Hi,

I'm new to the board and would like to ask agents how they feel an inspector could best market his services to the agents. What works, what doesn't, and what are your turnoffs?

I look forward to the discussion in this thread.

Here is what would perk my interest from martketing materials of a Home Inpsector:

Qualifications - present experience, past related experience, education.

Noted as local mls memember or associate member.

Website address where one can find knowledgable articles and testimonials

Make clear of use of technology.

Reports generated on-site

Make clear the different types of inspections done either as standard or special inspections.

$ Discount for a time period or for first time customers. I have used these before from inspectors I did not have knowledge of. The $50 - $100 off of normal inspection charge was very helpful, especially for first-time, cash strapped home buyers.

I am sure others will add more.

Good list. Thanks.

I'll just address the on-site reports.

I think you'll eventually find that all home inspectors who carry E&O insurance (and do you really want a home inspector who does not carry E&O insurance?) will be using 24-hour reports because it is quite obvious in reading the various court cases that the great supermajority of cases involve on-site reports.

With 24-hour reports, one has the opportunity to go back to the office, review materials, look at pictures, and sometimes put 2+2+2+2 together and get 8. Sometimes an individual crack in the foundation or a wall or a ceiling doesn't mean anything in and of itself because the crack was small enough to be considered a "minor" crack. However, back at the office, when noting that there were "minor" cracks in the walls and ceilings in areas close to that minor foundation crack, now the clues could add up to something much more significant.

Additionally, it's very useful to be able to go back to the peace and quiet of the office to analyze things as opposed to people at the inspection "When are you going to be through?" "How much longer?" "Have you found anything yet?" "Can you give me a piggyback ride like my dad does?" "Whatcha doin'?"

I don't do on-site reports because the liability is too great for us as home inspectors, and I carry E&O insurance. When my liability increases, so does that of the Realtor, so I can pretty well assure you that if I get sued, the Realtor and a lot of other people are going to be named in the lawsuit as well. So I do everything I can to not only protect myself, but to protect my Clients and the Realtors who refer them.

Additionally, I'm one of the few home inspectors who actually does CPSC recall research on all the appliance in the home. That comes from personal experience in my own home burning down because of a defective microwave. It doesn't do any good if the home is structurally sound but burns down due to a defective dishwasher, microwave, etc. Doing that research requires me going back to the office to log on to the CPSC web site and, if necessary, the manufacturers' web sites. Ultimately, I might be able to do that on site, but since my cell phone still doesn't work in the mountains (and cell phones have been around since at least 1980 that I know of), I suspect it will still be quite some time before we have WiFi in the mountains.

If there was not a single person at the inspection to bother me while I was doing my job, then I wouldn't have any problem doing an on-site report. Of course, who would I present it to then?

I cannot think of one time where a home inpsector did not generate an on-site report for my clients. It is very important for buyers to review each item on the report and be able to ask questions and if necessary go back to the area on the property for further clarification.

Immediately after the home inpection, my client(s) are comfortable with the inspection items and will instruct me how to proceed with the transaction based on the inpsection results.

I know there are different protocols for different areas of the country, and obviously (hopefully) Minnesota isn't quite as litigious as California. Nevertheless,

Can't they do that anyway, regardless of when they get the report.

Out here no one even wants to go to the home inspection, so when they are there, they sure don't want to stay any longer than absolutely necessary. Quite often they come, take some measurements and pictures, and then leave us on our own, to turn everything off, lock up, etc.

Sometimes I feel like I should be asking for a small percentage of the Realtor's commission for taking care of the property for them.

Good string of comments!

I personally don't mind as a Realtor if the inspector gives an on-site report or not. My desire as the buyer's agent is that the report provides more particular and useful information about the property than I am qualified to provide. Even if I can see a crack the size of the San Andreas fault in the foundation, I prefer to have those subjects treated by a qualified inspector. Otherwise, they are just empty real estate agent promises--and we know how reliable some agents can be! (said very facetiously and with a reminder that I AM an agent)

If the inspector doesn't give an on-site report (which can be convenient, but may become tedious) then what I like to see is a "Return Guarantee." I have found a few inspectors that will schedule and come back for a follow-up visit if something seems amiss or different from the report for a certain period after the initial inspection. I must say, this instills much more confidence in the inspector's abilities and character, especially if no extra fee is required for the follow-up visit!

