I believe that you have ever collected $150 dollars for a RESIDENTIAL draw inspection. But I can see it for a COMMERCIAL draw inspection.
Since you charge $150 per residential draw inspection it is not hard for me to guess how many you have done…A BIG FAT 0.
Since you are wanting us to state facts with our post, I thinks time you started using them yourself.
Have a great day,:roll:
Bobby
Bobby, just so you know I have two local banks that pay me $125.00 for each draw inspection, when they write the loan they include 5 draw inspections which is incorporated into the loan, if the builder requires more than 5 draws then the home owner eats the extra inspections.
I not only see this as an inspector but as a contractor too. I created my own excel spreadsheet to cover all the construction costs and can be used as a working budget for the lenders.
I just finished a second story remodel where the bank was using the appraiser to do the draw inspections. I made an appointment with the construction loan officer, guaranteed them 24 hour turn around time and now I am going to start doing their draw inspections.
As a builder I have been very frustrated with national draw companies because by the time the inspector gets the inspections many days have already gone by. Every lender I work with guarantees me payment within 48 hours, timing is so crucial to keep the project on time that these draw companies fail constantly.
Offer your lenders quick turn around times, an excel spread sheet for a budget and do what you do for the big draw companies and you can keep the profit for yourself. $125.00 per draw and $750.00 per build is not uncommon so do some marketing and go for it.
PS don’t forget this includes remodels as well, credit unions are are good source too as they like to keep things local.
Peter I come from a construction background. I am not a home inspector and at this point do not have plans on being one. I have been doing draw inspections for my area for over three years now, two years on my own. So I understand the process for the loans for builders. Some banks offer draw inspections included in the loan, some come straight from the builder’s pocket, and the last that I have seen is the draws are free to the builder and the bank pays for them. I am glad to see in your area that banks and builders are willing to pay that much for one. But from what I have read on websites and hear from others around the country that is not the case. The most I have seen in my area being paid for a draw inspection is $60.
This is what I offer banks I do business for:
24 hr turn around (put a big emphisis on “time is of the essience”)
I put out the lender signs if they are not over 3’x3’ (the cheap stick them in the ground and go signs)
pictures
I let them know of any suspicious activity on site
A competitive price. (price break if there is more than one house in one subdivision)
E&O insurance coverage on me (some banks require it)
I do a lot of remodel inspections for banks. Most of the time they are with smaller banks.
But if I were to charge more than $60 on an inspection in my area…I would be out of business.
To bad, sorry to hear about your market. Do you work directly for the lender or a middle man?
If you do work for the lender what type of report do you produce? and do you meet with the builder in advance to go over the budget so all or the details are worked out in advance. This is something I offer as part of my service which takes some of the work load of the lender.
I work directly for the lender. I have four banks that I work with. I do some for DDN and Trinity but not many. Most of the banks already had a draw sheet that they were currently using before I was doing draw inspections. One bank was new to the business and I helped them comstruct some draw sheets. These are simple excel spreedsheets that show total percentages of completion broken down into differnet phases of construction. With all the banks I am able to partial percentages.
I try not to have contact with builder. It usually turns into them wanting me to give them funds for something that is not complete. With sheets I use with the banks it is easy to incorperate it into a budget. Plus the builder has the ability to make changes with the draw sheet to fit his budget but that only happens to 1mil+ houses that have elevators or other extras that are not normally found in houses. I will PM you one of the sheets I helped make. Maybe you could use it to make your draw inspections easier.
**From your other posts I see that you are NOT an inspector. **
That explains everything including your hesitation to charge a fair price according to your education and abilities.
**I wish you luck! 
**
OK Frank lets get some things straight. Because I’m not a home inspector does not mean that my opinion is not valid. The only reason I come into these threads is to help home inspectors that have questions about draw inspections. I have over 5 thousand draw inspections under my belt so I would say I have a lot more experience than a lot of people in here!!!
It is apparent from two of you guys that the going rate in NH is $125-150. That’s great, I wish it was that way around the entire country but it’s not!!!
So, since I’m not a home inspector, I do not charge the same price you do. My education… I bet you can not guess my education level!!! YOU DON’T KNOW ME!!! So my area has to bow down to your area demands. UHH, thats not how FREE MARKET WORKS!!
SUPPLY AND DEMAND=BASIC ECONOMICS. Frank you might need to find your local community college and take a course on it.
If I were to charge even $100 Dollars for draw inspections I would lose all the banks I do business for.
