ohio journal of professional home … journal of professional home inspection chapter ... finance...

THE PRESIDENT’S CORNER

OHIO JOURNAL OF PROFESSIONAL

HOME INSPECTION

CHAPTER OFFICERS President

George Basista 330-544-8827 [email protected]

Vice-President

David Argabright 614-801-9444 [email protected]

Executive Director

Howard Snyder 330-929-5239 [email protected]

Treasurer

Tim Buell 614-777-7922 [email protected]

Secretary

Larry Milbry 330-780-6412 [email protected]

Immediate Past President

Ken Harrington 614-507-1061 [email protected]

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

David Argabright 614-801-9444 [email protected]

John Cordell 513-617-4511 [email protected]

Mark Garland 330-565–9022 [email protected] Roger Gerhardt 330-687-6331 [email protected] Chris Green 513-939-4036 [email protected]

B.K. Thompson 216-533-2812 [email protected]

COMMITTEE CHAIRMEN

Associate Mentoring — David Christopher

Education — George Basista

Finance — Tim Buell

Membership — Mark Garland

Newsletter — David Argabright

Public Relations/Realtor Relations

Special Projects Chairman

George Basista

NAT. COUNCIL REPRESENTATIVES George Basista Ken Harrington

John Cordell, Dave Haught

FALL/WINTER 2015

• Educational Seminars

• ASHI on the Road

• Peer Inspections

• Mentoring Program

Please check out the “Events" page on our website (www.ohioashi.com) to read about the upcoming events in your area. If you would like to see speci- fic events in your area, please contact any of the Board members or our Ex-ecutive Director — Howard Snyder.

Our December Seminar will be held on the 6th in Columbus and will in-clude a 4-hour seminar and lunch. Please save the date and plan to attend. The 2016 March Expo will be held on 4th, 5th, and 6th in Columbus . If you cannot attend January’s IW in San Diego, please be sure to attend the Expo which promises to be a great event with top notch presenters.

President,

Hello Members

I hope everyone had a great summer, both in your business and in your personal time. The chapter has been growing in leaps and bounds thanks to you and also the hard work of the board of directors and the officers of the Ohio Chapter of ASHI.

It has been our goal to offer the following oppor-tunities to assist the ACI's and the Associate in-spectors with becoming the best and most suc-cessful inspectors in the state!

O HIO J O UR N AL OF PR OF ESSIO N AL HO ME IN SPEC TIO N

WHO’S THE BEST? By: David Argabright—Vice-President

Albert Einstein said “Everyone is a genius in their area. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree, it will live its entire life believing that it is stupid.” No one is a genius in all areas. Come and learn from peers at the conferences.

Last issue I asked for an answer to a most perplexing question. All pro-fessional home inspectors have wrestled with this question at one point or another in their careers, “Who’s the best?” I extend my thanks to those I spoke to as well as those who emailed me their answers and thoughts. When I posed the question I thought of several members of the Ohio chapters of A.S.H.I. and N.A.H.I. Even some members in other states came to mind.

To be completely honest — it was a trick question. I realize I’m nowhere close to the best. If you took my vi-brato in the first paragraph of the question in the last issue as a honest statement you’d be sorely wrong. Some of us have a God-given gift of getting along with people. Some have the ability to discover and then clearly state the implications of their findings. Some have a mastery of business concepts and finance. Some have devoted their time to extensive research concerning one or maybe two issues. But the question I asked myself was “What makes these inspectors worthy of consideration?” They are willing to share the knowledge they have obtained in their fields. These folks should be considered experts in those areas. All of us as indi-viduals are lacking in one or more areas — but none I’ve met have a mastery of all.

