HomeGauge Erfahrungen

excellent software for home energy audits

Kommentare: Very good customer service when you need help. (a real human answers the phone) Pricing is very reasonable as well. We've been using this software for approx 7yrs.

Vorteile:

The software is pliable in that it is designed primarily for home inspections but we use it for energy audits and it's very easy to use and customize to fit your needs.

Nachteile:

no great way to do utility bill analysis

Home Gauge report review

Kommentare: It's Great! I contact customer service and get quick replies and easy to follow instructions when I get stuck on something. I feel that they actually listen to their customer base and try to meet the concerns with updates of the software. Sometimes I find myself watching the youtube video's that they do ... it does help.

Vorteile:

Really like the software ... pretty easy to use for the most part ... no real learning curve here ... just need to be patient and pay attention that includes when editing a template. I edited mine several times over the years to fit my and my clients needs ... really happy with it.

Nachteile:

I don't think it's really the software itself --- but saving / printing to a PDF - well lets say I wish there was an alternative ... Adobe and other PDF's tend to rearrange the report - just doesn't look as nice and neat as the HTML version. The other one is editing Reps info ... including email ... Reps change companies but leave behind team members that use the same email ... maybe a more less restrictive editing ability would be nice.

Nothing but a check list and difficult to use

Kommentare: Frustrating. Infuriating. Aggravating. Exasperating. I'm a computer geek. I can usually overcome most any software obstacle, if the software is even remotely functional. But every time I came up with a work-around for some HomeGauge limitation, 2 more would pop up. Their customer support is above average. But good customer support is not enough to overcome the many software limitations of the desktop version and the broken iPhone version. I ended up switching to iAuditor, which is a far superior product that surprisingly, costs much less. Do yourself a favor. Avoid HomeGauge like the plague. It's a time waster.

Vorteile:

Hmmm… I sat here for two minutes, before writing this, just trying to think of something good to say about the HomeGauge software. But despite my best efforts, I can't think of anything I like about the software, itself. That said, I must complement the developer on providing above average technical support. Unfortunately their support is not enough to overcome the many missing or broken features in the HomeGauge software.

Nachteile:

Wow! The list of issues with HomeGauge is long. 1) Windows only - won't run on Mac. 2) iPhone version crashes regularly. 3) It's nothing more than a glorified list - NO LOGIC. 4) Generated reports are hard to follow. 1) The desktop version is only available on the Windows operating system. If you use a Mac, you have to install Windows on your Mac. Surprisingly, I found that the app actually runs faster on my Mac than on a friend's PC. Go figure… But many of the features that Mac users take for granted are not available under windows. So it becomes a pain to use. 2) Although they offer a mobile version, the iPhone version is less than useless. My RV inspections take 6 to 8 hours and the iPhone version of HomeGauge would crash 3 to 8 times during an inspection. I would always lose at least the last question that I answered. But at times, I lost as many as 8 responses. Every time HomeGauge crashed on the iPhone, I would have to spend several minutes going back to figure out which questions I was going to have to answer again and then re-create those answers. Result: I lost any time that HomeGauge saved me. Really less than useless. 3) It's nothing more than a glorified list. There is NO LOGIC. Therefore the user must answer many unnecessary questions. If the RV has only 2 air conditioners, I shouldn't have to answer questions about 5 ACs. 4) The generated reports are difficult to follow (poorly structured) and only in PDF. There is no built-in color coding.

One of the best

Kommentare: Professional reports that wow my clients and business services that have saved time and headaches. An all in one company that offers everything needed to get started. Some of those features may not be as great as could be found elsewhere for more money, but work well enough to satisfy startup business needs and budget.

Vorteile:

Full suite of features that help run your business in addition to excellent software, webinars, and customer support.

Nachteile:

Can be cumbersome at times. The many options for customizing could be more streamlined and easier to learn as you go. Same with making changes to customer information after scheduling.

Love HomeGauge and Love the Company Employees

Kommentare: They overall are great! The customer service/technical support department are top notch and make me feel like they truly do care and want to get to the bottom of any issue I may be having.

