I don’t have any immediate plans to do so because I’m still knee-deep in trying to develop an inspection career, but I also find myself learning a lot about real estate in general and wondering if it’s worth it to eventually get my realtors license and do that too.
Does anyone have any experience or anecdotes regarding making the move to doing both?
If you are doing the “inspection thing” the right way, you won’t have time to do anything else!
I think it would be a conflict of interest to inspect a home for a buyer that you also represent as a Realtor, if that is your intention.
As @jjonas stated, you run the risk of diluting your inspection progress. I call this mission drift.
On the flip side, there are many inspectors that do other things for additional income. I think it is a good idea to have more than one iron in the fire. But, I would diversify as much as possible within the inspection realm by adding valuable services before taking on a new career.
By the way, coming from a real estate family, being a GOOD realtor is a lot of hard work. Working in your customer’s best interest and not just the sale is serious business, not unlike our business. There is more to being a good realtor than most inspectors will give them credit for. And it will take the same dedication as the inspection business to perform at a high level.
I had my real estate license before I started inspecting. As long as you remember to not provide inspections for any properties you stand to gain financialy from, there should be no issues.
Also, I have found that when working with a buyer, the knowledge you have as an inspector can greatly assist your client in avoiding homes with issues that they may not naturally take into consideration. Just remember to always put the client’s interests above your own.
Oh yea, definitely not. That would be a very efficient way to ruin two careers at once.
I love the phrase mission drift. might have to steal it sometime. well put.
Very good perspective, thanks guys.