In Ohio there are over 150 members of A.S.H.I. National who are not members of the Ohio chapter. I encour-age you to join our chapter. We will be able to obtain even better presenters for your education and you will benefit; not only from the seminars, but perhaps more importantly from the fellowship and referrals of the members of the chapter. I personally can attest to this fact. Because I’ve been a member of the chapter my costs to attend the sessions and pay my membership dues have essentially been free. The referrals I’ve re-ceived from other inspectors that are too busy or too far away more than cover the lost work and fees in-volved in being a member of the chapter. In return, I refer work to others if I can’t do it or if it requires exper-tise in an area I’m not comfortable with. Your presence will be beneficial to all of us. If you want additional proof, ask the inspector who will be or has already contacted you. We are striving to be the best and biggest chapter in the nation and with you help we can achieve that goal.

Newer inspectors who diligently strive to make it in this profession and let their desires known at these confer-ences, are always offered a helping hand and referrals to boot. It’s a winning combination. Online education is helpful and A.S.H.I. has that — but we have much more. The personal touch and guidance of seasoned pro-fessionals is critical to new inspectors. The Ohio chapter has a mentoring program which has been mentioned before. If you reach out you will be connected to a member who is capable and willing to take you under their wing. No one else offers this one-on-one on the job training. It’s here if you want it so don’t be timid about asking.

So “Who Is the Best?” The answer is “WE.” Collectively “WE” are the best. I’m a strong believer in attending our conferences and being an involved member of a local chapter. If you aren’t taking advantage of these op-portunities I strongly encourage you to do so. You’re hurting your bottom line if you don’t. In lean times the best inspectors will survive while the rest will fall to the wayside or be forced to lower their prices just to get the bottom feeders. “We” collectively and united are the best, and with the addition of YOU we will only get better. 1) Designate the Ohio chapter as your home chapter. This will give us even more prestige and power to make changes we feel are needed. 2) Join the chapter. Take advantage of the Find An Inspector designa-tion on our website and get more calls. 3) Attend the conferences and get involved. Do it today. Don't be a fish trying to climb a tree.

W O R K I N G T O G E T H E R — W E C A N M A K E A N A W E S O M E T E A M !

I thoughtI thoughtI thoughtI thought

you wereyou wereyou wereyou were

a GENIUS!a GENIUS!a GENIUS!a GENIUS!


YOUR CHAPTER NEEDS YOU! By: Howard R Snyder, Executive Director

I hope the word ‘Needs’ in the title triggered the question “What need?” No, it’s not about money. It’s about each of you volun-teering your time and talents in service to the Ohio Chapter. The chapter has achieved excellent growth over recent years; howev-er, the leadership team that’s been the driving force for that growth is in serious need of rest and/or relief. Doing the same things repetitively gets old and allows complacency to creep in and sub-consciously erode enthusiasm and attitude. Some cur-rent leaders are burned out and need relief. Others are tired and need recharging with a change in their area of chapter work.

I assume all members realize the Board of Directors and chapter officers serve without compensation. They give so all can receive the benefits of membership, but it’s no more their chapter than yours. Doing what’s necessary should be shared fairly, with all giving of their time and talents according to their capability. Get-ting new chapter members is not automatic, requiring varied recruiting and retention efforts. Quality educa-tion events don’t just happen. There are many tasks involved that occur continuously throughout the year, not just in the weeks before events. Membership and Education are the two committee areas that usually get first attention, simply to continue to exist as a viable chapter.

But what doesn’t get sufficient attention? Answering that question would undoubtedly bring forth a stimulating discussion. But why have such a discussion without sufficient resources to do anything further after priorities were developed? Identifying needs and/or deficiencies is a waste of time and effort if identified needs cannot be adequately addressed.

In my mind, the areas that would most benefit chapter members are Realtor Relations and Public Relations. Those two areas would have the greatest positive impact by indirectly helping members get more inspections, and elevating the public image of Ohio ASHI as the #1 professional home inspection organization because its’ members are the best. With that in mind, I encourage every member to volunteer for service to the chap-ter.

I feel this writing will have been worthwhile if a minimum of 12 to 15 of the best home inspectors in Ohio step-up and get more involved on the chapter’s leadership team. Be a contributor! The Ohio Chapter is YOUR chapter. Its’ value is individually determined by the extent of your personal participation.

