n/a30

A simple and very sensible answer.

It is a good idea, but it probably costs more than some builders would want to pay without passing the cost along. They could use it as a sales feature to show that the builder is thinking about their buyer and trying to add features and quality into their final product. I see good products advertised and promoted all the time in Popular Mechanics / Popular Science and other similar magazines but few new products make it to shelves of hardware stores. Marketing these new items is very expensive.

Yes, immigration does play a huge part of the problem related to the errors created. Denial of that fact is delusional and counterproductive. Most of the qualified workers have left the business and only a few of the remaining workers can speak English properly. Some of the more qualified workers become managers and many others outsource the services. Some contractors just use day labor workers that congregate at street corners. There needs to be better compliance to the demands of quality performance. It is not only the construction industry that has been highly diminished. Almost every industry has been undermined by the lack of quality control. The public is screwed. It is difficult to find any construction workers that are competent and capable of proper communication and proper ability in this country. It takes more than little technical education to have a conscience and dedication to doing the right thing to insure quality control to protect the public from substandard work and service providers. The bottom line is if you want quality artisanship, you may find it a difficult task to locate anyone with a competitive bid because many American craftsmen cannot compete with the substandard and poorly done work done by others with lacking skills /creditentials / abilities. For a variety of obvious reasons, you will not get quality work from many in the current workforces due to the lack of control over the industry.

They probably come from Mexico and can not read, speak or write much English. It is the illegal visitors from the south that do most of the construction, including residential building and they make the majority of the very stupid mistakes.

There are shades of Enron trading at work when any power (including internet services) comes into play. Enron may be gone but the practices of shady game theory trading still exists at the top of the money pile. "Everybody needs some power I'm told To shield them from the darkness and the cold Some may see a way to take control when it's bought and sold." lyrics by John Hall

Some one in Kentucky might have gotten some road kill laced with mad cow disease. That notice is dangerous and does not represent the best interests of the public. Erby please set them right.

Speaking from personal experience with TREC and some other governmental entities, it does little good to speak to the many entrenched bureaucrats. The closer you get the governments operations the waste, incompetence and corruption becomes more obvious.

The mess with the insurance is typical of corrupt government and lobbying efforts to force capital into the pockets of politicians and campaign contributors with vested interests. The lawyers are already starting to ramp up litigation to tap the insurance companies.

Many years ago I went to an inspectors association meeting were many inspectors were standing around in a circle. One inspector was left out of discussions. He wore a P 2 P shirt. Being naive at the time I wondered why they shunned him. It was not until the P2P guy spoke his mind that I understood why they threated him like an untouchable. The entire P 2 P business model is built around Realtor referrals, not quality service to the public. In these days of centralization and prepackaged dirty deals with entangling alliances, grouped entities serve the needs of those who want to make any deal happen, where profits for tainted entities are maximized and the details of kickbacks / quid pro quo relationships are kept secret. Consolidated bundeling of servces trough a marketing funnel only serves financial benefits of the gatekeeping bundler. It is what the public does NOT know is the associaions are often questionable.

Les thanks for the compliment on my website. A lot of work has been put into it. A clarification: Two hundred inspections THIS year? No, business has been fairly poor and the rough 200 number is an average over the last 8 plus years. This year it has been only around 50 full inspections and that is very slow. A few other jobs were partials such as pools, stucco, foundations and septic systems. When the business was better I would get 1 to 2 inspections a day 5 to 6 days a week and some times 7 days a week. Out of the total number this year, only 3 came from unsolicited agent referrals. Out of the 3, 2 came from one agent who later called and reminded me that with those referrals comes a need for me to go easy on the properties and the reports. She also wanted me to report directly to her and not my clients. In that manner she could interpret the report for the buyer. Her demands were met with an independent stance that will not be compromised. The other agent just showed up to unlock the property, briefly introduced themselves, minded their own business and left me to do my job alone. I generally have gotten only 1 to 2 Realtor referrals per year in the last few 5-6 years.

Only 1/2 of 1 percent (1 or 2 this year) from agents. They have not helped me to any real degree and thus I ignore them. I have not advertised to them in 7 years. The over abundance of agents and compromized inspectors in my area makes it very difficult to make a good living. Most general people in the public do not understand the need to have an independant inspector. Try as I have to make that clear it is very much an uphill battle against the evil forces. The following is taken from my company'sweb page. http://youtube.com/user/tlam100 Please view the above links. Disclosure New measures at the Texas Real Estate Commission requires that inspectors provide clients with the following disclosure form, whenever fees or valuable consideration are being paid or received by a party other than the client (Fee or Other Valuable Consideration Disclosure). You will not receive one of these forms from me. I do not pay or receive referral fees or kickbacks in any form. A huge number of inspectors do however get involved with kickback schemes and referral lists. The simple legally required disclosure does NOT stop the kickbacks or the intrusive sales pitch. The only fee that I collect is the fee that you, my client, pays me us for the inspection. I serve the interests of my clients and only my clients. If you have been referred to me, it is based on merit. No referral fees were involved.

Are you using your computer as a server? Are the local files read directly from your computer or they read from a internet server computer providing hosting services? It would seem that the time stamp of posts would be taken from the host computer.

In relation to comparing reports, education and services, the industry is full of questionable service providers. Without some concrete legal guidelines, that includes nationwide licensing and enforcement the bar cannot be raised across the board. Adequate licensing and a solid educational baseline is probably not the long-term answer because the government and its entrenched bureaucrats are frequently heavily tainted by the financial influences of corrupt political forces with personal stakes and entangling alliances. The public is often left in jeopardy with a false sense of governmental oversight and competence.

Although many of the better inspectors represent the interests of our clients correctly, we CAN NOT do not make up their minds for them, nor should we. All we can do is to represent the property in a perspective that is non-emotional, factual, and as comprehensive as time, education, and circumstances will allow. At some risky times, we probably might like to make those decisions for some buyers but in the end, it is the responsibility of the potential purchaser to make the final determinations. In representing a problematic property and its troubled areas, the buyer might think that it is being represented as a money pit or disaster zone. The facts just represent themselves but people can react emotionally and without adequate regard to the truthfulness of factual representation. In building a working level of trust, it is important to be friendly yet stoic, pragmatic, and descriptive without adding to the emotional turmoil that some buyer’s fall prey. The wording of any item should be direct enough to make sure that the client knows the significance of any problem without trying to lead them to a position where critical decisions are made FOR them instead of BY them.

Not being self conscious about trivial matters or giving a hoot for what anyone thinks about cosmetic issues, I have three tool vests. Each has different features, just like tool belts and other similar creations. They wok quite well as long as they are organized with the proper tools. My favorite one is one that is commonly used by professional photographers. Army surplus stores have a variety but they can get expensive. Fishing vests are too limited. Here is a good one. http://www.shushans.com/travelvest.html