Vorteile:

The fact that is let me customize the layout of reports to fit my vision of what me reports should look like.

Nachteile:

I feel like the app needs some work. It crashes on me frequently and still has bug fixes needed. Updates from the developers are slow to come out.

Quality and Professional Inspection Software

Kommentare: Overall this software in my opinion is irreplaceable. It provides my company with a professional looking and high quality report and the tools needed to deliver that report to our clients. The customer service they offer is top notch and any problem we have ever had they walk us through the resolution not just fixing the issue but by educating us in the process.

Vorteile:

The Quality of the finished report, when my clients get there reports they know it is a professional report and not something someone threw together.

Nachteile:

Learning curve getting started is steeper then with other software packages but the quality that comes out is worth the learning curve. The customer service is outstanding which also helps to erase this con.

Solid Software on All Aspects

Kommentare: Awesome. Not much else to say. It would be nearly impossible for me to switch at this point and have no plans to.

Vorteile:

I like Homegauge as it really does all I need for my business: Electronic Agreements Payment gateway Digital uploads Ease of use after initial learning curve. Overall, I personally think it is the best, but I have not used many others. I have tried a few out as samples, but went with Homegauge. I am still making small tweaks after 140 or so inspections, but it is great!

Nachteile:

Their internal time stamp (for uploads and documentation) is East coast only, and after a few requests, this has not been able to be swapped to reflect my native time zone. This cannot be hard to adjust.......really!?!?! My customers do not care about the East Coast time zone. It can be a bit clunky initially with getting things set up. You have PC Software and your web dashboard. Once established it is great. There was just a bit of a learning curve, however they were helpful on the phone.

I Heart HG

Kommentare: Super friendly, always recognize me when I call (or at least they successfully pretend to), and everyone loves the look of my report.

Vorteile:

Well the staff is the bomb which is super important because I'm a hot mess to deal with on the phone sometimes. Homegauge does everything I want it to (minus a few minor improvements). I rarely have a problem and the staff is always there to get me back on track when I get click crazy and mess something up 😂

Nachteile:

When editing images on my computer, the image is soooo small and sometimes it is difficult to see what I'm trying to capture. I also wish that I could put arrows on my images in the companion.

HomeGauge review

Kommentare: I have always had a good experience.

Vorteile:

I Have used this product since 2011, I have seen the user friendly software change over the years. More features keep getting added that help my business look professional and keep ahead of the competition. When I first started with HomeGauge I used to talk to customer service and they would walk me through my problem. Now I have not needed to talk to customer service for the past few years, everything is so easy to do and I can customize a report to fit my clients.

Nachteile:

I do wish the software would allow me to do quarterly reports to make taxes easier.

Good Product

Kommentare: We have Many copies of this software and were hardcore supporters for many years, The delay in updates forced us to go in a different direction and while we paid for services for many years that we really did not use as part of our profile when we cancelled services we were cut off from our stored reports. and as there is not a good backup system, these are not available to us

Vorteile:

Fairly easy to use with a minor learning curve. has the ability to use a mobile version that speeds up the process. Great customer service.

Nachteile:

The overall look and feel of the program is a bit behind the times however is better than some. The ties to third parties are a bit concerning. The worst part is that you are forced to pay a monthly fee in order to integrate the mobile software (although there are some ways around it) and it is not a live software so data loss from equipment failure is a concern and the ability to store photos outside of the program is tricky and you have to install a secondary camera app in order to have the photos accessible in you gallery.

Owner inspector

Kommentare: I need to produce a very technical and in depth inspection report fairly quickly.

Vorteile:

This software is a very powerful software that enables you to produce an in depth inspection that presents very well.

Nachteile:

It is hard to functionally use some of the more in depth options

Long Time User

Kommentare: Overall, I really like HomeGauge. Just like any company there are hiccups. When ever I experience one and couldn't figure it out on my own I found their Customer Service willing and able to help me out. I have compared other reporting software but I just can't bring myself to learning a new program. I have been happy with my decision I made 15 years ago and don't plan on switching.

