Do you want a full suite home inspection industry software with bells and whistles for every imaginable function? Some people might, but for many inspectors, too much technology is just an unnecessary hassle.

The right software takes a minimalist approach. It makes work simpler and more efficient without adding layers of complexity. It doesn’t chain you to your computer, either. It covers your needs, produces professional results and never makes you jump through hoops to get the job done.

Here’s what’s trending, and how a great app helps make the workday better.

Mobile Apps Take Report Software on the Road

Back in the day, professionals in the home inspection industry used hard copies for everything. Clipboards held printed pages, and ink pens or pencils filled in the details. If photos were used, they required a camera and film processing. As technology has advanced, reporting methods have, too. An inspection report mobile app puts everything you need inside your mobile device.

With an app, you can fill in the inspection details as you go. Voice-to-text features let you speak the report details instead of typing them on a tiny keypad. And once you’re finished, you can email the report from the job site. Some inspection software requires you to connect to a computer first, but the best apps make the whole process mobile.

Intelligent Features Let You Customize on the Fly

No two homes are the same, and no two inspection reports are, either. So what happens if you encounter something unusual that’s not included in the mobile app pre-set features? It’s simple; add what you need as you go.

Report Form Pro lets you click one button to add a new home system. It’s really that simple. From there, just fill in the details as usual and add a photo the same as you would for any other system. If the home has several fireplaces, an outdoor feature such as a shower or anything else non-standard, add it and go.

Watch how easy it is to create a report that matches the property.

Simple Tweaks Make the Report Yours

The convenience and simplicity of a mobile app sound great, but what about the result? Will the report tie into your company brand? A clean, professional-looking report represents your good work. But if it’s branded, it represents your business.

Customization shouldn’t be limited to adding more home systems to the report. That’s why better apps make it simple to add your company logo, contact details and other information. There’s no need to hire a programmer or spend hours reading a manual when you use Report Form Pro.

Technology should make life easier, not harder. If you can’t complete a report without driving back to your office and connecting to a computer, it isn’t really convenient. If you need the help of a programmer to customize the app, it’s inconvenient and expensive.

But when everything is as easy as clicking a button, that is a minimalist’s dream.

Not everyone stages their house before a professional home inspection. For that matter, not everyone sweeps and mops before listing it on the market. You might find food on the counter and piles of laundry on the bedroom floor. But what happens if you find something illegal?

People can be strange creatures. Chances are, you’ll one day encounter something questionable inside a closet, bedroom or basement. When it happens, here’s how to handle it.

How to Spot a Suspicious House

Some homes look like there’s something seedy lurking inside. And many of them are old, neglected and situated on the wrong side of the tracks.

A suspicious-looking house isn’t necessarily dangerous. But it’s a red flag that says you should watch for hazards that could harm your customer if they make the purchase.

KSL Broadcasting in Salt Lake City says there are three big signs:

Homes in notoriously bad or dangerous neighborhoods are likely suspects. That’s an income stress indicator. But more specifically, watch for short-sale and foreclosed homes. Where the homeowner is under financial stress, illegal activity might take place.

If the homeowner doesn’t care about the property, they might not care about something illegal taking place inside. And some criminals just don’t care about maintenance. That’s why KLS says neglect is another red flag.

The third warning sign is evidence of anger. Are there holes punched through walls or doors that have been kicked in? Are windows or fixtures such as toilets and sinks broken? Anger doesn’t always equal criminal activity. But criminal activity might involve anger.

Illegal activity can happen in any home in any neighborhood. The nicest home on the block could be a crime scene.

Just remember, not every distressed property holds a nefarious secret. The homeowner might be elderly and unable to care for the property. Or the house might have been vacant and vandalized.

Some Illegal Situations Merit a Call to the Authorities

If you see something illegal and dangerous, don’t touch anything in the house. The first step is always to walk outside and call the police. The home might be a live, uninvestigated crime scene. Chances are, you don’t want or need your fingerprints involved in an investigation.

Probably the most dangerous of all illegal things a home inspector might find is methamphetamine or meth. Meth lab houses are so dangerous for anyone to enter that many of them are condemned. The costs of abatement and sterilizing the home can outweigh the property value. Think of it like totaling a car.

Some homeowners think they’re more clever than they are. For example, a Florida man was arrested in 2016 for stealing orders from Amazon. His garage was filled over $100,000 worth of with Amazon packages, says the Palm Beach Post. Unless you know that the homeowner runs a business, chances are a garage, basement or attic filled with valuable merchandise isn’t a real storeroom.

If the home is obviously stealing water or power, that’s another reason to make a call. But you might start with the utility authority and not the police. Wiring that bypasses the meter is one sign. Water supply that bypasses the meter is another, although that’s more difficult to manage.

