Integrating Technology in Your Home Inspections

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Integrating Technology in Your Home Inspections

by Kendra Budd, Editor

As technology advances, so too should the way home inspectors approach their inspections and run their businesses. However, navigating and incorporating technology into your business model can be daunting if you don’t know what you might need or how to use it.

Some home inspectors fear that technology will eventually replace them altogether, especially with the recent growth in Artificial Intelligence (AI), while other inspectors are eager to learn about technology and embrace the ways they can use it in their own businesses and processes.

Working RE Home Inspector sat down with HomeTeam Inspection Service Director of Business Development, Matt Cook, to ask him which technological advancements to incorporate into your home inspections, as well as get a sneak peek into the software that HomeTeam inspection will launch in the next coming months.

Getting Started in Home Inspections
Like many people in the home inspection business, Matt Cook started from humble beginnings. Cook joined the military right out of high school and served in the U.S. Marine Corps for four years. However, Cook felt like his purpose lied somewhere else. He and his wife, Jessica, were starting a family and felt it was time to go home and start fresh.

That transition did not go as well as they’d planned and Cook found himself struggling to find his place. “I found out rather quickly that I wasn’t properly prepared to transition into the civilian world,” he enlightens. After leaving the military, Cook began attending night school while working in printer sales. He studied business, but was also taking EMT/Paramedic courses. Cook was studying multiple career paths because he wasn’t sure what his future would hold.

Cook’s wife is the daughter of the HomeTeam Founder, but working in the home inspection industry was not a part of his plan. “I never actually had the intention to work inside the family business,” Cook explains. But that changed shortly after Cook had a conversation with his father-in-law. “At one point he said, ‘you could make a good living using your back, but you can make an even better living using your mind. Every hour should be looked at as an investment. Are you investing in someone else’s business, or are you building value for yourself and the next generation?’ That conversation brought me to HomeTeam.” Thus, beginning Matt Cook’s success in selling franchises, training new owners, and eventually becoming the Director of Business Development at HomeTeam Inspection Service.

Technological Advancements
Advancements in technology have greatly eased home inspectors’ jobs, as well as improved safety measures. Many of these are a lot easier to use and operate than one might think and overall could help reduce potential liability.

Here are a few of the advancements that have greatly helped inspectors. Cook believes every home inspector should consider utilizing these:

  • Drones: Inspecting a roof is arguably the most dangerous thing a home inspector does and often leads to injury. Which makes drones a great product for any home inspector looking to lessen their chances of danger. Drones can be used to inspect a roof during a home inspection, meaning the inspector no longer has to walk on the roof themselves. “They give great, high-quality imagery, a bird’s-eye-view of the property, but also a close-up view of potential issues in hard to reach areas on the roof,” Cook explains. However, there are more legal hurdles to using a drone rather than a ladder depending on the state you live in, as most areas require a drone pilot’s license to operate for business purposes. “It’s a big step up for a lot of people, but being able to show up on site and not endanger your home inspectors or yourself is worth it,” Cook says.
  • Thermal Imaging: Home inspectors can use thermal imaging to detect temperature differences within walls, identify potential moisture intrusion, heat loss, or air leaks within the major systems of the home. This tool exists so you can make your client aware that there could be a potential issue behind the wall; an issue that should be further evaluated by a professional. However, despite Cook championing this technology, he also says home inspectors need to remind their clients that “we’re just telling them what we see. We cannot affirmatively say what is going on behind the wall because you cannot physically see it and report on it. If you make assertions as to what may be behind the wall, you could end up getting yourself into legal trouble. Don’t make predictions about what it is behind the wall, just say that you’ve ‘identified a temperature variation, which typically is indicative of this issue.'” Otherwise, this can cause another potential claim to arise.
  • Crawl Space Robots: Crawl spaces are often tricky to inspect in a home and can even potentially be dangerous depending on what you find or how small the space is. “Historically, if the inspector doesn’t feel safe, they could just disclaim it on the report,” Cook enlightens. However, crawl space robots are a great tool to inspect a crawl space, without putting yourself in danger and giving your client ease of mind. “There could be snakes down there, animals, or faulty wiring—you just never know. However, the crawl space robot allows an inspector to still take a look and rule out any potential danger,” Cook says.  

Even though many of these technologies are helping home inspectors, there are also many that would rather do their inspections the way they have always been done. Cook theorizes that one reason for this is that, “your average home inspector is a 55+ year-old, male, former tradesman that is looking to work a semi-retirement job. That individual has no desire to go learn new technology, new systems, or new software.” On the other hand, many inspectors feel that technology could replace them, but Cook thinks reluctance is the only thing hurting the home inspector. 

