How to switch from Home Inspector Pro to Househound

Back up first, while everything still opens. HIP's Terms (last updated October 20, 2025) say all charges are non-refundable unless the Terms say otherwise, and that once your account is terminated HIP has no obligation to keep or give you any of your content (HIP Terms of Service).

Your templates and inspections are files on your own computer (HIP: file types and where to find them):

Close HIP, then copy the whole Home Inspector Pro folder from C:\Program Files (x86) to an external drive or a cloud drive such as Dropbox or Google Drive (HIP: backing up on Windows). On a Mac the folder is Documents → Home Inspector Pro (HIP: moving files between Macs). If you chose a different install folder, the files are there instead. Do this on every computer that has HIP on it.

Sign in at hipoffice.homeinspectorpro.com (HIP: getting clients, agents and contracts):

• Clients: Data Management → Clients, then Export Clients at the top right. A .csv is emailed to you.
• Agents: Data Management → Agents, then Export Agents. Also emailed as a .csv.
• Signed contracts: Orders → View Orders, click the order number, open the Contract tab and click Download Contract. One order at a time.

For reports you uploaded, go to Orders → View Reports and click the PDF or HTML icon on each row; reports from the older HIP Cloud are under Orders → View Previous HIP Office Inspection Reports (HIP: where to find past reports). That needs an active HIP Office or Office Lite subscription, and HIP publishes no bulk download, so save the ones you have to keep now. Choose the PDF icon: Househound's past-report archive takes PDFs only.

Househound can't read .tpz files, so give it a PDF instead. In HIP Desktop, start a practice inspection from the template, select every narrative you use in every section, and click Generate Report, which produces the PDF (HIP v6.7 release notes). A real report carries only the narratives that applied to that house. Make one PDF per template.

HIP's help center doesn't document exporting a template to a spreadsheet. If your version offers one, Househound reads .xlsx, .xls, .csv and .tsv too, and a template kept as a Word .docx imports directly; ask HIP support if you're unsure.

Skip the PDF form-fill templates (TREC, 4-Point, Wind Mitigation, NPMA-33). Those are fixed state forms, not narrative templates, and Househound has NPMA-33, TREC REI 7-6, Florida wind mitigation (OIR-B1-1802 Rev. 04/26) and the Citizens 4-Point built in. HIP's Florida FDACS WDO form and NPMA-33 WDO addendum aren't among them.

Sign up on the web at househoundusa.com/signup. Your first 3 reports are free and there's no card to enter. There's no desktop program to install: the dashboard runs in a browser on Windows or Mac, and the inspecting happens in the iPhone, iPad or Android app, which works with no signal.

In the Househound web dashboard, open Templates, click Import, and drop your PDFs on it. During setup, the templates step opens with Bring your own template, which does the same thing. Import isn't in the phone apps.

Up to 10 files go in at once, 20 MB each. Each file becomes its own template, and the import keeps running if you close the page. A practice inspection with no photos keeps the PDF under 20 MB. Word .docx files import directly; an older .doc has to be opened in Word and saved as .docx or PDF first.

A template read from a PDF is a draft. Autodraft builds the areas, items and comments from the page and suggests a comment type and a severity (major, moderate or minor) for each deficiency. Check that every HIP section has an area, the narrative wording matches yours, the severities match how you rate those defects, and informational fields such as roof material are set up the way you fill them in.

Fix anything in the template editor on the web. Every comment also lands in the comment library, which is what Autodraft reuses when it turns your spoken notes into drafted findings.

On the web, go to People → Clients → Import contacts… and choose the client .csv HIP Office emailed you, then People → Agents → Import contacts… for the agent file. Files go up to 5,000 rows and 5 MB. You map each column (name, email, phone, company, type, notes) and see a preview first. A contact whose email is already saved is updated, never duplicated, and every skipped row is listed with the reason.

Then open Reports → Archive → Past reports and upload the report PDFs you downloaded or generated, up to 50 at a time, 50 MB each. Househound reads the address, client, email and date from each PDF, and you can correct them. Archived reports are read-only: you can search, open, download and share them, but they don't become Househound inspections. .hzf and HTML files aren't accepted.

Add your services and fees and any price rules for square footage, bedrooms or units. Upload your agreement (a .docx works for agreements) and choose how far ahead it goes out. Go through the client and agent emails and paste in your HIP Office wording. Set your booking start times and crew rules.

Connect your own Stripe account from Househound's payment settings. Money goes straight to that account. Each client card payment carries 3.25% + 40¢, and that includes Stripe's processing, so it's one deduction.

Use one of your 3 free reports on a real job, start to finish on the phone: photos, dictated findings, publish. There's no desktop step; the report is finished in the app or on the web. Keep HIP for jobs already booked there until they're delivered.

Point your website's booking link at your Househound booking page, or paste the booking widget onto the page, and remove HIP Office's booking form.

HIP doesn't publish in-product cancellation steps; contact HIP support. If you're on an annual plan, ask when the term ends before you cancel, since charges are non-refundable unless HIP's Terms say otherwise. If your website is hosted through homeinspectorsites.com, cancel it separately.