If you find an obvious crime scene, the kind they write about in novels, don’t stick around. Leave the property and go to a safe location. There’s no way to know who committed the crime and no way to know where they are or when they might return.

Not Everything Illegal is Important Enough to Intervene

It’s unlikely that you’ll ever walk into a house and find a scene from CSI. You’re much more likely to find evidence of marijuana than meth, and marijuana isn’t illegal in every state.

Buell Inspections says it’s not unusual to find a clipped meter tag, which might mean the homeowner was up to no good. However, there’s no way to know why the tag was clipped. Sometimes, it’s just evidence that work was done but not completed.

“It could mean that the Utility never got called to re-seal the meter or that they haven’t gotten there yet.”

If you’re concerned about the homeowner stealing power, look for more evidence before calling the utility company. It’s a judgment call.

Is there new work inside the main panel? The meter might not be “finaled” by the power company. Is the new work sloppy? The homeowner might have tried to get power without paying for it.

Some homeowners steal cable service from a neighbor. That’s more difficult to do in a single-family residence since the cable would stretch from one house to another. But condo and apartment homes are close enough that tapping in might never be noticed. All it takes, at least with some providers, is a cable splitter to make a tap for more wiring to the second home.

If you see a splitter with cable running to two homes, you might notify the cable provider. But remember that once the owner moves out, the new resident will probably hook up their own service. When the cable company arrives to set it up, they’ll spot the illegal tap and repair the problem.

Illegal activity isn’t limited to so-called bad neighborhoods. Stolen goods might be mixed in with the homeowner’s tools in the garage of a million-dollar home. Then again, those stains on the wall of a ramshackle house might very well be evidence of methamphetamine.

It’s not your job to look for stolen property, evidence of a drug lab or anything else that the authorities might want to know about. You’re there to inform your customer about material defects with the home. But if you see something obviously illegal and dangerous, the right course of action is to let authorities know.

The word strikes fear in the heart of many a home buyer, and for good reason: asbestos is risky business. It’s responsible for serious illnesses, you can’t always see it to know if you’re breathing the particles, and sometimes it requires a team of abatement professionals.

Asbestos is definitely not a selling point for buyers, but it might not be a deal killer for them, either. Although it was banned for residential use during the late 1970s, here are five areas where you might encounter the substance during an older home inspection.

The drop ceilings that many homeowners despise are sometimes an asbestos culprit. So are popcorn ceilings that get just about as much love as tiles. Newer ceiling tiles may look nearly identical to hazardous ones, but they don’t contain asbestos. Accordingly, the same applies to newer popcorn texture. It’s difficult to know if you’re looking at a dangerous situation or not.

Smaller ceiling tiles, usually square, are a more likely danger, as are popcorn ceilings in an older home. You should avoid contact with tiles or the rough popcorn texture during your home inspection services. Loose and damaged ceiling tiles and texture are especially risky and merit the use of a respirator and eye protection.

Most plaster walls don’t contain asbestos. However, for a few decades, some plasterers used asbestos as an additive. At the time, the reasoning seemed sound. It offered acoustical benefits as well as unsurpassed fire protection. The health risks were unknown.

The advent of asbestos in plaster was 1920 and it continued in varying degrees until the asbestos ban in 1977. Homes with plaster walls built or renovated between 1920 and the mid-1980s should be considered suspicious.

You’ve probably seen the classic asbestos flooring without realizing the risks that lurked inside. It was installed in office buildings for decades. Many homes had asbestos flooring, as well. Sold in sheets or 12-inch tiles, most asbestos flooring was white or light colored with a speckled design, although some flooring was dark brown, black or variegated. It can be difficult to tell asbestos flooring from linoleum, but linoleum is both natural and safe. It’s made from ground cork and linseed oil.

Inspectapedia says, “Depending on the particular mixture of asphalt, gilsonite, asbestos, limestone, and pigment used, these floor tiles could contain as much as 70% asbestos by weight.” As if the flooring wasn’t risky enough, the classic mastic, which is usually black in color and sometimes called “cutback” adhesive, may also contain asbestos.

Asbestos is renowned for its fire resistance and ability to insulate. As such, it was frequently used in both industrial and residential settings to insulate areas such as boiler pipes and attic floors.

On pipes, asbestos usually has the characteristic appearance of a thick wrap, almost like an old-fashioned plaster cast for a broken arm. It’s often painted white. In good condition, it’s considered safe. In attics, asbestos is loose, almost like gravel, and never safe. It’s wise not to enter an attic with old vermiculite or perlite insulation because it is always friable/breathable.

Another area where asbestos performed well while unwittingly putting homeowners at risk was siding. The typical style that you might find is a rugged hardboard with a flat or ridged surface and a straight, wavy or jagged bottom edge.

Asbestos siding may still be both in service and in good condition today. If it’s sealed, it’s considered safe. Inspectapedia cautions that it resembles modern fiber cement, so use care not to misidentify the material.

