an already demanding job. Many inspectors implement strict policies regarding equipment use, designated observation distances, and limitations on the number of attendees to mitigate these risks. Clear communication about safety expectations and boundaries is essential for balancing client engagement with professional responsibility.

After weighing all factors from time efficiency to liability protection to relationship development, the verdict is clear: clients should attend their home inspections. While this arrangement requires additional people management skills and safety protocols, the long-term benefits for both inspectors and clients make it the optimal approach for delivering exceptional service in the home inspection industry. The investment in managing client presence pays dividends in reduced complaints, enhanced reputation, and a stronger business foundation built on direct client relationships.