This Thanksgiving, we want to shine a light on the people who volunteer their time to give back to their community through Rebuilding Together Howard County. This would not be possible without the team of dedicated volunteer home inspectors who visit homes, determine what repairs are necessary and conduct a technical inspection that is submitted back to RTHC.
A volunteer home inspector commits a lot of time to our organization including attending regular meetings, going onsite at homes and completing all of the paperwork for each home inspected.
What Does a RTHC Home Inspector Do?
First,
The inspector receives a homeowner preview form developed via a phone call to vet the homeowner. The preview form contains the homeowner contact information and a brief summary of the repairs they are requesting.
Second,
The inspector calls the homeowner to schedule the inspection (this step alone can take multiple days to coordinate).
Third,
Two inspectors visit the home. The first inspector is responsible for working with the homeowner to complete the documentation to include the Homeowner Agreement and Income Verification Form. The second inspector fills out the technical inspection form and takes photos of the house and repairs requested. This includes evaluating and documenting 25 Safe and Housing Characteristics. For example, some of the 25 characteristics documented are whether the clothes dryer vents to the exterior of the home, are there any visible water leaks, is the heating system operable, to name a few. It is important to note the inspector will evaluate the home prior to and after repairs are complete to determine how many of these 25 items were resolved. This tracking process enables Rebuilding Together to document the impact of our work on the local housing community. Our goal is to revitalize the community and to track our progress one home at a time. It’s one thing to say that we help low income homeowners but a different thing to state exactly how we helped them.
Fourth,
The inspector submits the technical inspection form. House captains then view the technical inspection forms and are paired with a homeowner in need. Finally, the inspectors attend approximately 6 meetings a year to discuss the houses they inspect.
Thank You RTHC Inspectors
We are so grateful to have this dedicated group of philanthropic individuals who work hard to process and quickly inspect homes so they can be safe and organized for our volunteers on work days. Thank you to all of our dedicated volunteer home inspectors!