Alyssa Guerra

Through articles and newsletters, Marketing Content Editor Alyssa Guerra 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 enjoys exploring Utah with her husband and corgi.

Clogged Sewer Drains After the Home Inspection:An Inspection Agreement Success Story

By Alyssa Guerra / October 15, 2024

The following story of clogged sewer drains after the home inspection is a real claim from our archives. To protect the insured’s identity, all identifiable characteristics—including names, associations, and locations—have been omitted or removed. How many times have you returned home from the grocery store, only to realize you left a crucial item back at…

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

By Alyssa Guerra / 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…

Cybersecurity Insurance:Protection for Your Home Inspection Data

By Alyssa Guerra / 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…

6 Steps to Start a Home Inspection Business

By Alyssa Guerra / 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…

Insurance Myths and Facts About Reporting Claims:Part 2

By Alyssa Guerra / 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…

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

By Alyssa Guerra / 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…

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

By Alyssa Guerra / 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…

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

By Alyssa Guerra / 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,…

Standalone Ancillary Inspection Services: Your Questions Answered

By Alyssa Guerra / 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…

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

By Alyssa Guerra / 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…

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

By Alyssa Guerra / 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…

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

By Alyssa Guerra / 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.…