Letters To the Editor

August 15, 2013 (To: Jack McGraw, National Director of the ASHI School)

Dear Jack, Being a student of the Northern
Virginia ASHI Class of July 2013 was one of the best experiences of my life. It was a privilege to be taught by Mike
Stephens, Mike Tillman, Dave Wingenbach and you, who were builders and home inspectors happy to share their knowledge
of their businesses in a positive, friendly and encouraging way.

Jack, you have inspired all of us to do great things
by continuing to learn all that we can about our profession as home inspectors. Jumping on a plane every other day and
flying from state to state like you do, I am not so sure about, but trying to be the best home inspector in the ASHI
community, you can bet on it. “To give of one’s self is the greatest gift of all.”

Sincere thanks,
Mary Harrington ASHI Student Northern Virginia Class-July 2013

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ASHI Chapter Leaders:

Does your chapter have ghost members? Ghost members are people who have joined a local ASHI Chapter or have never joined the American Society of Home Inspectors. They also may be past members who have just decided not to pay their dues. Either way, this hurts the chapters and ASHI.

I know I joined ASHI for the mentoring and ride-along opportunities. The cost of membership in the national organization seemed to be a small price to pay for access to such a vast wealth of knowledge.

Ghost members want access to that wealth but are unwilling to pay dues for the knowledge. ASHI has set Standards of Practice and Code of Ethics that our members must adhere to with a well-defined pathway to success: ASHI Associate (new member), ASHI Inspector (have performed 75 inspections and the verification process), and ACI ASHI Certified Inspector (have performed 250 inspections and the verification process).

ASHI bylaws state you must be a member of The American Society of Home Inspectors in order to join a local chapter.

Well, chapter leaders, it’s time to look at your chapter roster to see that your membership is current with ASHI. Encourage those who have fallen behind to renew their membership. Anyone who has never joined ASHI is encouraged to do so immediately so they can receive all the benefits of membership and start their path to becoming an ASHI Certified Inspector.

We gather at our local chapter meetings to openly share information on running our businesses and talk frankly with other like-minded home inspectors. These meetings are supposed to be for members and invited guests only. Guests should not be allowed to overextend their welcome without joining ASHI national.

I encourage each chapter leader to ask his or her board members to police their roster and encourage anyone who is not a current ASHI member to join immediately if they want to continue to have access to successful ASHI inspectors through their chapter.

Steve Reilly, ACI
Owl Inspection Services
Past Vice President, NIC-ASHI
Sales Manager, The ASHI School

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Kevin Martelon of A+ Home Inspection recently executed an inspection for a property I am planning to purchase. I would just like to say this man displayed the utmost professionalism in both the technical and administrative aspects of the job. He represented your organization extremely well, and I will gladly recommend his services to everyone I know who requires them. This inspection has been a critical part of the procurement of this property, and Kevin did a great job explaining things to my wife and me as we walked through the process with him. I would like to extend a hearty Bravo Zulu to Kevin and this organization.