“Technology is not leaving us behind,” he explains. “The trade requires on-site customer service and critical thinking. Technology is not going to get rid of those roles, but if you don’t embrace it and you don’t utilize it to do your job better, faster, more accurately, then you’re absolutely going to get left behind.”

In fact, HomeTeam Inspection wrote the first home inspection report writing software many years ago, in partnership with a development company. That software has been the basis for all systems the industry uses today, but “we must continue to innovate. In the very near future, we plan to roll out the next generation of inspection software. We’re constantly staying ahead of it,” Cook boasts.

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Cloud-Based Home Inspections
HomeTeam Inspection Service has always appreciated how these advancements in technology greatly benefited home inspectors. One advancement that HomeTeam specifically loves to utilize is cloud-based software. “About 10-years ago, we moved all reports to the cloud, which allowed for better workflow and ease of accessibility for agents and their clients,” says Cook.

How their cloud-based software works is rather simple. Rather than a home inspector taking notes, pictures, and then going home to put together their report, the home inspector can now write the report as they walk through the property. “The report should be completed when the inspection is completed,” Cook emphasized. Their system takes the information submitted by the inspectors onsite, grabs the associated pictures, and builds out a narrative-style report unlike anything else in the industry. HomeTeam’s reports tell a story about the home, not a punch list of things to fix. This has several pros, but one of the most important is HomeTeam’s non-alarming approach to explaining their findings. This creates a sense of ease for all clients—both homeowners and real estate agents.

“The home inspection is an uncontrolled variable in a real estate agents’ sale. They’re scared that the home inspector is going to blow up the deal. So, quickly giving them a finalized report is key,” Cook says.

Cook says that all HomeTeam franchises are already using this technology, as well as some independent inspectors. To those that are still hesitant to use cloud software, Cook warns “If you’re not delivering the results of your findings on site, all you’re doing is making the homebuyer sit in their nervousness, while they await your report. This is a recipe for disaster for the agent.” Providing the findings quickly allows the homeowner to walk through the home with you, be educated on your findings, and quell any and all fears they may have had previously. “Cloud-based software, and reporting, is a great way to expedite the delivery of the report, while also just bringing that service up a notch for real estate agents.”

Cloud-based software is newer, but fairly easy to use. Cook expects that this will soon become the standard within the home inspection industry.

HomeTeam Inspection To Launch New Software
HomeTeam is always looking for new ways to utilize technology to make things easier for home inspectors in the long run, which is why they will be launching their new software within the next few months. This new system will help inspectors stay more organized, expedite their onsite workflow, and provide a far superior product to the client. When most home inspectors finish a report, they either print it or email a PDF to the client. HomeTeam has designed something new, with AI integration, that smooths out this process. Although Cook couldn’t share too much with us about the specifics of the software, he was able to share some details with us.

“What we will be launching will be more dynamic than traditional reporting and will allow for the home buyer to have a custom dashboard for their home, rather than a static report. It will include video and be customized to each client’s specific home,” Cook tells us. This system would allow the client to better navigate and digest the home inspection report, versus an outdated PDF delivery process.

HomeTeam is also working behind the scenes with OpenAI, the creators of ChatGPT, to help inspectors better summarize pieces of the inspection. “You know how you see on Facebook, where you can summarize with AI, or you can have something rewritten by AI? It would be very, very similar, if not identical, to that in our new system,” Cook teases. Essentially, this software can help you write your home inspection report to be more clear and concise for the client.

This new software is projected to release sometime before the end of 2024, or early 2025.

Final Thoughts
It is better to stay ahead of technology, rather than fall behind it. Cook offers some parting advice to home inspectors that want to start integrating technology into their business model. “First, you should invest in good training. Second, invest in good report writing software, because where your training and knowledge may lack, good software will help you with the inspection,” Cook explains.

From drones to cutting edge software, technology that can help home inspectors is ever changing. It may be daunting and hard to learn, but it will impact your business greatly with customer satisfaction at the forefront. Not only that, but it will allow you, as an inspector, to create a more accurate report, and at a quicker speed.

To learn more about HomeTeam inspection, please visit them at: https://www.hometeam.com/.

Stay safe out there!

About the Author
Kendra Budd is the Editor of Working RE Magazine and Marketing Coordinator for OREP Insurance. She graduated with a BA in Theatre and English from Western Washington University, and with an MFA in Creative Writing from Full Sail University. She is currently based in Seattle, WA.

OREP Insurance Services, LLC. Calif. License #0K99465

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One Comment

  1. As a 60 year old home inspector with 30 plus years of related experience with Drone and Thermal Image certifications, ICC certified Building Inspector with multiple certifications in plumbing and mechanical and working on my electrical certs, I must be the exception to Cooks “theory” of “an individual [with] no desire to go learn new technology, new systems, or new software”.

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