Dale McNutt

Without realizing it, I performed my first property inspections in the Sierra Nevada foothills back in the early 1980’s. I had just gotten my contractor’s license and folks that I knew in the small town would call and ask me to “swing by” and take a look and let them know what I thought. It wasn’t very profitable. Very few people at that time were full-time inspectors because the concept had not taken hold yet. When I started 15 years ago as an official “card carrying” property inspector, about 60% - 70% of all transactions had an inspection. Now, virtually all transactions have professional inspections. Why did people call me 33 years ago to tell them what I thought? They trusted me. That part hasn’t changed. What has changed is experience, efficiency, technology, and much more gray hair. I love what I do, and people pay me well to do what I love. I also enjoy the freedom. I am free to tell clients the truth. When you see something that’s “wrong”, it is important to explain it in a way that people can use. The words “apparently” and “potentially” are seldom heard in my world. Four layers of roofing is not acceptable. If the only concern is whether or not the roof is going cave in, we have a disconnect. Four layers of roofing is a defect. Making buyers and investors aware of defects is what inspecting is all about. Predicting the future is folly. My past has prepared me very well for what I doing now. From building custom homes to over 38,000 hours in commercial construction, I have seen just about every single condition there is in construction. That does not mean that learning is ever over. I tell people that I learn something new at every inspection I do. I also learn from others more knowledgeable than me. I give back to those less knowledgeable than me. It’s actually fun.