The systems inside a custom home might be different, but you can learn anything.

If you’ve seen one nice home you’ve seen them all, right? Hardly. Technology is advancing quickly, and along with it the systems and fixtures in luxury homes. What you’re accustomed to inspecting might bear some resemblance to what you’ll find in a high-end property. But some of it might leave you scratching your head.

If you’re ready to up your game and branch out into offering inspections on custom homes, you could gain a new niche of clients. Understanding the difference between a Nest and Honeywell might be a real selling point. But you’ll have to learn about those features first.

Here are just a few features that are trending in custom homes lately.

Programmable On-Demand Showers

You know how to set a water heater, whether it’s gas or electric, and probably even the on-demand models that are growing in popularity. But there’s a feature for bathrooms that makes custom showers a whole lot nicer.

Programmable showers allow independent settings for water pressure, temperature, spray type, and each person in the family can have a different setting. According to HouseLogic, these gadgets even adjust automatically as the water heater gets low so the temperature stays constant. Introduced about 6 years ago,

Moen makes a popular model now called the ioDigital, and Kohler has their DTV model. Expect other programmable shower technology to come along in the near future.

Get used to this funny face; you’ll be seeing it everywhere soon.

Smart Thermostats Work Efficiently

Programmable thermostats revolutionized the way that homeowners regulate heated and cooled air. And smart thermostats are revolutionizing the industry again. These are programmable models that do more – a lot more.

A smart thermostat begins as a programmable model, but soon after starts learning things about the house and its occupants that help it reduce energy consumption without compromising comfort. It learns things like when the house is occupied and when it’s not, and usual bedtimes. It raises and lowers the temperature automatically based on what it learns.

The model that’s getting the most press these days is the Nest learning thermostat. But ecobee and Honeywell have thrown their hats into the ring.

Specialty Appliances Play Hide-and-Seek

If you walk into a kitchen that looks well appointed except for one glaring omission, it might not be missing a thing. A big trend in custom homes is hidden or disguised appliances. And you might find them anywhere.

Refrigerators are one of the most common camouflaged appliances. Some are in separate components and tucked away where base cabinet drawers might have been. Pull out a drawer that looks like it might house table linens or silverware, and Better Homes and Gardens says you might find a freezer, drink cooler, vegetable drawer or wine chiller.

Dishwashers are getting the hidden treatment, and so are ice makers. But one appliance that appears to keep a more traditional aesthetic is the range.

Wiring Upgrades Handle New Technology

The age of digital technology isn’t on its way, it’s here to stay. And while it’s still possible to plug in electronic devices using any ordinary outlet, why would you when there are so many options for getting messy cables completely out of sight?

You’re probably accustomed to finding electrical outlets in the usual places. Within 6 feet of a doorway and spaced along each wall is common. But what about an outlet inside a cupboard where a digital device docking station might be? Electrical wiring is changing with the times, and you might find that the normal array of outlets is only the beginning.

In most cases, you aren’t required to test or inspect specialty devices such as security alarms, home intercom systems, and other accessories. But as advancing technology in the home becomes more common, home buyers will invariably have new standards for what they expect from an inspection.

Learning what’s new and what’s on its way can only help improve your home inspection business. While the other guys explain that they have no experience with a smart thermostat or a fridge that’s installed in separate components throughout the kitchen, you can move ahead and inspect the most technologically advanced custom homes and gain a brand new corner of your market.

Additional services can boost your bottom line, just be careful about which ones you choose.

Most home inspectors will, at least at one time or another, think about ways to grow their business. Some inspectors take on additional work and hire a staff. And some think about performing additional services that go beyond the home inspection.

The first one is easier than the second, and it’s sometimes safer, too. But if you want to offer a broader spectrum of services, here are a few things that you’ll need to think about:

Do the Services Conflict with State Regulations?

Before you go any further than the imagining stage, you’ll need to learn whether or not the services that you want to provide are legal for home inspectors to perform in your area. For example, attorney Joseph W. Denneler explains in the fall 2015 issue of NAHI Forum that most areas don’t allow inspectors to perform repairs. That’s for good reason, since an unscrupulous inspector could pretend that there’s a problem just to earn a little extra money.

Check with your licensing agency as well as any local associations that you belong to. That’s where you’ll get the information that you need. If you want to offer radon, mold or other testing as an add-on service, be sure that you can do so without any violations.

There’s a lot more to using some tools than just reading a manual.

Are You Qualified to Perform Those Services?

You wouldn’t offer to rewire a faulty breaker panel without being a licensed electrician. But some other services require training, too. Denneler uses the new thermal imaging cameras as a good example. Anyone can point a camera and see the readout on the device’s display screen. And most people can tell the difference between a warm or cool area. But there’s more to using one of these cameras, including the right time of day, than just reading a manual.

Training can be expensive and time-consuming. Before you commit to offering additional services, be sure that you have the proper training and consider thoughtfully whether the training plus any necessary equipment might outweigh the additional business that they bring in.

