as the title says, I am currently enrolled as a student with Carson Dunlop. I live in Ontario, Canada, where there are no regulations on who can become a home inspector. I am not liking their course for various reasons. I am looking at withdrawing from their course, and becoming an InterNACHI member. It seems to be a much more supportive and informative community, as well as much less expensive.
I want to do all necessary lessons, through InterNACHI, then pass the CPI exam. I have little to no background in home inspection, I’m starting from scratch. Upon earning my CPI, I will find a local inspector, and see if I can tag along on some inspections for some real world hands on experience.
Has anyone been in a similar situation? Starting from scratch as an InterNACHI member?
Chase, no one knows where you are located. Some states now have specific requirements for licensing. Some of these may be classroom hours and passing the NHIE test. You haven;'t indicated what your specific displeasure is with the Carson Dunlop course. Many Home Inspection classes are conducted using their book.
Hey Chase. Sorry that you are having a hard time. I’m a North Carolina Licensed Home Inspector and started my journey to becoming an inspector by first taking the required state approved courses that could be found on the state licensure boards website. Then I used Internachis free resources to study up a little more for the exams.
Several years in and internachis resources are still useful for staying current on the trade and the forums are a wealth of knowledge. Most of the information posted is coming from inspectors first hand experience in the field.
Found out what your state requires and use internachis free resources along side those other courses to build a solid foundation for your career.
hi Robert, just edited my post, thanks for the heads up. I’m in Ontario, Canada. No licensing required. I feel that carson dunlop does not present information in a manner than allows for great success on their evaluations.
Main point is, I want to do all education through NACHI, and want to know from my peers (you guys) if thats a good route. Thanks
I’m not sure what you mean by that. The material I have from Carson Dunlop is fairly intense and well illustrated. I’m a Boomer, so my idea of learning a trade comes from the hands on approach. Watch how others do it and practice by doing it. (usually lied in the beginning to get the job).
Back before computers we had these “automated” courses in college (think I did Pych101 that way). Had a textbook that you read so many pages and took a quiz. After so many quizzes you took a bigger test that encompassed all the stuff before. This is kinda my take on the computer classes of today, just done online. I’m a kinda visual learner. Show me how to do it and I can do it too. I would suggest you augment whatever learning you use (InterNACHI or Carson Dunlop) with additional materials. The internet is a great gift to research all kinds of things. Back in the day we had to go to the library and use the card catalog!
All I can suggest is you try some of the InterNACHI courses so you can compare for yourself.
Junior, why don’t you let Chase (and us) know how well you think the Carson Dunlop courses prepared you and how they compare to courses you’ve taken here. That is what he is asking.
The InterNACHI courses can help prepare you for what’s ahead, I continue doing courses. I found the Carson Dunlop courses to be put together well, as Robert stated. The CAHPI exams that followed were proctored exams and were a good learning tool as well. These courses and exams definitely made it easier moving over to InterNACHI. Like Robert though, I like the hands on approach, and have done a lot of hands on.
OR MAYBE… you’re just not cut out for this industry!!
Perhaps you should BEGIN with a ride along (even if you have to hire an inspector) to get a look at what is actually involved!! Spending $500 now could save you thousands later!!
Many Canadian InterNACHI members enrolled and successfully completed CD educational model. This has been posted many times on the MB over the years.
The price of CD enrollment as compared to InterNACHI AT THE BEGINNING is much higher. When you compare both fees after 10 years it’s roughly the same.
Yes, I think Carson Dunlop was worth it. As for CAHPI, after the proctored exams, everything became a big expense. They were not set up for online, no webinars, no continuous online learning, etc. Travel, hotels, meals, etc were big costs just to attend their meetings/events.
Hi Chase, Carson Dunlop is and has been a leader in the home inspection industry for many years. With InterNACHI you can get real supportive experience and they can give you great education. In your journey you are going to find that all these organizations are going to give the knowledge you will need to be a home inspector. You will find you will constantly be learning new things. I always say remember what you know and learn all things that you don’t know. It is a long journey. I say both of these organizations can give you the the education you need to achieve. Happy inspecting.
Chase, for the money, I don’t think any organization can beat interNACHI in providing training for inspecting homes. Not even close!
The price of membership is dirt cheap considering what you get in return, but other than some courses specific to countries outside of North America, InterNACHI’s course are designed to be generic for North America and won’t cover considerations specific to Canada.
For learning about home systems, marketing, customer relations, etc., InterNACHI is the organization to use! For learning about considerations specific to Canada, ask here.
I took my first training from www.icaschool.com inspection certificate associates (ICA) Its a partner school of interNACHI. It cost $695. However. I was able to get a membership to ASHI “free” for a year which is $459. ASHI by the way I feel is more of a legislative advocacy group to me, while InterNACHI seems to take better care of its members in setting them up for success. What I liked about ICA, is it gave me a solid foundation from beginning to end on how to do an inspection. InterNACHI is great and it has the best resources out there. However, I think if I based my knowledge on InterNACHI I would be lost because the information is overwhelming. There is simply too much that is offered if you don’t have someone to show you the steps from how to market your business to what to look for on the foundation of the house. I’ve only been doing Inspections for just over 2 years and I think some foundational training like ICA is critical then join InterNACHI. There’s software companies that will give you free one year membership to InterNACHI like inspector Pro so you can maximize your first year of expenses. Just some thoughts that I have.
As a trainer, we’ve used the CD books in our pre-licensing classes for over 15 yrs and still do.
They are well put together and have tons of info. Many of the Pics, slides and info are dated, so we use other sources for the actual classroom training. We don’t do walk-ins. The CD books are sent out 2-4 weeks in advance of class for the students to get a basic grasp on major systems BEFORE they start class.
InterNACHI has tons of info online that you can pick and choose what you want, when you want it and has good printout material for your future reference library, BUT as several others have stated … NONE of any training is really ALL you need without mentoring and field inspections with experienced inspectors
Me too. Did the complete Carson Dunlop program then moved to Internachi. I found the Carson Dunlop program to be good. I did not view them as one vs the other. I saw them as each augmenting the other.
I agree with the majority of people’s here,
I did my first training Carson Dunlop and found it to be an extremely beneficial foundation for my knowledge, after that internachi makes for killer training in addition to CD. The CD training was dry and is way different than internachi style. Different strokes for different folks.
I have bought Carson Dunlop package 5K for what I got from Internachi at 30% of the cost.
I find Carson well overpriced for the product and support you need from them non existent.
2 years into the course Carson decided to restructure their marking process for Quebec ,
now we have a mid-term, how lovely…
Carson Dunlop is a money grab and not worth it , you can go to a local collage pay half the price and get better education .
Nachi is a great educator and I blew threw the 12 courses in less than 6 mouths .
Still working with Carson Dunlop to achieve that certification.
I live in Quebec and apparently we are dealt with differently because we are Quebecrs and the grading process is different.
Long story short I will achieve my certification from Carson, but word to mouth , I will trash Carson & Dunlop.
Over priced and poorly structure , don’t blow your money on these guy’s.
Carson Dunlop courses are simply that education. They do not certify home inspectors. On another note I also represent an education provider and agree that’s a lot of money to pay for their education courses. I’m not sure why mid-term exams would be necessary. If you consider the education providers based on licensed provinces such as BC or Alberta, you can get a good idea those that are recognized under licensing. We are one of them…overall wishing you well on your achievement!