Being a home inspector is a difficult calling. We’re hired to provide important information to our home buying clients, while at the same time providing cover to our own backside, in an attempt to guard against misplaced anger and frivolous lawsuits.
It’s almost like we’re two different people, each of whom have their own ideas and agenda. On the one hand, there’s our “good” side, trying its hardest to teach our clients as much as humanly possible about the property they’re thinking about buying. Many of us are driven to go above and beyond (our standards), providing our paying customers with value that far exceeds their expectations. While, at face value, this is a wonderful way of serving our clients, there can be no good without evil.
Our other half, our alleged “bad” side, has its own agenda. This side of our home inspection personality, the overly cautious side, knows the deal and works hard to cover our butt. Our bad side knows what’s up, and it’s trying its best to keep things in context.
Yes, I’m exceeding the standards, but don’t forget what it is I’m responsible for here!
We work hard to stay away from controversial topics, especially in our written reports. We document our findings and observations, while simultaneously overloading our report with caveats and disclaimers. It’s almost as if our inspection report is an extension of our own subconscious, complete with all our limitations and uncertainties.
Yes, I know a lot of stuff, but I can’t be expected to know everything.
Becoming a professional inspector, like every other job known to man, is a process. We’re never as bad at the job as when we first start, but we’re never as good as we could be. There’s always something new (or new to us) to learn. The day we stop learning is the day we stop growing.
Being two different people isn’t really a major problem, as long as one of them is smart enough to know that they both need to keep learning.
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Thanks, Joe