Hope this helps.

Oh, and to reply to Russel Ray's earlier comment:

I fully agree. In fact, perhaps there should be a little extra charge if the agent isn't present. You can list it as a line item on your invoice: Proxy Realtor: $40 lol I have always felt that if I expect someone to pay me a commission as an agent to oversee a transaction, that I had better darn well be present for every major event during that process. I find it very informative to be present during inspections and appraisals--if anything, just to know what they are looking for so I can offer better advice in the future. And any agent that doesn't attend closings (without a REALLY good excuse...like they died or something) probably shouldn't be hired anyway. Sometimes I think people forget that they are they boss, and the agent is the employee...and employees that don't pull their own weight get canned!

Home inspection pricing is a delicate balancing act. Our fees are substantially lower than appraisers, realtors, lenders and everyone else involved in the real esate process. Our expenses are substantially higher. For example, my insurance is almost 35 times that of an agent.

I have and will occasionally offered discounts for marketing purposes. Once in a while, a particular client will tug at my heart a little more than others and I will offer to cut my price. Most people who buy houses will be living there for many years so almost everyone will be a "first time customer" to me.

All but the filthy rich are cash strapped when buying a home. We cannot offer across the board discounts. Unless you think your client will still hire me if I raise my prices $50-100.

The inspector I used recently offered a discount to the client of any Realtor who would be a first time "customer". The goal then was to do such a good job, that that Realtor would then recommend him to future clients.

That's a common tactic. Unfortunately, the term "good job" is what creates the problems. Is a good job one that doesn't cause many problems for the Realtor, or is a good job one that really documents everything, even the "nitpicky" stuff that would then cause the Realtor not to recommend him to future clients? It's deep water and could require a lot of treading.

I'm continually amazed at the listing agents that I run into occasionally who used to use me when I offered discounts to first time customers, hoping to do such a good job that the Realtor would then recommend me to future clients. Seems I did too good of a job and never got any more referrals from that Realtor. One even told me so to my face a couple of weeks ago: "You were too nitpicky and nearly killed my deal" to which I replied, "Did you ask your Clients if I was too nitpicky?" He smirked, turned around, and walked away. That answered my question. Of course, home inspectors don't kill deals; they just document the condition of the property at the time of the inspection. Agents refusing to address those problems, even with help from the home inspector, sometimes kill deals. And sellers who have refused to take care of their properties, for whatever reason, kill deals, especially if they are not willing to work with the sellers in addressing those problems. And, of course, there are some houses that simply committed suicide.

This is the only industry where home inspectors market to people who do not pay us, hoping that those people will refer their customers to us. When they don't, then many times we have the best home inspectors going out of business due to lack of referrals. My own personal opinion is that we need a federal law similar to what Massachusetts has: Either refer all home inspectors or no home inspectors. Let the Client decide. No Realtors saying, "This is my favorite," "This is who I use all the time," "Here's three brochures, pick one," or "Here's three brochures; the one on top is the one I use all the time." Etc.

Home inspectors need to step up and take control of their industry by marketing to the general public. However, I don't see that happening to any great extent during my lifetime, and I'm only 51 (of course Elvis, John, Jimi, Janis, and others died well before the age of 51. LOL).

Like Russel said, this is a tactic used to introduce the realtor to our services and try to entice him into referring us in the future. What you, as an agent, are failing to understand is that the realtor is rarely our customer.

How about we turn this around just for giggles. I would like to have more business. The realtor that gives out the most referrals for the month or quarter gets a handful of discount coupons to give to future customers. (I can't ethically give you cash) What do you think?

