I'm currently licesned as a RE agent but I'm thinking of transferring to a new field of home inspection.

I'd like to know a couple of things about what a home inspector does and other things pertaining to this field-

1) How much does a home inspector earn for each inspection? I'd figure there are different fees charged for different size properties, etc but just in general

2) In my RE school one of the instructors stated home inspectors are very much in demand with jobs in backlog. Is this true?

3) Are there any extra physical qualifications pertaining to this position? Heavy lifting? Climbing under fences, etc?

4) I just read somewhere that a home inspection is a requirment to obtain a mortgage. What is the legal necessity of obtaining a home inspection? Are home inspections required for each RE transaction?

Thanks for reading and whoever responds to my inquires. I'm based in New York.

There is a great sub-category on this board. It's called "Home Inspections." There are some very knowledgable folks over there that could be of some guidance.

Note that New York State requires a license. Make sure you are familiar with the licensing requirements.

To my knowledge, no one "requires" a home inspection. It only protects the buyer, not the bank.

Physical capacity. Like crawling around on your belly in a dark environment full of cobwebs, snakes, spiders, possums, etc. Or balancing acts in dark attics where you step around a corner and find a huge wasps nest, a pile of bat guano with bats hanging over it, or a haystack in the attic ( http://b4uclose.tripod.com/cockamamiephotos/ ) with something rustling in it? It really helps if you are not claustrophobic.

Most home inspectors are one person shops that don’t have room to hire anybody, including myself. Plan on doing it all by yourself. Of course, if you have $15,000 or $20,000 you could buy a franchise and get their support in getting started. Still a high failure rate. But, if you work hard at it, it can be done.

It is NOT as easy and simple as the “Become a Home Inspector, make $500 - $800 a day” ads from the Home Inspection Schools make it look. They are rather self serving to get new students in the door. There is a high failure rate, some estimate as high as 75%, for starting a home inspection business. The schools don’t mention this because the students would not come in the door and give them bucks. Three years ago, there were over 200 licensed home inspectors in Lexington, KY. In May of 2004, there were only 65 listed on the licensing web site. Lexington no longer offers licensing due to the new state law.

While the ads are accurate in that you CAN make $500 - $800 a day, what they don't tell you is that those days are few and far between. You'll be lucky to do one inspection a week for the first year or two, and it's kind of tough living on $225 a week. Better have some money in savings or another job.

As any detailed advice I would give you, about becoming a home inspector, could appear to be self serving, I will give very little. But I will point you to the best resources on the internet for getting the advice. It will take you some work to dig it out though. See links at bottom of this message.

Here are some quick message board links to topics about becoming a home inspector.

These are all valuable must read topics

http://www.nachi.org/forum/showthread.php?t=943

http://inspectorsjournal.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2250

http://inspectorsjournal.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2251

http://inspectorsjournal.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2252

http://inspectionnews.com/ubb/Forum16/HTML/000100.html

http://inspectionnews.com/ubb/Forum16/HTML/000003.html

You should get, if you don’t already have, specific knowledge & education about proper application, installation, performance characteristics and failure causes for all the different types of:

1. The way the Lots & grounds & grading affect the structure;

2. Old and New Exterior surface materials and the various components thereof, wood lap, cement asbestos, vinyl, brick, log, masonite, etc;

3. Old and New Roofing materials, including gutter systems, downspouts, and leader extensions;

4. The complete electrical system from the Service Drop to the outlet, including the different brands & models of panels, wiring types & sizes & ampacity, required locations for the different types of switches & outlets, etc. (all systems from Knob & Tube to present day systems)

5. Structural components of the home from the roof framing to the foundation walls (including crawling thru the attics and crawl spaces);

6. Heating Systems, including flues and ductwork requirements;

7. Air Conditioning Systems;

8. Fireplaces / Wood Stoves / Chimneys; (are you familiar with Trimmer Arch Supports? It raised heck with me on the testing I took, i.e. the NHIE – National Home Inspectors Examination).

9. Plumbing Systems; (Complete DWV - (Drain, Waste, Vent) requirements)

10. Water heaters.

11. Kitchen Appliances;

12. Interior construction materials;

13. Laundry Room Applications.

14. Business Management

15. Marketing

16. Taxes & accounting

17. Insurance

18. and I’m sure there’s more I’m missing off the top of my head.

Anyway the resources: (These are nationwide message boards for Home Inspectors.) Search the archives for specific questions or answers before asking questions. A LOT of good advice is contained in the archives that will probably never be repeated.

http://www.nachi.org/bbsystem/index.php
NACHI message Boards

http://inspectionnews.com
Residential Message Boards

http://inspectorsjournal.com/forum/default.asp
The Inspector’s Journal Forum

First, focus on reading the message threads in the General Chit Chat, Insurance, Training, Reporting Systems, Advertising, Legal, Marketing, and Miscellaneous forums. This is where you can learn about the risks and rewards and how to’s of starting a home inspection career. There is a lot of great advice in those messages from Inspectors who have made it, and Inspectors who have failed to make it. It will likely never be adequately repeated anywhere else.

If you truly want to become a Home Inspector, you’ll have to work hard at it. Digging thru this advice in the message board archives (searching) is just the start of the hard work to become successful.

If you still want to do it after reading those threads, then read the Specific Topic threads, such as Electrical, Plumbing, Structural, Roofing, etc.

Good luck in whatever you decide to do. It can be a very rewarding career, but it is a LOT of hard work to get started, be successful, and avoid being sued for sloppy inspections.

Do a LOT of reading in the message archives, did I say a LOT of reading in the archives, before you spend any money on schools or equipment.

Wow. After reading about the "things crawling and flying around in the attics and basements" and the prevailing failure rates I don't think this is something I want to get into. I should of seen it coming though, I didn't.

Thank you for letting me know ahead of time what this is all about, Erby!

There are many banks and other mortgage lenders here who do require home inspections. They are slowly but surely learning that a good, thorough home inspection helps to protect their lending investment.

I think Erby is one of the better and more knowledgeable home inspectors. It's too bad he is not located in a major metropolis so that more buyers could hire him for his services. His post is excellent.

I wonder how many possums, snakes and bats he's had to do battle with, though.

Hey, Lexington, KY is a major metropolis!

(Isn't it????)

It is, but tell the wildlife that.

I'm sure you've got some amazing wildlife stories.

It's sure bigger than Paris (KY).

And bigger than Ver "sales", KY

Ah, if I could only upload a photo or two.

What about those wayfarers again?

For the unique differances between the two cities known as Paris you can check out the views at this link.

http://tonyrogers.com/humor/two_paris.htm

What about Paris, Texas?

Never heard of Paris, Texas! Cowboys fans there?

Nope. Just the world headquarters of Campbell Soup Company, at least back in the '60s, '70s, and early '80s. They might have moved their world headquarters since I was last there in 1984.

Want to become a home inspector?

I think it is a great idea Sure you have to take some courses and continue to learn, but what business or trade doesn't. Home inspection is a very fullfilling career, you get to meet new people and help them everyday.

There is some excellent information posted here on home inspections but I think it is posted in a negatvie manner, jump in, the market is open and it is a very rewarding career.