Standing Out in Ohio Podcast
Listen and learn how some stand out from competition and gain market share. Information helpful to agents and buyers. Conversations with professionals and entrepreneurs regarding their stories and what makes their companies and themselves stand out and gain competitive advantages. Listen to stories from Ohio real estate agents and related businesses to help you know how to improve and who to consider using for yourself or friends. Created by the owners of a highly rated home inspection company in Ohio and the Winners of Best Home Inspection Company in the Midwest https://homeinspectionsinohio.com/
Standing Out in Ohio Podcast
When Technology Outpaces Expectations: The Future of Home Inspections
Modern radon monitors equipped with cellular connectivity can deliver test results automatically without requiring physical retrieval, creating confusion for those unfamiliar with this technology. We explain how a misunderstanding occurred when a real estate agent assumed we entered a property without permission.
• Advanced radon monitors transmit data every 10 minutes via cellular connection
• Reports are generated automatically after 48 hours without requiring device pickup
• Technology includes GPS tracking, motion sensors, and measures temperature/humidity
• System allows testing to begin at specific times (like 10pm) without needing late-night visits
• Automated reporting streamlines the inspection process for buyers, sellers and agents
• Communication is key before making assumptions about professional ethics
If you're looking for a home inspection company with award-winning service and cutting-edge technology, consider Habitation Investigation—voted Best Home Inspection Company in the Midwest for three consecutive years and Consumer's Choice Award winner for the Columbus area.
To learn more about Habitation Investigation, the Three-time Winner of the Best Home Inspection Company in the Midwest Plus the Winner of Consumer Choice Award for Columbus Ohio visit Home Inspection Columbus Ohio - Habitation Investigation (homeinspectionsinohio.com)
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Welcome to the Standing Out in Ohio podcast, where we discuss topics, upcoming events, news and predictions with real estate professionals and entrepreneurs. Listen and learn what makes their companies and themselves stand out and gain advantages over the competition and gain market share. Subscribe for the latest news and discussion on what it takes to stand out from the crowd. Now here's your host, jim.
Speaker 2:Hey everybody, welcome to the Stand Out Ohio podcast. Jim here and Laura the office. Goddess is with us.
Speaker 3:Hello everybody.
Speaker 2:All right. So, Laura, every now and then we get strange phone calls or emails.
Speaker 3:Yeah, strange in general.
Speaker 2:So well, some of it may be, and this one here exactly, is confusion as to, I guess, the technology that we use. Yes, what's the cause of this one?
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:But it's to the benefit of buyers, sellers and real estate agents.
Speaker 4:But first let's listen to this Habitation investigation is the way to go for a home inspection in Ohio. Trusted licensed home inspectors for your needs. From radon to mold to warranties For a great home inspection, you really can't go wrong. Visit homeinspectionsinohiocom.
Speaker 2:All right, Laura, so we got an email.
Speaker 3:Yes.
Speaker 2:Complaining that what that we picked, they went into somebody's house and picked up the radon monitor.
Speaker 3:Early. It was set for tomorrow, today, but they thought we'd gotten it yesterday. Okay so the reason why.
Speaker 2:Typical home inspection companies or radon mitigation companies. When they do testing, they put their machine in the house. It sits there. It has to get 48 hours of continuous data, during which time the house has to have closed house conditions, meaning it can't leave doors and windows open Going out normally, but it keeps the doors and windows generally shut.
Speaker 3:Yeah, they can't be blocked open.
Speaker 2:Cannot be blocked open or the door to the garage should not be kept open. We've had somebody try and do that one time but it still came back high. But anyway, that was the home seller trying to do some shady stuff. So anyway, most tests you go in, you lay it there, get your 48 hours of straight data. Then the company or the technician goes back in, gets the device. Okay, it's dependent upon the type of device. They got mailed those things into a lab to figure out what the radon levels are, or they get the data and send it to the lab.
Speaker 3:So then within an hour or so, Once they pick it up, that's when they, then they can get it.
Speaker 2:Okay, that's typical.
Speaker 3:Right, ours is a different setup.
Speaker 2:Ours is a different and awesome setup.
Speaker 3:But much, much cooler.
Speaker 2:And this is what screwed up the person who was complaining You're right, I'm positive. This is what happened.
Speaker 3:I'm positive You're right. Okay, so what happens with ours? Ours have a cell phone in them basically for the GPS. And so what happens is, as long as there's cell reception or some type of connectivity where our monitor is placed, as soon as that 48 hour test is up, it automatically uploads it to the server where they compile a report and within half an hour to an hour of it being uploaded to the lab, a report comes out and it gets sent to the buyer and to their agent if they choose.