To volunteer, or get additional information in the activity area you prefer to serve, contact any of the current leader-ship team listed on page one.

If you’ve benefitted from chapter membership in the past, I encourage you to give back. In my opinion, the gratification from giving far exceeds the pleasure of receiving. Try it — you may like

it!

O HIO J O UR N AL O F PRO F ESSIO N AL HO ME IN SPEC TIO N PAGE 4

SO YOUR HOME INSPECTOR

GRADUATED FROM

MIDDLE SCHOOL?! By: Charles Buell

Every once in a while, I will hear comments to the effect that home inspectors are poorly trained or inadequately trained. The blame is placed on the inspection schools. The thing people should keep in mind is that the mandate for training of home inspectors, whether in licensed states or in states relying on the various associations to train home inspectors, sets a “minimum standard.”

As an instructor in the State of Washington, I will be the first to agree that most students are not adequately prepared to be home inspectors right out of school. They typically have no trouble passing the National Home Inspector Exam, because again, the test is geared to a “minimum standard” of knowledge.

Training in Washington State consists of 120 hrs (3 weeks, 8 hrs a day) plus a fourth week of 40 hrs of field training. Most students come into the class feeling like they already know everything they need to know and cannot comprehend why they need to spend “so much” money and have to sit in class for three weeks.

At the end of the three weeks, with their brain looking like Monty Python’s Mr. Creosote, most students are painfully aware of how inadequate their knowledge was coming in and how woefully inadequate it still is even after all those hours. It will take time before there is room for one more thin wafer of information, and much of the information will have to be eaten over and over and over—before it truly sinks in.

Some of the things they learned will be remembered incorrectly and many other things will not be remem-bered at all. Hopefully it will have created a little voice in the back of their heads that warns them something is amiss even if they cannot remember exactly what. It is akin to graduation from middle school.

We do not expect middle school graduates to be adequately prepared for the fast lane of life and nor should we expect home inspectors to be ready to inspect homes after meeting the minimum standards of preparation to become a home inspector – at least not as well as more experienced inspectors.

The way it is set up now, the inspector will have to complete the rest of his or her schooling on their own. Perhaps one day, home inspectors will at least come out of training as high school graduates, and maybe down the road with even a college degree. Until that day, this is the way it is. Every inspection is the home inspector’s classroom.

The new inspector needs to ride along with experienced inspectors, ever wary the expe-rienced inspector may never have completed their training as well. They need to be mentored by experienced inspectors, ever wary that the mentor may not know what they are talking about.

They need to do continuing education, ever wary that not all presenters will be fully edu-cated themselves. They need to learn how to look up and interpret codes as necessary to support opinions they might have, even though those codes might not be applicable to what they are inspecting.

Most of all they need to learn to think, to observe, to come to the correct conclusions. They need to learn to ask for help when they do not know the answers. They need to learn to tell the difference between what is correct and what is bull-shit.


This all takes way more time than is currently possible in today’s educational system and quite frankly is not likely possible at all. Even the best and brightest of inspectors are learning all the time (hopefully). Does that mean they were previously inadequate? Most likely it does not. No other profession expects any student to know all they need to know when they get their license, and home inspectors should not be an exception.

Home inspectors coming out of the inspection schools will likely be prepared to catch the bigger issues present in the home and fall short on the many nuances of construction beyond the bigger things. It is akin to the middle school graduate that knows how to cross the street, tie their shoes, put on a rain coat when it is raining, and how to be excited about what they are doing. There is still so much more to know and so off they go to high school, col-lege, and post college. To Middle School and Beyond!

