Communicating in the Field

Alex Steinberg has always been a teacher, whether in the classroom or the home inspection field. Now, as an ASHI Certified Inspector, his clients often thank him for explaining how various systems work. “I think I’ve always been a good communicator,” he says.

Recently he was explaining to a homeowner during an inspection how a hydro air heating system worked. “I had the cover off the air handler and was showing them how the air passes through the system,” he said. “I wasn’t speaking in HVAC terms. I was speaking in plain English.”

It’s that thoughtfulness that, in part, got Steinberg recognized recently. He was awarded ASHI’s Philip C. Monahon Award and recognized at this year’s InspectionWorld conference.

The Monahon Award recognizes an ACI who has made outstanding contributions to ASHI for at least five years and contributed time, talent, or expertise that benefited ASHI, its members, and the public ASHI ultimately serves.

How He Got Here

After years as a kindergarten teacher and then welder, Steinberg trained to be a home inspector under his uncle and ASHI New England member Jeff May in 1999. In 2000, at the age of 30, he decided to go out on his own. Today he’s the owner and operator of JBS Home Inspections—a one-man operation. And he loves it.

Steinberg has spent more than 20 years inspecting homes in the Boston area and more than a decade as an ACI. He has completed thousands of inspections, trained several new inspectors, and continues to be an active member of ASHI New England. He has served as the chapter’s president and committed many hours to continuing education, organizing meetings and conferences, and promoting the regional chapter as well as ASHI at large. Steinberg has also been working behind the scenes to promote possible legislation to help the home inspection industry.

Making the Most of It

Steinberg remembers hearing another home inspector speak once, saying something along the lines of “see what you have and respect, honor, and appreciate what you already have.” It was about eight years ago that Steinberg recalls getting a little exhausted by parts of the profession, wondering if this was it. Then it hit him. He had a great following and he liked the work, so he was going to keep doing it—but without the stuff he didn’t like. “I switched home inspection software companies, and I outsourced my calls,” he said.

For him, the biggest challenge continues to be the business side of things. Should he continue with the call center, for example, which cuts into his bottom line? Should he join some of his younger home inspector colleagues and get a drone and an FAA license?

Steinberg tries to focus on the parts of the work he loves—meeting new people and exploring different buildings. “I get a lot of satisfaction out of it. People are very appreciative,” he said. “It’s nice to go out there and do the best you can do every day and see that people are genuinely very thankful.”

He also takes his time so he can explain to people any issues and properly file his reports. “I don’t rush,” Steinberg said. “ I don’t do three inspections in a day. I’ll do two condos or two really small houses. If I have a house that’s 4,000 square feet that’s all I’m going to do that day.” He said he’s fortunate that he can command a good rate in the Boston area so he can take his time.

Making Positive Change

Steinberg didn’t expect to win the recent award; he was attending InspectionWorld in support of ASHI President Lisa Alajajian-Giroux, who he’s known for years as part of ASHI New England.

Looking back, he thinks his legislative work may have influenced his nomination. “In 2020 through 2022 many people were waiving their home inspections because there could be 20 people lined up to buy one house. This was happening all over the country, but it was really bad in Massachusetts. People were doing whatever they could to sweeten their offer.” People began waiving mortgage contingencies and home inspection contingencies, and they were often put in a situation where they had to rent back to a seller until the seller found a place.

“It was a really hard year. While the market was hopping and real estate agents would tell me they’d sold the least amount of units in X amount of years, they made the most amount of money because prices were getting inflated. And this random byproduct was that home inspectors were left in the lurch.”

Steinberg joined the efforts of an ASHI New England group working to get legislation passed so that offers in Massachusetts can’t be accepted or denied based on whether they have a home inspection contingency. They want offers to be home inspection blind. That legislation remains in early stages, and Steinberg said they have a ways to go with a lot of lobbying and fundraising. But, he said if they can get it passed it will be huge for the industry—and for consumers.

“All of us around here have done a ton of home inspections in the last six to 12 months for new homeowners who bought property and had to waive their inspection during the purchase process. They called us in after closing to see what they got. They’re totally freaked out about what we’re going to uncover. A lot of times it’s fine, but we’ve definitely seen scenarios where they’ve had lead water mains or extensive termite damage or a lot of stuff they didn’t know about.”

Advice for New Inspectors

Steinberg says joining ASHI was tremendously helpful to his career, especially as a one-person company. “Every month you can go to a meeting and break bread with experienced home inspectors,” he said.

The meetings are a chance to soak in knowledge—both from guest speakers and the home inspectors sitting around you. “You can bounce ideas off other people. It’s totally invaluable,” he said. “ASHI is awesome. I don’t do a lot of stuff at the national level but being involved on the local level has brought me so much satisfaction and made me better at my craft.”

Steinberg still loves his work, and he advises new inspectors to think about the kind of inspector they want to be. Do they want to work on their own or for someone else? Do they want to grow to become a multi-inspector firm? He said they should also always remember to write reports very carefully. “Around here (Massachusetts) people do get sued. The business is litigious. You’re liable if you miss something to have a potential suit come your way.”

That said, he wouldn’t trade what he does for anything else. “It’s a great line of work to go into,” he said. “There’s never a dull day.”