Russell,
Your blanket statement that Home Inspectors do not kill deals is not always true. "nitpicky" is ok when you fully explain your report to the client but when you fail to fully explain your report then "nitpicky" is bad.

I know of one inspector who has a problem with failing to explain what are the future maintainence issues. He put roof will need to be replaced if it gets hit by another bad storm. The roof was less than 5 years old and was a single layer roof. He also said that some of the plumbing should be replaced as it does not conform to current code. The are no leaks in the plumbing in question and it was installed under a different building code. The buyer asked if I would recommend asking the sellers to replace the roof and plumbing. I said no and called and got 2 different roofing contractors and plumbers who all said the roof was fine and they would not recommend replacing the plumbing because it was not leaking. All 4 contractors recommended that the inspector should look for a different job. I suggested the buyers should get another inspection they chose an inspector and I paid for it. The new inspector was a real professional and fully explained the report to the buyers.

I want to add this before your fire back that I should not have disputed the inspectors report. I am also a custom builder/contractor and have a construction background so I am within my area of expertise. Replacing functioning plumbing just because it was installed under a different code is just plain stupid. Needless to say this inspector has been added to my do not recommend list.

Now who's being nitpicky? Unfortunately, there are a few bad home inspectors just like there are a few bad cops and contractors and *shiver* even a few bad real estate agents. We all must do our part to weed them out.

I think you handled that incident very well. You called in experts and helped the client obtain a real inspection. You did what was right for the client. That inspector was not nitpicky, he was wrong and needs to find another career.

Fully agree with that.

The other point is, how often do Realtors and/or their Clients call if they have questions about something, for clarification, for further review, etc. Very, very rarely.

Good point. In my other life, as a police officer, I was taught to anticipate what questions might be asked and answer them in my reports. I still do that with my home inspection reports. However, I encourage my clients to ask as many questions as they can think of, no matter how stupid they sound. Buying a home is one of the biggest purchases they will ever make and poor decisions can haunt them for many years. I have seen a few agents sugarcoat a safety defect, trying to make it appear inconsequential just to make a sale.

My other life, I was a police officer as well and boy do I miss it. I am actually thinking about going back.

Anyways, getting back to this thread. I have a website that allows Home Inspectors the opporutnity to promote their services for FREE. Go to www.RealEstateResourceCenter.com and provide your information. We are only allowing one Home Inspector per city.

Hope this helps to promote your services.

I wish I had a choice. I was medically retired and can't go back. That was the best job I ever had.

Thanks for the offer of a link from your new site. I submitted mine and it looks like I am the only home inspector so far. It did not ask for a city. That is better for me though. I cover a wide area of about ten counties. I live in a rural unincorporated area and would not benefit from being the only inspector in my "city".

hi guys,

moving along... what are some other helpful marketing tips for new inspectors trying to get refferals?

Well, it looks like you will see it in your lifetime. We market to the CONSUMER. They are paying the Fee, they should have the info available to make an informed decision. At HomeVendorsPLUS.com we are marketing Professional Inspection and Consumer Selection. ABSOLUTELY FREE! We are advertising online, home mag's, television. Any inspector who is qualified can list his business FREE, not only that you get to list your services in all the areas you service. We ask that if we send you a paying customer from the site, you must give them a 10% discount on services. Looks like someone is trying to turn the tide! Real Estate Agents and Sellers can display the HomeVendors PLUS "Certified Home" to market their Sale. Maybe we should consider an alternative to directly referring clients and sending them to a site that includes Qualified Professionals from many National Organizations and allow the Consumer the priviledge of determining how, who and where they will spend their money.

Why Buy the Unknown? Look for the Sign of a "Certified Home"

HomeVendors PLUS

There are many companies and home inspectors marketing to the general public; I do it through my Referral Rewards system. Unfortunately, until we educate the general public about home inspections, we're still at the mercy of Realtors and who they refer. If one bought a home every week like one does soap or toothpaste, it would probably be a lot easier. But considering the size and infrequency of the purchase, many people turn to Realtors because they are the perceived experts in all things real estate.

