How to switch from HomeGauge to Househound

Your HomeGauge reports, templates, invoices and contacts list live on your Windows computer, in the HomeGauge data folder. In the Desktop Report Writer, click File → Show Data folder to open it wherever it is (HomeGauge: locating the data folder). The usual locations are Documents\HomeGauge, AppData\Local\Homegauge (a hidden folder) or C:\HomeGauge.

Copy the whole folder to an external drive. HomeGauge recommends copying rather than cutting (HomeGauge: transferring between devices). This is your archive: HomeGauge's own Back Up HG User Settings skips reports, attachments and drawings (HomeGauge: backup and report transfer).

Sign in to the HomeGauge Inspector Dashboard (from the desktop software, HG Services → My HomeGauge Dashboard), click My Reports, scroll to the bottom and click Export Report List (HomeGauge: exporting report list). You get a spreadsheet listing every report you uploaded, not the reports themselves.

Reports you uploaded with Upload Report To Website are kept online for at least 5 years, per HomeGauge. Reports you never uploaded exist only in your data folder.

Househound can't open .ht5 template files, so give it a PDF instead. The template can only hold the comments the PDF contains, and a real report carries only the comments that applied to that house. Use a practice report where every comment you use is selected, in every section.

To save the PDF from the Desktop Report Writer (HomeGauge: upload, print or save a report):

1. Click Publish on the top toolbar. If it warns that not every question is answered, choose Yes.
2. Check Report for Printing or Saving and clear the other document settings.
3. Click Print to open the preview.
4. Click the blue floppy disk icon at the top left, name the file, and click Save.

Make one PDF per template you use (home, condo, commercial). If your HomeGauge version can export your comments to a spreadsheet, that file works too; HomeGauge's help center doesn't document it, so ask HomeGauge support if you want to try.

Sign up on the web at househoundusa.com/signup. Your first 3 reports are free and there's no card to enter. Househound runs in a browser on Windows or Mac, and the inspecting happens in the iPhone, iPad or Android app.

In the Househound web dashboard, open Templates, click Import, and drop your PDFs on it (or click to choose them). During setup, the templates step opens with Bring your own template, which does the same thing.

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. Scanned pages and phone photos of printed reports (including HEIC) work too, and so do Word .docx files. An older .doc file has to be opened in Word and saved as .docx or PDF first.

A template read from a PDF is a draft, so read it before you use it. Autodraft builds the areas, items and comments from what's on the page and suggests a comment type and a severity (major, moderate or minor) for each deficiency. Check that:

• every HomeGauge section you use has an area, and the items under it are in your order
• the comment wording matches yours, word for word
• severities match how you rate those defects
• informational fields, such as roof material or water heater age, 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.

If you have your contacts as a spreadsheet, go to People → Clients → Import contacts… (or People → Agents) on the web. CSV and Excel files both work, 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.

For old reports, open Reports → Archive → Past reports and upload the PDFs you saved from HomeGauge, 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. Only PDFs are accepted, not HomeGauge's own report files.

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 when it goes out. Go through the client and agent emails and paste in your HomeGauge 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 HomeGauge 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. To cancel HomeGauge, go to Settings → My Subscriptions → Submit Account Management Request → Proceed to Form in the Inspector Dashboard; HomeGauge handles it within a few business days (HomeGauge: software billing). Cancel a HomeGauge website separately if you have one.