Thinking about getting into Home Inspections or related

[jeromedawg]

Hey all,

After doing some DIY fix-up and remediation work, as well as coordinating with contractors, etc on the place we sold, my interest in the home inspection arena has been piqued. I had always thought this was something interesting and know there are really good inspectors and really meh ones too.

Any of you in the business or have any tips/advice on how to get a foot in the door or first steps towards going this way? I'm already considering FIRE so this, or handyman/mechanical/repair type work, is stuff that interests me. I've considered carpentry/building but I have less patience with this as far as the building/designing part (for example: I started a DIY acoustic guitar build many moons ago and never followed through with it due to lack of tools and or lack of knowledge on how to use certain tools or accomplish certain tasks to move to the next step). If something is broken though, I tend to be a little better about doing repairs though (although, my completion/success rate also isn't 100% but I'd say higher than if I were to try to build something from scratch like a table, furniture, etc). I think for the building/design piece, if I were to help someone/apprentice or learn through repetition, I'd have more confidence and be more successful though.

Anyway, I sort of digressed but these are things I'm thinking of as potential new ventures whenever this 8-5 W2 gig expires

[John Galt incarnate!]

Hey all,

After doing some DIY fix-up and remediation work, as well as coordinating with contractors, etc on the place we sold, my interest in the home inspection arena has been piqued. I had always thought this was something interesting and know there are really good inspectors and really meh ones too.

Any of you in the business or have any tips/advice on how to get a foot in the door or first steps towards going this way? I'm already considering FIRE so this, or handyman/mechanical/repair type work, is stuff that interests me. I've considered carpentry/building but I have less patience with this as far as the building/designing part (for example: I started a DIY acoustic guitar build many moons ago and never followed through with it due to lack of tools and or lack of knowledge on how to use certain tools or accomplish certain tasks to move to the next step). If something is broken though, I tend to be a little better about doing repairs though (although, my completion/success rate also isn't 100% but I'd say higher than if I were to try to build something from scratch like a table, furniture, etc). I think for the building/design piece, if I were to help someone/apprentice or learn through repetition, I'd have more confidence and be more successful though.

Anyway, I sort of digressed but these are things I'm thinking of as potential new ventures whenever this 8-5 W2 gig expires

I've never done  HI or thought about getting into the business.

If I were to do HI I'd want to  in a  rural region with minimal traffic and plenty of beautiful scenery which, as it happens, is where I live.

 Home inspectors drive around and walk around; they're not cooped up in a cubicle all day.

They get to see the details of different types of architecture too. 

IMO, this variety  makes HI  a pretty good  job.


Good luck OP!

[Michael in ABQ]

A cousin of mine does this. He spent years working for his dad who built custom homes so he knows a fair amount about residential construction.

Ultimately a lot of your work comes from referrals from real estate agents. It's a fine line to tread. If you point out all the issues the homeowner may be happy that they avoided a future money pit, but they may also be angry you killed their dream. The agents won't be happy either that you "killed their deal" and poof, there go your referrals. If you ignore you ethical responsibility you may get more referrals in the future, but you might also end up in a lawsuit if you fail to disclose something you should have and the new buyer finds out later.

There's a lot of opportunities for someone who is tech savvy and can do everything with a tablet computer and software to make creating your inspection report on the fly go faster. If you're taking pictures with a tablet then immediately inserting them into a pre-formatted report with lots of drop down boxes, etc. vs. old school competition who are going back to their office, downloading photos from a camera, and working in a Word document you'll be much faster. Faster work means more jobs means more money. Or the same money in fewer hours.

[Nate R]

I have a relative in the industry. At least around here, it's a good time to get in, as many of the boomer-age HIs are retiring, and there hasn't been a ton of new ones to fill the void. I've considered something similar as a PT/RE job.

Yes, as others said above, it can be a delicate balance, and you'll need to get to know some local agents to get on their "list" of HIs they supply to clients.

[KarefulKactus15]

One of my old co-workers did that for 15-20 years up till 2008 then he had to get out due to lack of work.

He said it's his favorite job and if he wasn't close to retirement he'd go back.   The money is obviously tied to the housing market.