I do believe the Internet will continue to change things, and for the better, too, I might add, but it will be a long, slow process unless some home inspector steps up and builds a Zillow for home inspectors. That's not going to happen anytime soon because the fee for home inspectors is so grossly underpriced. If we commanded 3% like Realtors do, it would be no problem to have someone step up to the plate; I might even do it.

Russell,
I know exactly what you are saying. That is why we include the HomeVendorsPLUS "Certified Home", which is marketed to Real Estate Agents to offer their customers a means to select their Professionals personally (limit their liability as well) based on the information that is provided by the Professional and other National Website Resources. This also entitles the Agent and Seller a Yard Sign to market the home to Prospective Buyers.

If what you mean by a Zillow is that all are included! We are that for the Inspection Industry! We have included everyone (unbiased for the Customer to research) who is licensed and a member of a National Organization in their trade. All are included and in fact contractors are also included so that Consumers and Agents will also be able to locate those professionals as well. I invite you to review! Interested in what you may think of the site.

Today is the Day!

Heather,

I applaud your effort and wish you luck. I reviewed your site and found a few things that concern me. First of all, there is no sign up form for vendors (where you have home inspectors listed).

Second, reading your member agreement, it appears that you are a service like Service Magic which plays "middleman" between the consumer and the vendor. From what I have seen, this does not work very well. I would rather have control of the sale of my services.

Third, why the fax machine requirement? I forward my business line to my cell phone when I am out so I would be forced to pay for a dedicated line just for the fax machine. I would also be forced to buy a fax machine.

Fourth, forcing me to be a member of the board of realtors kind of contradicts your premise. Make me network with realtors in order to remove them from my marketing? Also, there is the cost. I serve 11 counties. The dues for my county board of realtors alone is $400 a year.

Lastly, is the discount demand. On occasion I will offer discounts for various reasons. In fact, I have a standing military discount. Like Russel said, we are grossly underpaid for what we do and the liablity we assume. Across the board discounts are detrimental to our business.

I would love to take realtors completely out of the mix but I have to live in the real world. They will always be there. Your well intentioned directory would cost my business hundreds of dollars a year that I can not afford to lose. I will have to say thank you but no.

Hey, Neil.

Although we consider ourselves Real Estate Professionals, I think for Heather's purposes we are vendors, meaning we would be required to be a member of an appropriate trade association or licensed, etc., depending on local and state requirements for home inspectors.

As I read it, "Real Estate Professional Members" basically means Realtors, so we as home inspectors would not be required to be a member of a local Realtor association.

I stand corrected. On reading it again, I see that. My appologies to Heather.

Neil,
Thank you so much for your response. (BTW) I have also forwarded separate e-mail to you.

First Russell is right, there is no requirement for Vendors to be a member of the Local Board of Realtors. I have corrected the difficulty with locating the sign up by making changes to the site today! (I experienced other who had the same issues with that today)

2nd - I have been reinventing some things after conversing and asking inspectors across the country what would work for their business, so the fax thing doesn't apply right now. I will correct this immediately in the Member Agreement.

3rd - HomeVendorsPLUS is definately not a "middleman" between the Customer and the Vendor. Our Services are automated and driven by the customer. We do not select any Vendor for Customers nor will we direct them to one or another. We will however, locate professionals in their area and add them to our site if need be, still up to the customer to initiate the transaction. The Customer has direct contact with the Vendor that they are ordering from. We are all for you running your own business. We offer a package that would include your services, I'm sure that if not an existing customer of your business the individual would inquire with you prior to ordering our package.

