Help shape our industry, voice your opinions, and find out what others are thinking. This is your business.  These are Your surveys!

Responses will be compiled and distributed several days after each survey closes.  To be notified of future surveys and survey results, sign-up for our "Tips For Success" newsletter.

NOTE: None of our surveys require you to reveal your identity.

More About the Surveys
 

Insurance is on everyone's mind these days.  We get questions about E&O from inspectors almost daily.  We aren't the experts.  This survey will give all inspectors some insight to what others are thinking and doing, and why.

Do you remove the covers of electrical panels? Always? Sometimes? Never?  Why?

How many pages are in your typical single family home inspection report?  How many photos are in your reports?  How long does it take to write a report?

Do you walk on roofs?  This is one of the questions we are most often asked.  Share your opinions with others and learn the opinions of others with this quick five question survey.

Initial results have been published but the survey is still open.  Please complete the survey if you have not already completed it.

Statistical Confidence Level: 90%Statistical Interval: 10 

Demographic information is available for hundreds of occupations but not for home inspection.  This is the first attempt in our industry to compile the type of demographic information that is available for other occupations. 

Results from this survey will be available free to "Tips For Success" newsletter subscribers.  The survey results will be published when there are enough responses for a 95% confidence level with a confidence interval of 10.  The survey will remain open after that time and updates will be published periodically.

How do you get business?  This survey covers both sources of business and advertising

Should I join a trade association? Which associations do other inspectors belong to? What are the benefits of belonging to a trade association?

Share your thoughts and find out what other inspectors are thinking and doing.

Inspectors have more delivery options today than ever before. This brief 10 question survey looks at how, where, and when home inspectors deliver their inspection reports?

Results from this survey will be available free to "Tips For Success" newsletter subscribers and will be published in the next edition of "Write a Better Home Inspection Report". 

Initial results have been published but the survey is still open.  Please complete the survey if you have not already completed it.

Statistical Confidence Level: 95%Statistical Interval: 8

Home Inspection NATIONAL Conventions and Trade Shows

There have been fewer home inspection conventions and trade shows in 2008 and 2009 than in recent years. Attendance has been low at many events because of the locations. Where would you prefer to have the next major trade show held?

Initial results have been published but the survey is still open.  Please complete the survey if you have not already completed it.

Statistical Confidence Level: 95%Statistical Interval: 8

Home Inspection Pricing

How much should I charge? Are my prices too high? Are my prices too low? What should I base my prices on? These are the questions that all home inspectors wrestle with.

Results from this survey will be available free to "Tips For Success" newsletter subscribers and will be published in the next edition of "Pricing Concepts and Strategies A Guide for Home Inspectors". 

Initial results have been published but the survey is still open.  Please complete the survey if you have not already completed it.

Statistical Confidence Level: 95%Statistical Interval: 10 

Share your thoughts about being an Inspector.

Coming soon

Should I or Shouldn't I include a Summary?  What should be in the Summary?  Where should it be located?  How long should it be?

Results from this survey will be available free to "Tips For Success" newsletter subscribers and will be published in the next edition of "Write a Better Home Inspection Report". 

Have you ever been sued? How many times have you been sued? Did you win or lose?? What types of insurance do you carry?  Did having insurance have an influence on the suit(s)? If you have been sued, how long had you been in business at the time of the inspection?  If you have been sued, how long after the inspection was the suit initiated? Have you ever been threatened with a lawsuit?

Results from this survey will be available free to "Tips For Success" newsletter subscribers and will be published in the next edition of "Caught in the Crossfire - A Home Inspector's Guide to Conflict Avoidance and Resolution". 

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About these Surveys

We are doing surveys on topics of interest in the home inspection field.  Our industry is changing and it is changing fast.  Individual inspectors do not have the resources to accurately follow developing trends.  They are busy out trying to earn a living doing inspections.  That's where we come in.  We have the resources and the skills to be able to develop surveys and compile the results in ways that can help inspectors.

I have been asked thousands of times what the secret to my success is. The answer is simple: MEASURE, then make decisions based on the facts, not on emotion or false information.

One of the most common fatal mistakes small business owners make is to make business decisions based on what they think or feel.  More often than not, our perceptions and beliefs are inaccurate.  I have been doing surveys for my own businesses for many years. We at MS International, LLC don't design products and services based on what we like or what we think. We base everything on what we know works and what customers want. We know because we do unbiased research.  Like most people, I do not always like what I hear but I'd rather know the truth and have a successful business than have my head in the sand.

Each survey will be left open until we have a statistically significant number of responses. After the survey is closed, we will publish the compiled results. If you have any suggestions for topics, I'd like to hear them. This is going to be an ongoing feature. I expect that in a few months, it will be one of the most significant sources of information available to inspectors.

I plan to do with the survey feature as I have done with the Tips for Success. I'd like to have most of the survey topics come from suggestions.  Please, send in your suggestions!  Everyone is welcome to suggest topics and questions- Real Estate Agents, Mortgage Brokers, Lawyers, Appraisers, Tool Vendors!  E-mail your suggestions to Survey[ at ]B1st.net (replace "at" with the "[ at ]" symbol").

Inspectors often turn to message boards to learn what other inspectors are doing and to learn about developing trends in the industry.  Message boards are a great medium for quick answers to specific questions, to meet other professionals, and to share information.  As useful as message boards are, they have their limitations. 

Surveys do not have the immediacy of a message board so they are not going to substitute for a message board when an immediate answer is needed.  However, properly designed surveys are a much more reliable and detailed source of information than message boards. 

The service I chose to use for the surveys, SurveyMonkey, is also used by major universities and corporations.  I actually first learned of the service by completing eBay and PayPal surveys.  I also consulted with Management Science Institute's Executive Director.  He is experienced at survey design.  He also gave the service a thumbs up.

I am excited to finally launch this service.  The initial surveys will be relatively simple.  After we have some experience using SurveyMonkey and I am confident that we know how to use all its features, our surveys will be more detailed and will be directed at others in the industry in addition to home inspectors.  I hope to reach out to real estate agents, equipment vendors, and trade associations.  We want their opinions and we want them to know our - the inspectors.

George Wells, Founder - BestInspectors.Net