For 27 years now, I’ve been performing home inspections.  With several thousand inspections performed in dozens of states, I think I’ve learned a thing or two about our industry.  I have a sincere desire to reach out and help folks struggling in their first year as a home inspector.  That’s why I accepted an offer to teach our trade in 2003 – I simply wanted to help.

My desire to give back and share how I’ve managed to make a good living doing home inspections drives my passion for teaching.  The most rewarding part of teaching the trade to so many people is when I get an email telling me they passed the NHIE or booked their first fee-paid inspection.  Such notifications give me a sense of accomplishment like nearly nothing else and I can’t wait to hear more about their next few years.

I see all too often, however, how many inspectors don’t share my passion for helping their fellow home inspector and that’s why Facebook sucks for the new guy in our industry.  Nearly every page on FB is filled with one of two personality types and both are terrible resources for asking first year questions.  The first is the megalomaniac home inspector and the second is the trolling contractor.

The megalomaniac is the guy who will read your question and write an off-the-cuff response (usually filled with typos and misspellings) designed to humiliate anyone who dares to enter his territory and compete with his superior intellect and technical prowess.  He is mean, ruthless, and only looking to embarrass those he sees as inferior by authoring comments from the “obvious” perspective.

You may be asking yourself, “How does Derik know so much about these guys?”  The answer is simple, I’ve been berated by them hundreds of times while trying to help the poor folks who seek answers to real questions.  I’ve been told to crawl back under a rock, go back to my previous career because I’m “obviously” not meant to be a home inspector and called some choice names.

The egocentric home inspector loves FB because it affords him the opportunity to beat his chest in the jungle of attics and living rooms assuring him the best mate and ripest banana.  Since the “helpful advice” he’s offering is aimed at boosting his ego, belittling the first year home inspector, and proving he has the bigger flashlight, there’s no real help to get from this jerk.

Then there’s the trolling contractor.  The guy who does poor work and has to frequently correct it because a quality home inspector called it out.  He hates home inspectors because they cost him money, make him look bad, and don’t know what they’re talking about.

This guy sets out to humiliate home inspectors at every turn and has noting better to do with his time than troll home inspector Facebook pages looking for idiots he can demean at every turn.  Like the narcissistic home inspector, he’s nothing more than a playground bully who peaked in high school and likely spends his days knee deep in feces fixing toilets.

Or, he could be offering up friendly advice for the “right” way to document deficiencies spreading his wealth of expert code knowledge across the FB pages for all to benefit.  He is hailed by the home inspectors seeking his advice as, “respected, knowledgeable, and helpful to all who listen.”

Do yourself a favor and read the thread thoroughly before deciding whether this wolf in sheep’s clothing is the real deal or not. They’re easy to spot because they nearly ALWAYS begin their sermon by blessing us with the knowledge that reporting a certain deficiency the wrong way is when they take the opportunity to rip the home inspector to shreds in front of the client to make the point that he was a putz.  Furthermore, to avoid this divine punishment, all they have to do is write up the deficiency from their cannon of code.

Folks, none of the scenarios I’ve talked about are helpful when you’re trying to start your new career. The guys trolling the FB pages looking for opportunities to humiliate the new guy are jerks.  Don’t take their advice and certainly DON’T let them convince you that you’re not worthy to share the same profession because you have questions.

Everyone of those retards had a first year and made mistakes that cost them money – guaranteed. If anything, you’re the smarter one for having the courage to ask the question and avoid the costly mistakes.  But, where do we go for real helpful advice and questions?

For quick answers to immediate questions, join ASHI or InterNACHI and get on their blogs to ask your questions.  Most of those guys are willing to help without humiliating.

At Home Inspection Bytes, you’ll find helpful information that’s accurate.  If we don’t know the answer from experience, we’ll research it and give you real, helpful responses.  We’re growing and want your ideas for topics to discuss or illustrate. Drop us a line – we’ll be glad to address these topics in our blog or a video.  Thanks for reading, and we’ll see you in the next posting!