How Will Your Insurance Requirements Change?

You already have E & O insurance for your home inspection business. If you offer services outside the scope of that work, your insurance policy and premium will probably change. In some cases, they might change a little. But in others, they might change a lot.

This is another affordability issue, similar to the cost of training and equipment. If the cost of a new E & O policy negates some or most of the profits that you could earn by offering additional services, the venture might be more trouble than it’s worth.

Most home inspectors want to grow their business. That’s the natural order of things, and the hoped-for progression of any small business. The key is finding the right avenues for growth and leaving the not-so-profitable ones behind.

You might find that buyers in your area appreciate one or two additional services. Maybe with radon or mold testing, you can offer a better and more well-rounded inspection experience. Or maybe you’re better off growing your business in other ways. The only way to know for sure is to do a little homework before making a commitment and printing up new flyers.

The best way to build customer trust is through communication and avoiding opinion that could land you and her in hot water.

One of the biggest misconceptions that homebuyers have about home inspectors is that the inspection report is only the beginning. But inspectors don’t make judgment calls about how long a roof will last or where to find a good repair contractor for a broken HVAC unit.

That’s a perfect environment for a customer complaint, or worse – a lawsuit. So how do you handle a situation where the inspection reveals major problems? Very carefully.

Inspectors Don’t Have a Crystal Ball

While many homebuyers might have absolutely no background in homes or home systems at all, you’re viewed as an expert of everything that they don’t know. You must be, because you’re the one evaluating the house that they plan to buy.

That’s a precarious position for a home inspector to find himself in. In one way, of course you are the expert. You’ve been through training, and you probably have more than a few inspections under your belt. But unfortunately, you’re not exactly a mind reader. As if a house had a mind to begin with.

Inspectors can’t make an assessment on anything besides what’s visible at the time of the inspection. If it’s raining that day and water is pouring in through the roof, then it’s fairly obvious. But if the roof looks marginal, you have no way of knowing how long it will last before the dam will break, your customer’s belongings will be soaked, and he’ll be surly. The safest bet is avoiding predictive language, no matter how much it’s expected.

The only real way to know when a system will fail is if it happens in front of your eyes.

The Best Policy is Honesty on All Fronts

If you see a problem, then it’s your job to report it. But it’s also your job to explain to customers the limitations that you’re faced with. Part of the problem that customers have with inspectors is a lack of communication. They have expectations, but are never made aware of what an inspector can and can’t do.

Be honest with your customers up front, and they’ll be more likely to receive whatever news that you have to give with a little more grace and fewer sour words. The best time to have that talk is prior to the inspection, not afterward.

If the HVAC system is 30 years old and failing on practically every imaginable front, your customer deserves to know that. But he also needs to know that you can’t explain what it will cost to repair, or whether the system might last another year.

Offer Advice with Extreme Caution

In many states, home inspectors are prohibited from making any sort of assessment on how long a roof will stay in service before it requires replacement, or how expensive it will be to install a new water heater. But in some states, there are no such prohibitions.

If you live in an area where inspectors can offer advice to a customer, and if you feel comfortable enough in your knowledge about the system, then you can likely expand on your inspection with more than the bare facts. But if you don’t, the safest bet, and the kindest one for your customers, is to present the report, explain the condition of the home as it stands, and recommend further evaluation by a licensed contractor.

No inspector wants to report back that a house’s foundation is crumbling or that the septic system hasn’t been maintained in so many years that it’s unusable. But truth is truth, and that’s what your customers hire you for. It’s a slippery slope when you step outside the realm of reporting, and you should do so with a healthy measure of caution for yourself and consideration for your customer.

A business plan helps you become the architect of your business instead of leaving it all to chance.

Every business needs a plan. Without one, you’re rudderless. But with one, you can chart a course and steer toward it.

A 5- and 10-year plan might sound like something for a suit-and-tie sort of business. But pioneering psychologist Edwin A Locke famously said that specific goals improve performance. You might not hit a goal every time, but you’ll be more likely to make progress with a plan than without one.

Starting a 5-Year Business Plan

A typical business plan contains several different sections. You’ll want a mission statement (even if you’re the only one who ever reads it), a list of your business strengths and weaknesses, a list of goals that you want to achieve within 5 years, and measures of success. Measures of success are the things that you do which can be monitored and then tweaked if necessary for better results.

For example, Forbes explains that if you typically have a process, such as handing out 100 business cards, and you get 5 referrals from them, you can reasonably expect to get 10 referrals from 200 business cards. The same applies to any habits that you have which you can track and tweak.

Adding in Helpful Components

Now you can expand on the basics. You’ll want to identify your target audience. Home buyers are probably your biggest potential pool of business, at least at this stage. Then do a little research on how the home inspection industry is performing in your area. With that information, you can move to the next step, which is identifying (or creating) what sets you apart as a better business. What’s your edge?