THE LENDING LIBRARY SYSTEM The Ohio Chapter of ASHI owns a complete set of:

• ASHI @ HOME TRAINING SYSTEM

• CODE CHECK – A Field Guide to Building a Safe House Video Series

• 2003 International Residential Code Video Series (DVD)

• Video Series from the BRICK INDUSTRY ASSOCIATION

These volumes and videos are available to all current OHIO CHAPTER ASHI Certi-fied Members and Associates. This represents a tremendous investment on the part of your chapter. We encour-age each and every Associate and Member to take advantage of this program. These are great training aids to help you become a better and more knowledgeable Inspector or as a refresher to study for the NHIE. Check out: www.ohioashi.com/library

STORE: MERCHANDISE http://www.ohioashi.com/store#!/Merchandise

You must be an ASHI Certified Inspector in order to purchase shirts, hats, patches or decals containing the gold ASHI logo. Those having attained ASHI Inspector status may purchase those items containing the black ASHI logo.

Educational merchandise not intended for public display, such as the Building Enve-lope Reference Manual and the Book of Phrases & Comments, can be purchased by all inspectors or any other interested party.

O HIO JO UR N AL O F PR O F ESSIO N AL HO ME IN SPEC TIO N

Three Presidents of the

Ohio Chapter: (Back

row, left to right:): Tim

Buell, George Basista

and Ken Harrington at-

tend the National Lead-

ership Training Confer-

ence in Chicago, along

with two new members

to the Ohio Chapter. —

Blaine Swann from On-

tario, Canada and Bryck

Gabor from Arizona,

ATTENTION ASSOCIATE MEMBERS

OF THE OHIO ASHI CHAPTER

OPEN TO NEW IDEAS

By Roger Gerhardt—Board Member

I would like to hear from the Associate members on what the Ohio Chapter could do better to assist you — to make you successful.

The Ohio Chapter is always open to new and better ideas to help our membership — this includes everyone, including the ACIs. The Ohio Chapter would be nothing without our members and we need to help each other to make us all successful. Let me hear from you about any ideas or improvements that you have and send them to: [email protected]

Just a reminder for the Associates of Ohio Chapter of ASHI who have not taken the National Home Inspector Exam (NHIE). Bruce Barker who has written a book on preparing and passing the NHIE will be at the Associ-ate day next spring at the Ohio ASHI Chapter MARCH EXPO. This will be a great learning opportunity for all the Associates.

S a v e t h e d a t e f o r n e x t s p r i n g ’ s

M A R C H E X P O — M a r c h 4 , 5 a n d 6 , 2 0 1 6


Carson Dunlop US Office 932 Lee Street, Suite 101932 Lee Street, Suite 101932 Lee Street, Suite 101932 Lee Street, Suite 101 Des Plaines, Illinois 60016Des Plaines, Illinois 60016Des Plaines, Illinois 60016Des Plaines, Illinois 60016 Phone: 800Phone: 800Phone: 800Phone: 800----268268268268----7070707070707070 Email: Email: Email: Email: [email protected]@[email protected]@carsondunlop.com

www.liftmaster.comwww.liftmaster.comwww.liftmaster.comwww.liftmaster.com

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The Ohio Chapter of ASHI® Thanks the Following Affiliate

Supporters and Encourages You To Use Their Services

O HIO JO UR N AL O F PR O F ESSIO N AL HO ME IN SPEC TIO N PAGE 8

3D INSPECTION

SYSTEMS, INC.

3979 Northside Circle

Suite 1

Fort Myers, Florida 33903

The Inspection Support Network™ is the leading online business management

platform for commercial and residential property

inspection businesses.

Questions? [email protected]

Fax: Mon. – Fri. 8:30AM to 5PM PST

Contact:

For Additional Information on Services Provided Please Email Us At: [email protected]

O HIO JO UR N AL O F PR O F ESSIO N AL HO ME IN SPEC TIO N PAGE 9

InspectionPRO Insurance Program — 826 East State Road, Suite 100, American Fork, UT 84003

Questions or Concerns:

D. Goldstein or Joe Dennelin 1200 Rt. 130

Robbinsville, NJ 08691

609.443.0700

PALM-TECH INSPECTOR

BY PDmB, INC.

