Featured home inspector

HomeGauge recognizes inspectors for special achievements and market niches and feature them here for special recognition and for other inspectors to benefit.

For Al and Billie DeLong, DOUBLECHECK is more than just a name — it’s how they do their inspections as a team. Somewhat unique to the industry, they started their business 7 years ago with the idea of providing “Two inspectors on every call”. As one of HomeGauge’s earliest clients, we have worked with them on a personal basis for that entire time and watched as they quickly became one of Spartanburg’s top inspection companies, performing up to 550 inspections per year. Their unique service and marketing efforts has allowed them to provide well over 450 inspections, even in this most recent slow year.

Early on, they decided to provide a “Premier” one-stop type service and immediately became certified for various environmental testing, joined multiple professional organizations, provide on-site printing, and numerous other services, all with no additional clerical or outside administration. Their marketing plan was to look as professional and friendly as possible. Someone you could trust. But the secret weapon, was the husband/wife team!

For this article, I asked them to describe why their husband/wife team concept and their business is so successful: “Simple”, they say. A team of inspectors speeds up the inspection, with each person doing a specific part of the job, while simultaneously entering data into the computer. One person can always be entering data or pictures while the other is, say, inspecting the crawlspace. It really speeds things up, yet keeps you flexible enough that one can answer the phone if needed, while the other is still working, without making the client feel second. We can easily handle 3 inspections in a day and get most of the admin work done within normal work hours. Let’s face it, a husband/wife team looks friendlier and makes people feel safer. You can explain problems without being intimidating and everyone feels better about the process. While one of us is reviewing the report with the client, or driving to the next inspection, the other can catch up on phone calls, book inspections and answer questions. Our truck is set up like a mobile office. We upload the inspection report and send out the email notification link shortly thereafter. And the best part is that when we are done for the day, we are done for the day! There isn’t 4 hours of homework awaiting us. But honestly, I can’t imagine doing all this without HomeGauge software and Services (internet tools). Our clients and agents love it. We appreciate the ease and flexibility. The website development package was a no-brainer and we appreciate the on-line capabilities and products like Radon test integration. When we first started we tried something else for a brief period, and it was a nightmare. From the day we met and switched, it’s been a wonderful relationship and HomeGauge just keeps getting better. Sorry if this sounds like an advertisement, but I am one of your strongest supporters because of the success you have helped us achieve.

All of us at HomeGauge are proud to have Billie and Al Delong using our software and HG Services, and their success as a husband wife team shows that unique possibilities are always out there if we care to look. There professionalism is easy to recognize and we recommend DoubleCheck!