Vorteile:

I like the fact that the templates are customizable. Example: I live in Colorado where the weather is hot and dry in the summer. Many people use Swamp Coolers. I was able to easily add this inspection item into the template. Also, I can rearrange the inspection items to fit my preferred inspection procedures. I like the fact that the pictures are included with the comment and not made reference to pages of pictures at the end of the report for the client to search for. My Realtors and clients like the Create Repair List function. This has been a great marketing point to my Realtors because it saves them a lot of time in writing up the Inspection Objection report for the seller. Another great feature is I can have auto comments that I want in every report to appear when I start a new report. I no longer have to remember to include them. In the Styles and Material section of the report I was able to select certain items and when they are selected the comment for that item is automatically inserted into the report. An example of this is when I select Federal Pacific Panel in the Styles and Material section a comment also is placed in the report under Electrical that tells the client about the concerns of the FPE. I also do this with aluminum wiring as well as dozens of other items. This is a great time saver for me. I also suggested a feature for labeling manually uploaded report like Radon and Sewer Reports that they now include as a feature.

Nachteile:

I would have to say that the think I like the least is the time I spend on generating the report. This is more my fault then HomeGauge. There are quicker ways to generate the report like using your cell phone but I have been using HomeGauge for over 15 years and prefer to do it the old school way using a laptop. But still I only spend 30 to 40 minutes on a report and up to 1.5 hours on a really bad house with all kinds of defects. I prefer to put a lot of detail into my reports.

Homegauge Services and Software

Kommentare: Pros:
1. Customer support is absolutely top notch and one of the best features of the company.
2. I like the "full package" of business solutions ( scheduling, taking payment, software integration, website, etc) it has allowed me to start an inspection business literally from scratch and bring it to a fully functional prospering company.
3. Software and support are an excellent value for the cost.
4. I have gotten many complements on my website design done by the HomeGauge team, and on my reports.
Cons:
5. I have been VERY frustated with inability to manipulate the information of people who are my contacts, not being able to make simple edits such as spelling, correcting phone numbers, etc. This has been a problem numerous times. In essence, I am NOT an administrator of my own contact list. It gives me the unwelcome feeling that I don't own or control that part of my business. As a business owner I should have my own administrative rights over all contact information that my company acquires.
6. I dislike having a system that requires user names and passwords for the clients to access the reports. Have had to apologize for this several times.
7. I would prefer for HomeGauge to be a seamless part of my company and presentation, instead of appearing to be a separate company that the customer must interface with or know about. There is no need for my costumers to ever be concerned about who or what Homegauge is.

Vorteile:

Easily intergrates with online scheduler, easy to customize. Professional quality end product. Company also provides website support. Ability to automatically add comments based on Styles and Materials, auto fill of client and inspection info.

Nachteile:

Frankly, using it requires too many "clicks", could be streamlined. Focus appears to be more on "bells and whistles" rather than making it easier to use. Some aspects in the software are somewhat rigid.

Homegauge

Kommentare: The presentation is very professional and it's made my business better.

Vorteile:

The software is very user-friendly you can upload and download true cloud you could use to home gauge companion on site which makes report writing a lot quicker and easier I've been using home gauge for about 15 years or so and I've been able to change my templates and change this and that for my liking and quicker report writing I've tried several other softwares and home gauge is second to none over the years the upgrades have been fantastic their web site Department as-built vantastic website for me and whenever I have a problem I call in the customer service is very good when you call and you can't get ahold of anybody in someone else is on the phone they surely get back to you in a timely manner I would recommend home gauge to anybody getting into the field don't waste your time with other software.

Nachteile:

The few things that I don't like on the software would be sometimes there's a glitch here in there which can be expected, but it makes you go to your dashboard and sigh in even though you keep your self signed in. Every month you have to reactivate your your software which can be nerve racking if it is on a Friday and they are closed until Monday and you have report to get out. Which has happend to me. The funny thing is in the past few months i do not remembering reactivating the software so maybe they have fixed it. My agents just love the repair list feature.