In good condition and with a proper sealer, asbestos isn’t necessarily a hazard. The risks lie in whether or not the fibers are breathable. With loose insulation, the risk is ever-present. The best solution is professional abatement, which can be pricey. For almost everything else, including plaster, ceiling and floor tiles, siding and wrapped insulation, good maintenance can keep asbestos safe for residents indefinitely.

Image credits: 

Cutback Adhesive, by NAVFAC , via Flickr Creative Commons.

Asbestos pipe insulation, By User: EPO , via Wikimedia Commons.

So you’re not exactly a tech-savvy kind of person? Do you prefer to work in Microsoft Work? You’re in luck. Report Form Pro is available in Word format.

Report Form Pro for Word is as comprehensive as our mobile app. Instead of an interactive experience, it’s designed as a document that’s compatible with your computer, mobile device or as a printed hard copy you can fill out by hand.

If you use a computer at all, you probably know Word like the back of your hand. Report Form Pro for Word is just that simple.

What you see on the screen is what your customers will get. The form has clear text, fields for all of the most common home inspection elements, such as roofs, plumbing and electrical. Upload photos to the report and you’ll be done. Save it with a unique file name based on the customer, email it to the customer. The original file will be ready and waiting the next time that you need it.

Are you a traditionalist? Is there something about writing out a report by hand that resonates with you? The developers of Report Form Pro understand, which is why you can use this software to do just that.

Print out a copy of the report to carry with you into the field. It has the same entries, such as HVAC and Plumbing, as it would on your computer, but instead of typing in your findings, you’ll write them in by hand.

You’ll need a digital camera to take photos on site. Print them out and attach them to the report, and your customers will have a clean, attractive hard copy report to read and keep.

Wait a minute. Isn’t the Word version of Report Form Pro designed for a computer? It is, but it also works with a mobile device. It’s not the same as using the mobile app.

With the Word version, you’ll have a home inspection report document on your mobile screen the same as you would with a desktop or laptop. Tap the screen to fill in the fields, take photos using your device camera, then save the report.

Using the Word version, you can email the document to your customer using your mobile device. You can also email it to yourself, or wait until later and transfer the file to your computer to finish up.

Great home inspection reporting software isn’t necessarily the most technologically advanced. What makes it great is how well it fits with the way you work and whether or not it produces good-looking results that you can be proud of.

What’s your certified home inspector business name? Does it roll off the tongue and look great on a business card? If you’re just getting started or thinking about re-branding, it’s one of the most important decisions that you can make.

Here’s how to find the right name to help set your business apart in a good way.

The way your business name sounds can resonate with potential customers or turn them off. Say it aloud and see if it’s too complicated, confusing or if it conveys what your business does. Remember that puns can be a great way to stand out, but sometimes they’re just awful.

Have you ever tried to open a new account, such as email or on social media, only to be told that the name was already taken? If your preferred home inspector business name is already spread across the Internet, a quick search will quickly show if you’re on the right track. That way, you won’t have to settle for inspections-by-bob-12345 when you all you really wanted was Inspections by Bob. 

Avoid trademarked names and those that are incorporated. The U.S Patent Office lets you search a business name to learn if it’s trademarked. If it is, think of something that’s not just different, but very different. If it’s too similar to a trademarked name, you could still be in violation of trademark laws. The suit brought against Pillar Home Inspections LLC. by Pillar to Post Inc., mentioned at the Florida Record, is a scary example. If you’ll incorporate, the SBA says your Secretary of State can tell you if the name is in use.

If, after all that work, the domain name you want isn’t available, you could be stuck with “inspections-by-bob12345.com” as the address for your website. Probably, no one would ever search for that on purpose. Worse, few people would remember it. The Network Solutions WHOIS tool can tell you if the domain you want is available.

Not all professional home inspection business names are trademarked, but duplicates on social media can add confusion that you don’t want or need. Inspections by Bob in Idaho isn’t a competitor for another of the similar name in Georgia, so competition wouldn’t be an issue if you claimed it for your social media business page. However, the more unique the name, the more likely you’ll stand out when people search social media for home inspectors. And they do.

Before you know it, you could spend the better part of a Saturday nailing the best name for your home inspection business. Once you do, there’s no time to waste, at least if the name is different from your personal name. The SBA explains that a DBA or “Doing Business As” registration lets your state government know that you’re operating a business under a different name. This SBA article explains how it’s done in each state as well as which states don’t require a DBA.

Thinking of a name isn’t especially difficult, but choosing the right one can be. You can start off on the right foot with a great name. Or, if you aren’t happy with the one you’ve got, maybe it’s time for a new name and re-branding campaign. With so many different factors, not to mention the ways that you could step on another home inspector’s toes, the legwork is worth it.