Inspection Report Writing Software Guide

     The inspection report is a huge part of any home inspection business. It is the final product you give to your client. Your clients are hiring you to inform them of the deficiencies in the home they are in contract to purchase. First and foremost, you want your report to effectively communicate this information. You want your report to be professional, concise, easy to read and attractive to look at. In some ways, your report is also a marketing tool. Your report will be the first thing many Realtors see of you and your company. Realtors are a substantial source of referrals for most home inspectors.

     In addition, your report needs to contain all the elements required by the state of Ohio and contain text and be written in a way that reduces your liability exposure.

     You need the ability to create a report that accomplishes all of this quickly and accurately. This is where report writing software comes in. Most of today's report writing software runs on your phone and your desktop computer and lets you easily switch between the two. With many packages you can write, review, and publish your report all from your phone. We recommend you at least review the final report on a larger screen before sending it to your client.

     Choosing report writing software is big decision. You will invest a lot of time in learning to use and configuring the software. You don't want to have to change down the road and start the learning process over again.

     There are many options. Most will let you try it out before you buy it. Some of the more popular and respected packages are listed below. But first, lets look at some features you can use to compare them.

Features to Consider:

Attractive, easy to follow reports - This is a good place to start. Most companies offer sample reports on their web site.

Ease of use - It is difficult to determine this without learning the software. If you try a package and you find it difficult to learn or navigate through, you might consider trying another one.

Flexible - How many options do they have to change the look of your report? Are their built in options you can use that can be turned on or off.

Allows for multiple deficiencies per item - This was a big differentiator for us when we were evaluating packages. All packages had a list of items to inspect like 'Windows' etc. But, most packages had only one area to enter deficiencies for each item. If you had multiple deficiencies in multiple locations for an item, they all had to go together with one deficiency reference number and worse yet, all photos of these would be grouped at the bottom. For instance if windows in different areas of the house had issues like broken lock, cracked glass, and seal broken. Ideally each of these items would have their own separate deficiency writeup, reference number, and photo.

Price - Of course price is a factor. But, if you are sure you are going to do this full time, many of the other factors should weigh higher than price. Paying a little extra per month to have better looking reports that effectively communicate deficiencies found and can be generated quickly can be well worth it in the long run. This is more difficult if you plan to be a part time inspector, you may need lower priced software or a per inspection pricing option to make your per inspection overhead lower.

Included deficiency text (narratives) and ease of editing them - Most, if not all, packages will include built in common deficiency text (narratives) you can quickly insert into your report. Unfortunately, in our opinion, these are all poorly written and will either need to be discarded or heavily edited. All packages will allow you to add your own. You will create your own and refine them over time. The ability to edit and save items to your narrative library while in the middle of writing your report is an important feature to help you create and maintain your narrative library.

Support - Especially starting out, you are bound to need some tech support. These days most companies don't offer phone support. Many have chat support (sometimes 24 hour), or quick email support. See what they offer and maybe try out their support before you make your final decision.

Template support - Most, if not all, packages come with template support. A template is basically an empty report that you start each report with. These packages allow you to modify and create new templates so the starting point for your reports can be formatted and look the way you want.

Add on services - Some of the companies offer you complete packages including online scheduling, online invoicing and payment processing, automatic inspection agreement creation with online signing, automatic report delivery, automatic emails and text messages to your clients, and more. Sometimes these are included in the base price, sometimes they are an additional fee. By getting these services from the same company, everything can work seamlessly together.

Integrated website - Usually for an additional fee, some companies offer websites that integrate their add on services. This is a great time saver when setting up your business and adds to your professionalism. A web site is not 100% necessary unless you are doing search engine marketing. Google Ads is a great way acquire business especially when you are starting out.

     Of the packages that we have evaluated so far, Spectora stands out head and shoulders above the rest.

• Very flexible and configurable
• Easy, intuitive to use
• Allows for multiple deficiencies per item
• 24/7 Chat support
• Add on services included at no additional cost: Online scheduling, online invoicing and payment processing, automatic inspection agreement creation with online signing, automatic report delivery, automatic emails and text messages to your clients, and more.
• Offers website (at additional cost)
• 5% discount on Elite MGA insurance
• Discounts offered to HITI students
• Home Inspector Training Institute offers a custom template (see below)

• No per inspection pricing option.
• Comes with mostly poorly worded deficiency narratives.

Spectora Template - We liked Spectora so much we spent three weeks creating a Spectora template that complies with Ohio's law, Ohio's standards of practice, and the best report practices taught by Home Inspector Training Institute in our Pre-Licensing 40 Hour Home Inspector Experience Class and our Reports Overhaul continuing education class. This template includes a 19 page manual on how to use the template and a pdf file of a full sample report. If you are new to home inspecting or Spectora, this template allows you to hit the ground running and concentrate on your report deficiency write-ups. The look, formatting, and configuring for Ohio law and best practices are already done. Here is an excerpt from a sample report. The template with manual comes with our 40 Hour Home Inspector Experience Class at no additional cost or can be purchased separately for $149 (call or email us to purchase). This is a template to use with Spectora's software. You still need a Spectora free trial subscription or a paid subscription to use the template.

• Less expensive than other packages
• Decent email support
• $100 discount to HITI students

• Cannot edit existing narratives from phone app
• Have to group multiple item deficiencies together
• Comes with mostly poorly worded deficiency narratives.
• Cannot change the order of saved narratives (so most used ones are on top)

     Ok, not a home inspection report writing software package, but is a good fit for some people. We no not recommend this for most people.

• 100% flexibility makes for best looking report
• Easily save, edit, and retrieve saved deficiency narratives
• Only costs $99 per year for MS Office subscription
• Home Inspector Training Institute has a custom template in beta (ask if interested)

• Laptop based. Does not use phone.
• Longer report writing (more steps).
• Does not automatically generate deficiency reference numbers
• Does not automatically generate a summary report
• Not seamlessly integrated into other services

     Not evaluated

• 4% discount on Elite MGA insurance

     Not evaluated

• Option to pay per inspection
• 4% discount on Elite MGA insurance

     Not evaluated

• 4% discount on Elite MGA insurance

     Not evaluated

• 4% discount on Elite MGA insurance

     Not evaluated

• One time purchase price (annual fee for upgrades optional)
• 4% discount on Elite MGA insurance