What Does it Mean to be a Home Inspector?

Home Inspecting is a mission.

Home Inspecting is an opportunity to serve.

Home Inspecting is a passion for excellence, and a genuine interest in people and homes.

Home Inspecting is that great feeling you get when you, alone, of all the people in the room, actually see, feel and hear what the house is telling you about itself.

Home Inspecting is managing client expectations so they will know ahead of time what they are hiring you to do.

Home Inspecting is to under-promise and to over-deliver.

Home Inspecting is to know our limits, and not have to apologize for not exceeding them.

Home Inspecting gives us the ability to say ‘I don’t know’ in such a way as to build client confidence rather than to weaken it.

Home Inspecting is that moment in time when all parties to a transaction are looking at you and listening to what you have to say because of their absolute faith in your professionalism.

Home Inspecting is the fine art of practicing our craft without so much as approaching the appearance of a conflict of interest.

Home Inspecting is the ability to select the agents and clients you work with based on how closely their values and ethics meet your expectations rather than you being controlled by others’ ethics.

Home Inspecting means driving and working long hours in uncomfortable environments for people who may not even recognize your sacrifices.

Home Inspecting gives you the power of applied reason and intuition to understand the interplay between houses, their sub systems, their environments and their
occupants.

Home Inspecting means waking up every day and recommitting to your professional and ethical standards, and working hard to improve your skills.

Home Inspecting is a dynamic industry that is constantly changing and compels us to continue our professional education. No matter how many inspections you have done, you haven’t seen it all — not by a long shot.

Home Inspecting means giving back to the industry that has helped you.

Home Inspecting means helping people who cannot possibly repay you.

Home Inspecting is a higher calling than simple commerce or financial gain. We never know how many injuries, calamities and financial disasters that simply fail to occur because of our efforts.

Home Inspecting means pushing through the barriers of self-limitations and never even recognizing the limits that others try to put on you.

Home Inspecting sometimes means being falsely accused of negligence and being held responsible for outcomes that are completely outside of your control.

Home Inspecting means keeping a proper perspective during difficult inspections. You concentrate on the job at hand even though the fee you charged may not be enough to put up with the unexpected situations you must deal with. It will even out over the long run.

Home Inspecting means loving what you do and doing what you love, with the complete confidence that the marketplace eventually will reward your passionate dedication beyond your expectations.

Home Inspecting is the easiest job to fail in, and the hardest job to succeed in if your heart is not in the right place.

Home Inspecting means your integrity shows through everything you do, and that you become the kind of person everyone you meet will be glad to say they know.

Home Inspecting means being satisfied with having improved your small corner of the world that day for your clients.

Home Inspecting means that you often are the one person a client totally trusts during an entire real estate transaction.

Home Inspecting means becoming a subject-matter expert and being a selfless source of information to your clients — and to those who are not, but who may one day be your clients.

Home Inspecting is a talent that cannot be bought, a dedication that cannot be undermined, integrity that cannot be stolen away, and a passion for your work and a compassion for your clients that cannot be taught.
Home Inspecting is a way to change the world.

© 2007 John Bouldin. Reprinted with permission.