HOMEGAUGE usability and interface

Kommentare: THE CALENDAR/SCHEDULER! Managing a multi inspector firm MUST BE MADE EASIER! If it is not mad easier then I will have to leave HG as much as it will hurt at first, the current way of doing things is not tenable.

Vorteile:

It's malleable. I can customize templates very easily. The customer interface is good.

Nachteile:

The cumbersome calendar is awful. The CLASSIC SCHEDULER is totally antiquated and there is not support for it anymore. Running a company with more than one inspector is dreadful. There is no smooth crossover from one inspector to another from an admin position. I manage the scheduling and in order to do so each inspector has to have their own profile that I can not toggle back and forth to. I have to literally log out of one and into another each time there is a calendar change. Interface with Outlook and Google calendar should be WAAYY easier

HomeGauge Software and Services

Kommentare: I use the services platform to manage inspection agreements, scheduling, messaging, and report delivery. It simplifies my day to day management, and makes the process convenient and easy for my clients. The software is excellent. It takes awhile to get it customized to your needs so that the amount of time spent writing reports is minimized. The companion app works very well and is easy to navigate. If it had some picture editing capability, and you could default the desktop picture size smaller, it would be more time efficient to use. I recommend the software to everyone in the Home Inspection business.

Vorteile:

Easy to customize Reasonably priced Great benefits and ease of use for my clients Robust platforms for laptop and smart devices via the companion app

Nachteile:

Can’t edit the photos on the companion app Can’t set a default size for pictures, would like to set them small and enlarge when needed. Landscape and portrait orientations are sized differently. To make a portrait view the same size as a landscape view, you must rotate the picture 90 degrees, set the size, and rotate it back. Conversion to .pdf adds a lot of white space and resizes the images, resulting in a much longer report. Takes awhile to get it customized enough to be time efficient.

Almost a decade of use

Kommentare: As an experienced user with almost ten years under my belt, I've got to admit that if I weren't set in my ways, and if I could persuade my inspectors to do the same, I'd switch to a different software program in a heartbeat, bidding farewell to HomeGauge.

Vorteile:

The ability to take pictures and videos from your phone directly and indirectly and have it in the program is critical. As for the service team, they are the epitome of friendliness. Despite encountering issues almost daily, they are always apologetic and understanding. It's like having a helpful friend on the other end of the line, always ready to lend a listening ear and a solution to any problem.

Nachteile:

Getting a report from your phone to the computer can be a real headache, and additional forms like the four-point and wind mitigation forms make the process even more frustrating. It's like pulling teeth! Scratch that; it is worse.

Trouble free report writing

Vorteile:

Home Gauge can be customized in detail. There are many common defects found in most homes that require some type of notation in a report. I am able to draw that comment from my pre-written list and insert it quickly into the report. This saves time and avoids confusion about the topic. I am also very grateful for the wonderful tech support from the very knowledgeable staff. They are responsive and diligent in helping me solve any questions I might have about the software. The system is even very helpful to my clients and agents with the Request List function. They love it!

Nachteile:

A few of the photo editing functions are awkward to use, but I've learned to work around them.

Home Gauge Software

Kommentare: The customers and Realtors like how easy it is to use at their end. I get new Realtors and they like so much, they will recommend me to their clients.

Vorteile:

The software is very custom-able. I used a book before I purchased the software and was used to that format, and I was able to customized the software to what I wanted. The software is easy to add pictures to, and easy to understand. I bought the program from Home Gauge and that was it, no more money going out for updates. Home Gauge also comes up with very good additions to the software that really help out my customers and their Realtors. When I bought Home Gauge software, I looked at nine different software packages, and chose Home Gauge for how easy it was to customize.

Nachteile:

There is a lot of things in the software I do not use, that would help my business, that I personally have a problem comprehending. I am an older inspector, and did not have computers when I grew up. I have to get my grown up children to help me get through it.