Speaker 2:We don't need to go in the house, we don't need to go into the house.
Speaker 3:It does it all automatically. Technology is great.
Speaker 2:And we think this is probably what the agent got the result and it's like wait a minute, why are you guys going into this house early? Right, and that's what.
Speaker 3:I think what it was was the buyer's agent mentioned something to the listing agent about the results were high and that they were going to be dealing. I think that's in the email, that's that's what they said, and so she just automatically took it to she being the listing agent. We must have gone out and gotten that monitor yesterday, because that's the only way we could get the results. So I was like, no, we did not go out. It is on the schedule for tonight to get Check your super key.
Speaker 3:Check your super key, check with your sellers. Did anybody actually show up? Because no, we didn't, and it's on our list for tomorrow. We'll be out there between 5 and 8 or whatever the time frame is. Pick it up and it's on our list for tomorrow. We'll be out there between five and eight or whatever the timeframe is and we'll pick it up tomorrow.
Speaker 3:However, the technology that our monitors use enables us to have the reports done. I'm like this. This is one of the benefits of using us, because you know if you've got a tight frame in your window of inspection periods and it's hard to get back out to pick it up. You don't have to worry about that with ours, because we can drop it. During the inspection, reports get sent automatically and then as soon as we get in, we can get our monitor. Life is good.
Speaker 2:It doesn't have to be within that timeframe window with us Yep, and this is good for inspectors, because, well, it's good for everybody. Let's say, we get to a house and they left the windows open. They're supposed to have all the windows shut before we show up.
Speaker 3:And that is an email For at least 12 hours, yeah.
Speaker 2:And if some seller does not know that that's a failure of their listing agent to tell them to shut everything up.
Speaker 3:Because that actually gets sent out in an email from our system.
Speaker 2:Let's say I got inspection starts at 10 o'clock. It includes radon. I go there. Windows are open. I cannot. That test cannot legally start unless everything's been shut for at least 12 hours, right? So what we can do is I'll set the radon monitor, I'll have a program so it does not start until, let's say, 10 o'clock at night, right? So then it'll start getting 48 hours of data. We don't have to make another trip, right, which saves us time. But then two days later, 10 o'clock at night, that report goes out.
Speaker 2:Nobody's going to want the home inspector to show up 10, 11 o'clock at night go, hey, I'm here to get your radon monitor. You have to show up 10, 11 o'clock at night go, hey, I'm here to get your radon monitor. Yeah, nobody wants that. Nobody wants that, Especially if it's in the afternoon. They talk like 2 in the morning. No, we're not doing that and we're not going to do it at 10 o'clock at night, because your client did not schedule the spectrum until the last moment. It was a time period, so in this case we set it at 10. We couldn't start it until 10 at night because they had the windows open. So the 48 hours will end at 10 o'clock at night two days later. Yes, Our system, because it collects data every 10 minutes and sends that data to the lab every 10 minutes. Assuming it has good cell reception and everything, which most of the time it does, that report will probably be completed.
Speaker 3:1030 and sent out to everybody.
Speaker 2:By 11. Yep, and we did not have to go disturb the sellers at night to get the data Right.
Speaker 3:So I think that confused agent, at least this agent, because I think both agents actually Maybe I think this was the first time both had used us. They didn't know.
Speaker 2:That could explain it. That could explain it.
Speaker 3:So that's why we're doing this. So you know, check around, Look at the technology that different inspection companies have, because there's some really cool stuff out there now.
Speaker 2:Yeah, but most companies do not use this.
Speaker 3:No, they don't, but this is a very cool technology and it does a great job.
Speaker 2:So if you get your radon report weird times of the day or at night, or you wake up and find it in your mailbox. You get up at 630 in the morning and go Dude this. Really, they really finished this up 10 o'clock last night. It's automated due to the technology that we have in our radar monitors. That are. They're nice. They're very nice. They measure temperature, humidity, whether it's been moved air pressure.
Speaker 2:They have GPS on it, so we know they actually got physically moved from one area to the next. If it gets bumped, we get an alert, power goes off or power is low.
Speaker 3:It's got a battery backup. Yeah, so it's cool.
Speaker 2:it is a very cool stuff it really kind of cut back on people trying to fraud these things a little bit. But anyway, so that that's. That's, that was something that came up confusion for confusion for some people who do not know that we have that technology. Um, it's just nice and it's very. I guess it's surprising. But what irritates you last night? Me as well. It's just an assumption, it's just. But what irritates?
Speaker 3:you last night, me as well. It was just an assumption.