4th - We ask for the discount to the consumer as a means of promoting professional inspections and giving them a means of marketing their investment for the sale of their home. I might add that I have had an agreeable response from many HI's across the country with regard to the 10% discount. I require no fees whatsoever for HomeVendorsPLUS to market your business on the internet. I think that you have already made a substantial investment by having an existing website to provide the Consumer with information about your services. (if noone see it what is your ROI) I might remind you that several directories require a very generous fee just for you to list your services on a yearly basis. Not to mention that they will provide one link to your site and good luck to the Consumer figuring out if you serve their area. Our site is configured specifically for the real estate industry in that if a consumer is looking in any county that you service they will find you, also we allow you to list your all your services. So if someone is looking for Radon Testing and you do that even though you probably are listed only under Home Inspection on any number of other sites, the Consumer will locate you on HomeVendorsPLUS. So with that said, I think it is only fair that if you receive a paying Customer from our site, that you give that customer a 10% discount. Here is another take on that if you advertise your website on HomeVendorsPLUS and God forbid you never get any order from the site, What Have You Lost?

Here is a kicker for you and many other HI's and Contracting Professionals to think about. In many Home Magazines only realtors are allowed to Advertise (my area for one) We provide a means of marketing Homes for Sale and Advertise our site (where you can be found) so that you have more exposure and targeted exposure to Homebuyers and Sellers. Not to mention that we are rolling out advertising for TV and the Advertising that we do Online.

Once again, thanks for the response and comments, there are issues that I will address and I hope that you will reconsider your decision.

Thanks for the apologies!

Hi , This is just my 2cents. I am a Home Inspector in Tx. I work for the person who is buying my service. It is in thier interests that I am commited ,not a realtor , buyer ,seller,or whoever. We have codes to follow and guidelines from TREC. if its bad , or broke you call it.
I believe a little common sense works wonders.

As a Realtor, I would say that one way to market home-inspection services, would be to show agents just what type of work you do. A new inspector in my area (new to the area, not to home inspections) recently came in to introduce himself, and brought in a sample report for me to see. It shows that he is far more thorough than the inspectors we have been using. He gave me a price-list, including any "extras" that might be needed (water test, etc). Yes, he's more expensive than the most used inspector in the area, but his reports are far more detailed, comprehensive, and easier to understand. He offered to do my first client's inspection for free. What I want to see, as an agent, is the truth. If the house has major problems, THAT is what my client's need to know so they can choose whether to continue in the purchase, or to back out. I won't complain about losing a deal, if it was going to be a bad deal... Be nitpicky, as long as you explain (ie:"plumbing not up to current code, but no problems evident"). Getting the report in 1-2 days is fine with me (we have to wait for the appraisal, anyway), just get it to me before the inspection clause in the contract passes- which is MY responsibility to let you know. And let us know, before the inspection, if there's anything you DON'T check (HVAC, roofs, etc) so we can arrange someone else to check those things out and not lose the time of waiting for your report, them find out we need another type of inspection.
I cannot speak for ALL Realtors, but most of us are not the enemy- we all have to work together toward the same goal....
And bring flyers or brochures into the office for me to give my buyers and sellers, or they'll pick up your competitor's info instead.

Very good post zephyr. The above bears repeating as it is too easy to forget. Fortunately, the "enemy" are few and far between. The same applies to home inspectors.

As I no longer sell residential I do not have a dog in this hunt so take these suggestion as you will.

Instead of marketing directly to agents market to the buyers!

Most agents already have 2 or 3 inspectors that are on the top of the inspector list. What are you the inspector going to do differently than the 2-3 that are already on the top of the list. What is the advantage to the agent to put you at the top of the list?

I use to do first-time buyer seminars and first-time SFR investors seminars. On the FTB'er seminars I would invite a HI to participate and give a 20 minute presentation to the buyers on home inspections. They would have a packet of information to give to each potential client. I did these at least once a month. I had 4 inspectors that wanted to take part in these seminars and those 4 were the ones on the top of my list of inspectors. Average attendance was 12-25. Of those that attended and bought from me would always pick the inspector that was at their seminar.

Try marketing WITH some agents instead of to the agent. Split a postcard mailing with an agent or a homes guide ad. The possibilities are endless.