15 years experience using Homeguage

Kommentare: Overall Homeguage is awesome, but I feel they are falling behind their newer competitors as far as web report presentation, reporting and appointment scheduling capabilities.

Vorteile:

I love the excellent consumer support. I love the "Smart Text" time saving functionality of Homeguage comment writing when using the HG Companion software. I love the cloud service.

Nachteile:

I am unhappy with the inability to truly have an online scheduler on my home inspection website. I used their "old" online scheduler for years, until they stopped supporting it. Homeguage keeps promising a new truly online scheduler, but keep missing their promise dates by years. I finally switched to ISN software for scheduling, and I will never go back!! I wish Homeguage would integrate their "Request List" feature for clients and Realtors into ISN's third party report delivery. "HG Services" are overpriced for what they have to offer.

Why?

Kommentare: Getting inspection agreement signed.

Vorteile:

Picture edits. able to add arrows and contrast/brightness, ability to find old reports.

Nachteile:

Why no word search? Just a "control F" function would be great. A picture in picture tutorial I could follow along with as I actually perform the function would be great. The spell check algorithm needs upgrading. There are words very specific to home inspections that are not in the data base such as "escutcheon". It may be there now I have not checked (it is the chrome base around an knob or spigot). Many words with an "s" at the end will not be accepted. Some words with one obvious letter missing or misplace and it does not recognize it at all. Can not even suggest the correct word. Some times myself and another HomeGauge user will have a note that we are proud of as being concise, clear and dealing with a difficult issue just vanish. This is not after a software upgrade. Just one day it is there and the next it is gone. Scrambled notes. For instance after one software upgrade a list of foundation note disappeared and were under foundations.

Highly recommended

Kommentare: Homegauge software is so reliable that I have not had to "think" about my report software for many years, allowing me of focus on company growth. The software is reliable, customer service is friendly and helpful allowing my to focus on my clients needs first.

Vorteile:

This software is easy to learn, easy to use, easy to customize to your needs. Report delivery and integrated customer reviews is very useful. Customer service is friendly and helpful.

Nachteile:

The software/user dashboard is not friendly for multi-inspector firms. There are no "permissions" options to allow various amounts of access. Example, owner would have access to all the features, reports for all inspectors, all inspectors calendars, access to all contacts. Inspectors would have limited access to only their reports and calendar, with no access to company contacts or customization options. Due to the limitation, I have chosen to send reports outside of HG, which then limits my clients use of some of the HG features that I really like.

Great software all in one!

Vorteile:

I love this software because it has everything I need for my company in one software. From the software generating reports, scheduling, keeping track of inspections per month, sales revenue, etc. Plus customer service is always a call away, with no long holding times, and get your problems fixed instantly. Definitely would recommend!

Nachteile:

The updates tend to always have bugs and the system should be a bit more personal to each company.

HomeGauge is Awesome!

Kommentare: We are told by many Realtors they love our reports. HomeGauge has allowed us to make our reports great. I can't say enough about the support offered by the staff at HomeGauge.

Vorteile:

The HomeGauge software is extremely user friendly. After performing an inspection, the last thing I want to do is take hours writing the report. I am able to input all information into the software at the time of the inspection, with final tweeking taking only minutes once I sit down to finalize the report. If I do have a question, the support offered can not be beat.

Nachteile:

Since I used this software ALL day as the administrator of our company, I have the Dashboard up all the time. When I haven't been active for awhile, I have to re-log in. That is the ONLY thing I can think of.

Why HG Should Be Your Go To Software

Vorteile:

The Companion is so easy to use and has greatly reduced my time in writing reports. Being able to accept credit cards through HG is a piece of cake as it locks them out until payment is received. My agents and clients love the CRL as this simplifies the process of making repair requests from the seller. The integration of photos from outside sources is effortless and taking photos from within the software is nice because they end up right where I want them. And did I mention the videos! You can't argue with a picture or video!

Nachteile:

My only con is probably due to user falderal. I struggle with updating my template and getting it back to the Companion.