Speaker 2:It's just the assumption that we did something wrong, that we go in without permission, right. Why would you automatically assume that and I guess I understand that's all they know is you have to go in and physically get it?
Speaker 3:But that's still an assumption that you made about somebody you know nothing about. Just ask hey, how'd that report get sent out?
Speaker 2:Maybe we actually did get permission and you just didn't know it. Yeah, yeah, there's all kinds of scenarios that can happen. Just don't assume that we did something wrong.
Speaker 3:Well, and especially if you've got a Supra box on your door, anytime we push a code in or we go to open it, it triggers who's opening that technology again, like you can see that somebody went in and who that somebody was. So for you to not pull that Supra box thing to look, or to pull it and say, oh, nobody came in. Well, let me write this email anyways and accuse them of going in, and that's not very professional either. At least don't just jump down somebody's throat automatically and talk about how disappointed you are and how you know untrustworthy we are because we went. Did they say that?
Speaker 2:Or something you felt like that.
Speaker 3:That was kind of how I took it actually. If they say that they're unethical, they're like all right, kind of how I took it actually, Because I was offended again.
Speaker 2:If they say that they're unethical, they're like all right, now, you're slandering us, you're slandering anybody. If you say stuff like that, you need to do research first, get data and then talk about it. We don't need to go over, but anyway, that's something that happened yesterday because they did not understand that our technology is awesome and it helps speed things up for everybody.
Speaker 3:I am disappointed. If this is the case Per the buyer's agent, Well we're disappointed.
Speaker 2:You want to just immediately blame us for stuff. Yeah, it goes both ways. Yes, it does yeah.
Speaker 3:Communication is key. It goes both ways. Yes, it does. Yeah, communication is key. If something happened and you check in the background and sellers say we didn't come and your super says we didn't come, why don't?
Speaker 2:you just pick up the phone and call and go, hey, how'd this happen?
Speaker 3:Why did this report come out and nobody picked it up? Yes, ask, I've had agents do that, like we've had reports that have gone out, and an agent's called me and been like, how do I have this report? Oh, here, let me tell you about this, it's really freaking cool. And then they're like, oh, wow, that is really cool. Yep, and they asked, like they didn't send an email just automatically, assuming we went in. It's my understanding that you went into this house last night. I'm very disappointed in you.
Speaker 2:No, no, we didn't go in. No, we did not. No, we did not. Well, an old system we had. I was supposed to go. This is the time I need to go pick up.
Speaker 3:Right, I remember that.
Speaker 2:I couldn't get in. Door was locked and everything. But it uses Bluetooth. So I went around the side of the house and I was able to get the signal through the window of the basement and get in Bluetooth and get it sent. Still had to make another trip out Right to pick it up. It's annoying. But, you could at least get that done.
Speaker 3:I got that done for the buyers, because that was like the last day, I think, and they needed it and the sellers weren't there to let us in, like they were supposed to. I remember that. I remember you walking around going oh wait, I got it I got it.
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, I'm like thank goodness for Bluetooth, Woo-hoo.
Speaker 3:Thank goodness for Bluetooth Woo-hoo. Thank goodness for walls that let Bluetooth go through.
Speaker 2:So I think that's it for this one.
Speaker 3:If you are looking for a home inspection company, hey, it's got cool technology.
Speaker 2:Give us a call Consider Habitation Investigation. We have won Best Home Inspection Company in the Midwest. Three last three years.
Speaker 3:Last three years in a row.
Speaker 2:And then this year we won Consumer's Choice Awards for Columbus, for Columbus area, columbus metro area. I don't know how they do that.
Speaker 3:Yeah, I think there were only like five places across the country. So there was like Columbus, a place in Washington, a place in Texas, I think one in Florida, did they?
Speaker 2:do Consumer's Choice.
Speaker 3:Yeah, no, it's more national than that.
Speaker 2:They've got a lot of locations. Maybe one place they do homeless merchants.
Speaker 3:I don't know. I think that might be it, because I remember something about they only did like five.
Speaker 2:Gotcha. So anyway, that's it for this one. Thanks everybody, bye, bye-bye.
Speaker 1:You've been listening to the Standing Out in Ohio podcast. Be sure to subscribe on Spotify or Google Podcasts to get new, fresh episodes. Subscribe on Spotify or Google Podcasts to get new, fresh episodes. For more, please follow us on Instagram, twitter and Facebook, or visit the website of the best Ohio home inspection company at homeinspectionsinohiocom or jimtroffcom. That's J-I-M-T-R-O-T-H. And click on podcast. Until next time, learn and go do stuff.