9600 Colerain Ave, Suite 110

Cincinnati, OH 45251

M R F

FINANCIALS

Margaret & Rich Feldmaier

Accounting & Payroll

5755 Blendon Place Dr.

Columbus, OH 43230

Building Relationships — One Client at a Time


The Ohio Chapter of ASHI®

Thanks the Following Affiliate

Supporters and Encourages

You To Use Their Services

As Much As Possible

David Jones—licensed radon mitigation specialist and has pass- ed the

required training and testing. In addition, David is registered architect in the state

of Ohio with more than 27 years of experience.

Jerry Goode—Jerry has installed more than 2500 radon reduction systems

in the past with Eco Radon Solutions and other local radon mitigation contrac-

tors.

Email:

Phone:

O HIO J O URN AL OF PR OF ESSI O N AL HO ME IN SPEC TIO N PAGE 11

Tom Flood President [email protected]

Chris Flood Sales & Business Manager [email protected]

Phone (614) 771-9099 Fax: (614) 573-7105

4181 Lyman Drive, Hilliard, OH 43026

Analytical testing services to support Environmental investigations on: asbestos, microbiology,

lead paint, environmental chemistry, indoor air quality, industrial hygiene and food testing.

Peter Frasca - PhD - President Email: emsl.com

East Coast 800.220.3675 888.958.8170

N8W28892 Shepherds Way Waukesha, WI 53188

Phone: 262.303.4884 Fax: 262.303.4883

http://misterfix-it.com

We’re Nation-Wide

www.rtca.com

REMINDER: Changes in contact information (phone, fax, email or address)

should be sent to: [email protected].

OHIO ASHI P.O. Box 13294

Fairlawn, OH 44334

Phone: 330.929.5239

Email: [email protected]

EducatingEducatingEducatingEducating

andandandand

Assisting Home Assisting Home Assisting Home Assisting Home

InspectorsInspectorsInspectorsInspectors

PAGE 12 O HIO J O UR N AL OF PR OF ESSIO N AL HO ME IN SPEC TIO N

T H E S T R E N G T H O F A S H I L I E S

I N T H E K N O W L E D G E O F I T S M E M B E R S

A complete list of Ohio Chapter members is available at: www.ohioashi.com

I f you need an answer to a spec i f ic i s sue, useI f you need an answer to a spec i f ic i s sue, useI f you need an answer to a spec i f ic i s sue, useI f you need an answer to a spec i f ic i s sue, use

th i s va luable resource to resolve your problemthis va luable resource to resolve your problemthis va luable resource to resolve your problemthis va luable resource to resolve your problem

Use the information at ohioashi.com to contact a member or use contact information on the front of this cover.

THE OHIO JOURNAL OF PROFESSIONAL HOME INSPECTION is an official publication of the Ohio Chapter of the American Society of Home Inspectors (OHASHI). It is pub-lished quarterly solely for the information of its members, affili-ates and interested parties. OHASHI is a non-profit, voluntary professional society. ASHI® National headquarters is located

at 932 Lee Street, Suite 100, Des Plaines, IL 60016.

CHAPTER STORE ACCEPTS PAY PAL: Your chapter store accepts Pay Pal for your convenience. Not only can you order and purchase shirts, jackets, hats, de-cals, and study materials — you can also pay for seminars. If you haven’t taken a recent look at your chapter’s offerings, be sure to do so soon. We are continually adding new items to help promote you and your business. If you have any

questions, contact George Basista.

A MENTOR: TTTTeaches eaches eaches eaches ———— MMMMotivates otivates otivates otivates ———— LLLLeads eads eads eads ———— IIIInspiresnspiresnspiresnspires

The following men are available to answer any questions that you may have:

Ray Kershaw, Philip Wells, David Argabright, Michael Duncan, Frank Kishel,

Rick Szeles, Mark Garland, Ken Harrington, Tim Buell, and Tony Tilenni.

LEARNING — KNOWLEDGE — CONFIDENCE — GROWTH — SUCCESS!

ohio journal of professional home … journal of professional home inspection chapter ... finance...

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