I am a Realtor and have been on this board but in another forum (foreclosure)for some time. I have a friend who wants to get into the HI business. Are there companies that you can sign up with similar to BPO companies that will send solicitations for inspections?

I don't know what a BPO company is, so I'm not sure what you're asking.

I don't think there is. I would just put out flyers at brokerages and maybe offer some free classes to new agents to build a rapport.

hey jollymon thanks for the handup, encouragement and support

good advise carla

No this business is not like doing BPO's. You have to find your own work just like RE.

Angie

Thanks. I guess I will tell him to go shake the bushes like I do. Probably a good place to start is to get in tight with a few Realtors who work as buyer's agent.

Jollymon,

South Carolina (if your friend is there with you) requires licensing for Home Inspectors. Here's a link that will get them started.

http://www.llr.state.sc.us/POL/ResidentialBuilders/index.asp?file=HI.HTM

Here's the e-mail I send to people asking me that question.

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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.

Most home inspectors are one person shops that don’t have room to hire anybody. 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.

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 $200 or 300 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 (This is a classic!)

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 or "realtor friendly" 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.

What's funny is alot of home inspectors are former realtors "who couldn't make it",most all people care about is the fees you charge and who is going to pay for it and when.

Hmmmmmmm. I'm a former Realtor who made it quite well, which is what allowed me to buy lots of properties in Texas, fix them up and flip them, and then retire to San Diego at the age of 38, buy some more houses, fix them up and flip them, buy a home inspection company, buy a pool company, buy a restaurant. . . .

And I'm the only former Realtor I know who is now a home inspector. So I'd be interested in knowing where you got your statistics.

Maybe I'll go over to NACHI and start a poll asking how many of their 8,000 members are former Realtors who couldn't make it. That should be interesting.

However, being helpful to people is more important to me than "making it." If one is helpful, one will "make it."

cool what kind of restaurant do you own,independant of franchise?before re i was in the restaurant biz for 11 years so was just curious?

Franchise. IHOP. I'm a minor partner, though, but it does bring in some very good money each year.

Well, you can, Allied School is one of them. They do construction. They do real estate licensing, and they do pretty much everything. They have got their fingers in almost all aspects of real estate, including home inspection. What I really don't like is they actually advertise that if you take the Allied Home Inspection course, two weeks later or a month later when you finish, you are going to be able to go out and start making $100,000 in a year as a home inspector. "We are going to make you a success, you go right out and get to work and get rich quick," and that is nonsense. It takes years and years to learn this stuff. It takes around five years. You can have 30 years of experience in construction and go out and you won't know the first thing about home inspections. You won't know what to do and or how to look for stuff, or how to report on something. There are good home inspection courses, and there are bad ones.


The schools I recommend are the ones that actually have buildings or homes that you learn in. So they will take you into an old home and you are with these veteran home inspectors that also make the circuit. They talk on different subjects to different home inspection associations when we have our conferences. They are hands-on teachers as well, and they will take you to an electrical panel. They will open it up and they will say, "Okay, here is a defect; here is a defect; here is the defect…" They will explain why it's a defect, and they will tell you what to look for, how to spot a defect and that sort of thing.

For more home inspection info:
http://homegarden.expertvillage.com/interviews/home-inspections-with-martin-hewitt.htm

New York State does not recognize Allied as a qualifying school for licensure. Call your State Board for list of Schools.