Just like we are required by office policy (and I believe most companies here) to have a seller sign up for or waive the home warranty insurance, a seller pre-listing inspection should be discussed at time of listing.
How often do we hear buyers complain about agents being in kahoots with inspectors?
A pre-listing inspection paid for by the seller might make the inspection process less painful for all concerned. The buyer should still hire their own inspector, but problems should be kept to a minimum. In case of a dispute between inspectors findings, a specialist can resolve any concerns.

I have to say "kudos" to pikes peak! This is exactly what HomeVendorsPLUS is all about. We offer the ability for the Seller to take advantage of pre-listing inspections by marketing the fact to prospective buyers. Our site includes all who are qualified (albeit we just launched the site, however, those who have heard have joined). We are not a preferred list, no one can BUY their way in, its absolutely FREE to the professionals in the industry. For that reason, even the General Counsel for TREC in the State of Texas has given a verbal blessing to our program.

What a great benefit to a seller to market their home as professionally reviewed! What buyer wouldn't look at your home 1st! I would.

Sellers can be aware of what is expected in the transaction as far as the inspection is concerned, have an opportunity to address issues or consider negotiations before they have a contract signed. That alone will take the heat off the entire transaction.

Good Common Sense. Don't wait until you have a Buyer to address what issues will and can arise.
Everyone should have a HomeVendorsPLUS "Certified Home" to put their best foot forward to their prospective buyers. Sellers are Buyers Too !

I like what you're doing, but I'm not following your logic there.

What's the difference between FREE (theoretically meaning available to everyone, qualified or not) and BUY (theoretically meaning available to everyone, qualified or not, but with more money)?

Russel,
I guess the point I was trying to make was that the professionals have to be qualified to be members. We are not a service that someone can just pay fees to be a part of. Everyone who is qualified is welcome to promote their services on the HomeVendorsPLUS website. We are not a preferred list in any way. We are all about offering the Consumer convenience and selection and empowering them to be involved in their decision making process.

Since we are independantly owned and operated and our members are licensed qualified professionals from a variety of National Organizations and industries, we can offer the Consumer the most diverse assortment of professionals available on the internet today, give them assurance that they are working with qualified professionals, give them the opportunity to take advantage of marketing the fact that they have a "Certified Home", and save them a little money as well.

So how do you qualify those you choose to be members?

It looked like I could just go to your site and sign up. Does having a computer, Internet access, an ability to navigate the web, and/or being a moderator at this site qualify me as a good home inspector?

No, all of those things don't qualify you. When a professional signs up they must provide Licensing Information with # for verification along with Membership # of their membership in a National Organization to be verified. I for one know of no other service which verifies even that. I guess someone could argue that those requirements do not make a GOOD home inspector! However, they do assure that the professional has taken steps to be trained and is continuing to receive information in regard to their profession.

By the way, we don't require that you have a website or that you can navigate the web. We have several members who have nothing more than an e-mail address and if they didn't have e-mail I'm sure I could come up with a means for them to receive orders from our site and market their services if they are qualified.

FYI, We offer a webpage so that members without a website can inexpensively provide information about their services and company on our site. We also host the page for 1 year. For a minimal fee of $175. You just can't beat that.

If I am working with a new (to me) inspector and he/she does a hand written report (especially if on site). I will always discourage a buyer from using them.

I like that post, makes sense and shows the signs of a good real estate agent. It is very fitting with minimal exceptions:

1) Onsite reports. Not any more, sometimes you just need a little time to review what you have done after looking at the pictures. Makes you waste too much time on site. Makes you feel pressured. None of these are any good. A good inspector will go over the issues and answer questions as long as the buyer is present. I email my reports out the same night after I have a chance to look everything over.

2) Discounts. If we are asked to help someone out I usually will depending on the situation. Are you willing to cut your commission for them too? If I routinely work with an agent who refers me (among a list of other inspectors of course) then I am more likely to help out the client. If they are a first time home buyer purchasing an expensive house then no, I wont be discounting.