Alyssa Cink

Through articles, newsletters, and social media posts, Marketing Content Editor Alyssa Cink provides risk management education to home inspectors nationwide. A Gonzaga University alumna with a Bachelor of Arts in English and minors in Spanish and journalism, Alyssa's passion for communication enables her to write engaging and clear content across mediums. A former "Harry Potter" fan club president, she is a fervent reader and podcast listener who also enjoys exploring Utah with her corgi.

Canvas sign hanging on a business window that reads “Yes, we’re open.” Implies someone is looking for home inspection leads and curious how to get work as a home inspector.

How do home inspectors find work? Tips for Marketing, Finding Work, and Managing Risk

By Alyssa Cink / July 1, 2024

When navigating how to get work as a home inspector, sometimes the simplest methods generate the best home inspection leads. In 2023, Philip Dancer of Dancer & Company Inspections of the D.C., Maryland, Virginia (DMV) area was shopping with his family when he received a surprising email. It was from a stranger and was so…

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Man sitting with an open laptop and cell phone on the table in the foreground in front of him. He’s holding his hands in the air with digital hexagons drawn in the air featuring icons of a lock, phone, gears, a thumbprint, and other images of cybercrime and a cybersecurity insurance policy.

Cybersecurity Insurance: Protection for your home inspection data.

By Alyssa Cink / May 15, 2024

As a small business owner, the word “theft” is a thing of nightmares. It probably inspires images of someone breaking into your work vehicle and stealing your pricey drone, camera, laptop, or sewer scope. (We’ve covered this exact scenario in a past equipment coverage case study.) Perhaps you’ve wondered what would happen if your inspector-employee…

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Two sets of legs, man’s and woman’s, each wearing jeans and hiking boots facing away from the camera–as if they’re taking the first steps to start a business.

6 Steps to Start a Home Inspection Business

By Alyssa Cink / May 1, 2024

What does it take to start a home inspection business? Lots of learning, research, dedication, and a plan to set you up for success. This will prepare you for the mountain of decisions that come with getting a new home inspection business up and running. As a result, you will be able to create solid…

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Straight line, balanced in the middle by a sketch of a hand pointing the index feature. On one side is a light bulb labeled “FACT,” the other is a sphere labeled “Myth.” Used to illustrate the insurance myths debunked and insurance facts about reporting claims in a timely manner.

Insurance Myths and Facts About Reporting Claims: Part 2

By Alyssa Cink / April 15, 2024

Sir Isaac Newton once said, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” Newton’s third law of motion speaks to physics, of course. But it applies to lots of other factors in life. Insurance myths and facts, like forces of nature, come in pairs. For every insurance myth about reporting claims, there’s a…

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Man in a blue collared shirt sits at a counter looking down at his phone, presumably in a coffee shop, practicing timely claims reporting.

Debunking Common Myths About Reporting Claims Part 1: Addressing Experienced Home Inspectors’ Questions

By Alyssa Cink / March 15, 2024

“Is this worth reporting to my insurance company? How can I save on insurance costs?” You’ve probably seen an inspector ask these questions. Perhaps you, too, have posted them on social media. We see them all the time. Understandably, it’s difficult to know when something is “worthy” of a call to your insurance. To make…

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Graphic featuring icons for waking up, driving, inspecting, and writing reports, all signifying typical home inspector duties.

A Day in the Life of a Home Inspector: We navigate routines and duties for new home inspectors.

By Alyssa Cink / February 1, 2024

Your routine sets the tone for your entire day. Overbook yourself or neglect to plan ahead, and you end up scrambling to write reports and drive to inspections on time. Alternatively, you could have a smooth routine that keeps your home inspector duties organized and stress-free for days, weeks, and months at a time. From…

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Man in a courthouse testifying as a home inspector fact witness swears under oath.

Testifying as a home inspector fact witness? We share resources and advice.

By Alyssa Cink / January 15, 2024

A few years after completing a four-point inspection, one inspector received an interesting letter. It was a subpoena. It informed the inspector that, in a matter of weeks, several attorneys expected him to appear before a judge.  No one was suing him. But the inspector did have a role to play.  Upon receiving the subpoena,…

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Photo collage of several home inspection additional services an inspector may offer: on the left, a wall of mold-like substances; in the center, a magnifying glass hovering over the chemical element Radon; to the right, a zoomed-in image of termites; and on the bottom, a pool with a ladder.

Standalone Ancillary Inspection Services: Your Questions Answered

By Alyssa Cink / December 15, 2023

The standard home inspection is every inspector’s meat and potatoes: fulfilling, adherent to the standards of practice (SOP), and an educational resource for prospective buyers and sellers. Still, it doesn’t cover everything a client could need. To distinguish yourself from competing home inspectors and boost your income, you might decide to offer extra home inspection…

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Water pipe frozen as one would see during a cold weather winter home inspection, with water exploding from a break in the pipe.

“Freeze” Things Happen: A Claim From a Home Inspection in Winter

By Alyssa Cink / December 1, 2023

The following is a real general liability (GL) case study from our home inspection insurance archives. To protect the insured’s identity, all identifiable characteristics from this home inspection in winter claim—including names, associations, and locations—have been altered or removed. It was a crisp, January morning in the Midwestern United States. A home inspector was wrapping…

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Rusted, old oil tank that has been removed from someone’s soil and placed next to trees.

Underground Oil Tanks: The Backyard Time Bomb Home Inspectors May Encounter

By Alyssa Cink / November 15, 2023

Out with the old, in with the new. People say this when describing things that have either stopped functioning or gone out of fashion. Washing machines. Cabinet colors. Low-waisted jeans. High-waisted jeans. When something’s run its course, there’s usually something new waiting to take its place. But even when they fall out of favor or…

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Photo of home inspector Vince Cardone of Residential Inspection LLC in Florida on a roof by the beach.

Find What Fuels Your Fire: Vince Cardone’s Lessons and Challenges of Starting a Home Inspection Business

By Alyssa Cink / November 1, 2023

In our Inspector Spotlight series, we take a closer look at individual inspectors making an impact on the inspection industry. Vince Cardone has always believed in giving 100 percent to everything he loves. That’s why, when Cardone’s son committed to a college in Florida, the New York contractor and his wife agreed to follow him.…

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Overhead shot of a multilevel home in Florida with a pool, featuring the roof and shutters blown off as a result of Hurricane Ian. State variations of the fl wind mitigation inspection form are intended to prevent damages like these.

Wind Mitigation Inspections: Security in the Eye of the Storm

By Alyssa Cink / October 15, 2023

If you live in a region prone to heavy winds and tropical storms, then you know nature is not a force to be reckoned with.  American homes are especially vulnerable. Proximity to two oceans, the Gulf of Mexico, and elevated terrain from the Rocky Mountains gives the United States a long history of extreme weather…

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