Then comes a marketing strategy. How will you promote your business? Does social media work for you? This section will contain some of your “tweakable” measures of success. Finally, you’ll want to formally plot out how you’ll run your business and what your financial goals should be. Don’t be shy, you can only reach a monetary goal if you set one. And once the plan is fully fashioned, you’ll have a much better idea about how to get there. Such as handing out more business cards.

You might be surprised by how much your business has changed in a mere 5 years.

Making the Next Plan

If you have a 5-year plan, wouldn’t you only need to slide the scale a bit and aim for higher profits at the end of the time period? Maybe, but what if you have grander ideas about the future of your business? With a 5-year plan in hand, you can revisit the whole thing section by section and reevaluate old goals with fresh eyes. You might stumble onto a few surprises.

For example, your target audience. In 5 years, home buyers might still be your bread and butter. But they aren’t the only ones interested in a home inspection. Through experience in the industry and contacts that you make, you might decide to branch out. Maybe you’ll want to target homeowners so that they can learn about hidden problems that need repair. Or maybe you’ll decide to train for disaster inspections.

With a 5-year plan, you have parameters and goals. And time-tested research has shown that goals improve performance. That helps you stay on track, even if you don’t hit the mark.

Because a lot can change in 5 years, you’ll want to form a new plan once the first one has served its purpose. Maybe business cards will become obsolete and there’ll be some new way to get your name out there. Or just maybe in 5 years your business will have grown so much that you’ll need to hire employees. You never know what the future holds, but with a plan you can help design it.

It’s normal for customers to have questions, and how you answer them speaks volumes about your integrity.

For the most part, home inspecting is solitary work. Customers hire you to perform a job, and then you prepare a report for them to review afterward. But customers also ask questions. Sometimes, there are a lot of questions. How you respond can ease a customer’s mind and help protect you from liability.

The potential is there for a left-field question that nobody could have predicted. But these are some of the most common that you can expect to hear:

#1: Did the House Pass the Inspection?

You know that home inspections are not a pass or fail situation, but the majority of home buyers do not. And in some cases, real estate agents perpetuate the misconception by announcing that a house passed.

Home buyers are usually anxious to learn about the condition of the house, and can’t wait to get the home inspection report. In some cases, the report will determine whether or not the buyer proceeds with the purchase at all. Explaining up front that you inspect and then report the existing condition of a house, and that you don’t grade it, can help avoid a lot of confusion.

#2: How Much Will This Cost to Repair?

If you inspect a house, you should know how much it would cost to make a repair, right? Well, at least from your customers’ perspective that seems like a reasonable expectation. Many buyers look to inspectors for guidance, but of course you can’t make those repairs or report on what they might cost.

Your customers should understand that it’s unethical for you to advise on repair costs, to make repairs, and in many cases to even recommend a contractor to do the repair work. Unless, of course, you live in a state where it’s permissible. Helping them understand the importance of separating the inspection from repairs can prevent a complaint against your work.

Many home buyers shop around for an inspector who makes them feel comfortable.

#3: Will My Roof Last Another Year?

Ranking as high as how much repairs cost are questions about how much life is left in a roof, appliance, septic system or anything else that comes up marginal on your inspection. But unfortunately, most inspectors don’t have a crystal ball.

Assigning an expiration date to anything that you inspect opens you up to liability. If you say the roof should last another year but it springs a leak in a month, the buyer will want to know why. Where defects are discovered, you should let your customers know that further assessment by an expert in that system is the best course of action.

#4: Can I Attend the Inspection?

This question is tricky. Some home inspectors love it when the buyer is present. That way, the details that are discovered can be explained on the spot. If you inspect 5 more homes before a customer decides to call with questions, your memory about that house might have faded. With the customer present, there’s a greater opportunity for understanding.

On the other hand, some home inspectors prefer to work solo. A customer on-site can really slow you down, especially if they stop your work to ask questions about practically everything. This is a judgment call. If you’d rather work alone, be sure to make that clear up front. Just be aware that the National Association of Realtors® advises customers that they should be allowed at an inspection.

#5: How Much Experience do You Have?

For a seasoned home inspector, questions about experience and time in the industry aren’t a problem at all. For a new inspector, they can strike terror in the heart. The last thing that you want to do is look like a novice. But honesty is always the best policy. Even one of the most stringent agencies – HUD – explains to prospective buyers that new inspectors can be highly qualified.

You might have a prospective customer who backs out and moves on to another, more experienced inspector if you explain that you’re relatively new. But every customer won’t ask, and eventually you’ll have the experience that you want. In the meantime, you could get creative and offer a money-back guarantee on your work if the customer isn’t satisfied.

Questions are a sign of interest, and few people are more interested in a house than the ones who are considering buying it. It’s logical for customers to have questions, and sometimes a lot of them.

How you respond can ease a troubled mind, and it can keep you out of hot water. Whatever happens, remember that you’re not the first inspector to hear any question that comes up, and you certainly won’t be the last.