The premier source for home inspector news and information. Whether you're a homebuyer or a licensed home inspector, you'll find valuable insight on the world of home inspection training and competency on this blog.
You've made the choice -- you want to green your home inspection career. You can add solar sales strategies and business practices to Allied's Home Inspection Course for only $88.
The Business of Solar Course provides you with knowledge of applications of solar energy in homes and business -- from solar electric systems to solar modules. Learn how to promote the environmental, health and financial benefits of solar energy.
Take your home inspection career to the next level -- eco-friendly homes are the wave of the future. Enroll today and be in on the ground floor!
Labels: green career, green training
With today's green-conscious consumers, environmental changes often begin at home. While families still recycle and install compact fluorescent bulbs, there has been an increased shift toward more dramatic, life-changing improvements -- from installing solar PV panels to solar thermal systems (replaces traditional water heaters). Homes that have fewer environmental impacts are on the rise, meaning more career opportunities for home inspectors.
The "green" movement is one of the fastest growing trends in America. With homeowners wanting to save money and make their homes environmentally healthier, home inspectors have a unique opportunity to upgrade their services. By adding "green" to your career, you can create new direction for your business -- and improve the environment at the same time.
Allied's Green Home Inspection Program prepares you to start a groundbreaking career with your ability to provide home inspections and target renewable energy sources. Going green will give your business and career an advantage -- find your niche in the home inspection field with your knowledge of the business of solar. Advise your clients how to make wise energy choices. You will be prepared to:
- Assess a home to determine how green it is
- Advise people how to improve the "greenability" of their homes
- Prepare people to highlight green aspects when they sell their home
Solar energy uses sunlight to generate electricity, heat and cool air, heat water and more -- creating opportunities to replace non-renewable resources with more "earth-friendly" renewable resources. Solar energy is naturally replenished in a short period of time and environmentally safe -- making it an ideal choice for energy solutions throughout the home.
Your home inspection career can gain an exciting edge with your knowledge of solar energy solutions and business practices. It is an opportunity to increase your career potential while assuming a positive role in the "green" industry. Turning a home into a green home can add value to the property and increase energy efficiency. Go green in your home inspection career and start a career that makes a difference every day.
Home inspections are something that everybody thinks they know a thing or two about, but like most things, professional thoughts and perspectives on a subject are always worth listening to. Maryland real estate professionals Bob and Donna McWilliams recently addressed home inspections in The Capital newspaper.
The McWilliams believe there are misunderstandings about what a home inspection is. The home inspection doesn't address cosmetic issues, just structural ones. Items like scrapes and scratches to wood are not considered defects. A buyer must decide for themselves whether they are prepared to buy a house with a color of paint they dislike, and are prepared to pay for the repainting once they buy the house.
They advise sellers not to try to conceal problems with the house. The ethical and legal thing is to let the buyer know about any structural problems with the house. Honesty is the best policy.
For home sellers, they agree that deciding what to fix up before you put your house on the market is an important consideration. Many home owners have a list of projects they've wanted to do; if they're left incomplete at the time a house is on the market, it can mean losing money when you sell your house.
The McWilliams also point out that home inspection requirements depend on the contract with the buyers. All home inspections have the inspector look at the structural, mechanical, electrical and plumbing parts of the house, but there may be other items written into the contract. Older homes, for example, may be checked for evidence of asbestos.
When it comes to old homes the couple notes that the home inspection standards of today can't always be applied to a house built one hundred years ago. They cite the example of a floor that isn't level in an old house, yet is structurally sound: a home inspection can't list this as a defect. Buyers should realize that a home inspection is not a tool to force home owners to update and rehabilitate everything in a house that a buyer doesn't like.
They also have highlighted their rule of thumb for home inspections:
"Everything should work and function as it was intended. The dishwasher should wash dishes; your roof should keep the rain out; the water heater should make hot water and so on. That doesn't mean that it has to be new or work as efficiently as the latest technology, but things should simply be in operating condition -- no more; no less."
Labels: home inspection issues, home inspection requirements, home inspection standards
