I am thinking of a switch from Realtor to Inspector. I have been a Realtor for a little over 2 years and it just hasn't ever taken off. My marekt is actually not slow, there are lots of deals, but I think we are too saturated with Realtors. I do have several friends who are realtors so I am hoping I'll be able to get referrals from them to find my clients. But I was just wondering how long it took the inspectors in this forum to get where they are? Also, in my area some of the inspectors charge as low as 225 for the whole house, and some charge as much as 500 for the whole house. How much of that actually goes to the company, and how much do you receive. Or, if you run your own business (which is actually what I would like to do), what kind of overhead do you have?

Also, I am pretty serious about changing up what I do, but would maybe doing appraisals be better?

I should mention I am a woman, and I personally know no women inspectors, will that hurt my chances of success?

I am NOT trying to be snippy, but if you never really made it as a Realtor, why would you think you could make it as a home inspector?

Didn't you have friends/family - that live in homes?



My point being: most businesses rely on lead generation. If you don't have a method for generating (and converting) leads, then no matter what job you are trying to do, you'll have a hard time of it.


Regarding gender: Form XYZ Home Inspection - and your gender shouldn't be an issue.

I live 6 hours from my closest family members, and not able to work in their state. As for lead generation, in home inspection from what I know a lot of it depends on lead generating with realtors, not sitting at open houses every weekend trying to convince regular Joe's to use your service.

I may have been misleading about not doing well as a Realtor. I did okay, but it seems that I would spend almost everything that was coming in. I was constantly buying things--keyboxes, and signs were great to buy, it meant I was doing business, but I also was buying fivilous things---paying for flyers, mailers constantly, 100's of dollars in gas, etc. and for the past 2.5 years I came out making only $30 for the whole year's work...it was just unreal how much everything was costing constantly.

When it comes down to it, what kind of experience to you have?

Do you think you can take a 6 week course and be competent?

With your screen name alone I don't think you are cut out for it.

It is just as competetive in this market for inspectors as it is real estate agents.

Also, tired, I don't know the stats, but talking to my friend in the inspection business, I think they are more likely to have legal issues than realtors. There's just so many things that you can miss or things that can work fine one day and be broken the next week. Guess who gets blamed? The inspector. I'd not be an inspector for anything. Unless of course, I was also a real estate attorney. :)

Joe

Tired don't do it. Stick the real estate biz out. It's so much more lucrative than appraising or inspections. I am an appraiser/realtor. I starting appraising 7 years ago and then got my real estate license 3 years ago. This side of the biz is so much better. Chasing around a $300 appraisal fee just got so old and tiring...late nights of writing up reports, battling with loan officers and very little human interaction day to day. Have you found a mentor? How are you generating leads? Have you considered joining a team?

I have done appraisals, home inspections and real estate.

Real estate is by far the easiest of them all - appraisals takes a lot of time, money and effort to break into - and doing home inspections is the hardest way of everything to make a living at.

Started in NC real estate in 1996 - when I was already a general building contractor performing inspections. That year I had to sit for the original NC home inspector test - point being I have been around long enough to give advice.

No matter which way you go - I would suggest finding an employer in the business you decide on - starting from zero causes more failures then anything else.

btw - no one mentioned the costs - E&O - for a newbie inspector that should run you about $4000 a year. You can tell how often they expect you to be sued

I think these are all normal charges by inspectors.

And what charges are you referring too that are normal charges?

Financially I could never make the move, but sometimes I wish I could do home inspections just to take break.

Are you Licensed in NC for Home Inspections - qualified to sit for the exam - if so then you would know that you're better off not doing HI at this time

Good Luck on your move - what are you going to do in Hawaii?

There are plenty of home inspectors that just are not making enough money to stay in the business right now. It's a tough time for many in the real estate related businesses. Many realtors are not doing well and if you want referrals from them they may be reluctant to change inspectors for fear of having you blow the sale (stats say 15% are blown by inspectors). Plus, being a good home inspector is more than just taking the class and getting licensed if required. Like the previous posts - marketing, networking, initial setup costs ($3000-$5000). Many inspectors tell me it took about three years before they really made any money. Well, if you decide to switch, Good Luck! If you want to know more about the business visit my website [url=http://www.reassurancehomeinspection.com]Reassurance Home Inspection[/url] or call me direct.

I don't think that being a woman will set you back at all as an inspector. Also, one of the best inspectors I've worked with did not have a history in the construction trade. I believe that the "inferiority complex" created by this was what drove him to research every topic to its max. I don't think one should make a switch to being an inspector because of money. I think you should be interested in the work. I think your success will come when you find work where you love every aspect of it. That could easily be Real Estate, appraisals, being an inspector or anything else. When you decide, you have to go all out, and at least pretend to be excited. One of the earlier posters was correct; your screen name is telling, and if it's not, it is misleading in a way that will not help you in your business. I would say, if you want to be an inspector, commit to being a great one, or don't bother.
Best of luck,
Adam

I agree with most of the other posters on this topic. After joining the Real Estate ranks last year, I'm finding the hard work and every day scheduling is making the difference.

Find the niche you want to work in, and do it to it's greatest.