Heres another thing Frank that I know your superior intelligence will understand. From what I have seen, it takes any where from 2-3 hours on-site to do a home inspection & then there is paper work you have to do at home. So lets say for time’s sake that it takes 4hrs to completely do a home inspection. Just, for example, you get $400 for that inspection. So that means you get $100 dollars an hour for that inspection.
OK, now draw inspections. It takes, at the most, 10-15 mins on-site. Go home and email; under 2 mins. Drive to and from the site, lets just say you drive 40mins total. That would be almost one hour for $150 to do a simple draw inspection. So you’re making more money doing draw inspections than home inspections. Why do home inspections? It seems that’s just chump change (home inspections) for someone that has done thousands of draw inspections.
How much did you spend on education for draw inspections? $0
How much did you spend on a license or certification for draw inspections? $0
How much do you spend on gadgets, like the ones needed for home inspections? $2 FOR A PEN!!!
How much money total do you spend on draw inspections? GAS and E&O Insurance if required Only & most lenders do not require the insurance!!!
So why do you think you deserve the same, or in your case, more money to do draw inspections than home inspections!!! A DRAW INSPECTION HAS NO WHERE NEAR THE SAME OVERHEAD AS HOME INSPECTIONS!!! A DRAW INSPECTION IS SOOOOOOOO MUCH MORE SIMPLE THAN A HOME INSPECTION. IF YOU DISAGREE WITH THAT THEN YOU NEED TO CHECK YOUR EDUCATION LEVEL. To me you are ripping off the builders. I come from a construction back ground and almost have my contractors license. So I promise that you or anyone that charges that much for something so simple will not be doing my draw inspections. I am suprised the builders in your area let the banks agree to pay you that much. If the price goes against the loan or the builder pays for it…it still counts against his profit. I would say there are some unhappy builders in your area!!
all day on a commercial draw inspection!!! You need to trade in your walker for a wheel chair so you can get around faster. lol
Bob
why do you have to attack Pete this way HIS EDUCATIONAL LEVEL, for your information Pete is a builder & HI & does IRT,
and yes there are some unhappy builders around here
I accidentially wrote Peter, but i have already edited it.
Thanks
East Coast Inspectors…2/15/08 4:53 AMBobby, you are a total and complete idiot!
Guess who this was, Frank M. Carrio.
New Hampshire must be proud since your the founder of the NH chapter and belittling people by not using the issues at hand but by resorting straight to name calling.
He knows my education level without knowing me or my background.
Sorry, but I’m here to help people. Not childish name calling.
Bobby
Bobby,
**So … you are NOT an inspector … AND …you ALMOST have a “Contractors License”:roll: **
I guess that makes you a “Wannabe” who is charging according to his “worth.”
For your information … our Chapter has past & present;
1. Residential Contractors.
2. Commercial Contractors.
3. Several types of Engineers, IE. Structural, Electrical …sorry no “Choo Choo types”.
**4. Code Enforcement Inspectors. **
**5. One Bona Fide Scientist. **
6. An Engineer who teaches Home Inspection College Courses.
7. Licensed Plumber.
8. Licensed Electrician.
9. Certified HVAC technicians.
10. Former & Present high school teachers.
**ALL are CERTIFIED Home inspectors. **
THAT is why we can and do charge $125.00 to $150.00 per draw inspection!
FYI… last month I was at a bank that asked me what I charged for a “Draw Inspection” I asked what their going rate was and the manager told me that they were “being forced to pay THEIR appraiser $225.00 per inspection.”
**I was told that the “Banks Appraiser” had already conducted 16-inspections and that he was charging “according to his time.” **
**I guess that this appraiser thought that he could either spend the morning earning $600.00 per appraisal or charge $225.00 each for 3 draw inspections. **
I guess that the appraiser was charging and getting paid “for his worth.”
**The bank thinks that $150.00 per draw inspection is more than fair. **
PS:
Now that the gloves are off… Without being a builder and without being an inspector You claim to have conducted thousands of draw inspections and at a very low price.
**YOU are what is killing our industry! **
You are just some rag tag Wannabe who is running around with a pickup truck and a ladder screwing over the unsuspecting homeowner, builder, and contractor.
I am NOT in favor of licensing but … it is “people” like you that should not be allowed to operate and cast a bad name on the rest of us!
PPS:
From you comments about the Commercial Inspection “taking all day” I can see that you don’t know “Jack” about construction.
**GIVE ME A BREAK!!! **
I wonder what your going to call me now?
Give me a break with your hypocrisy.
JUST BECAUSE YOUR MARKET AREA IS PAYING SO MUCH DOES NOT MEAN THAT THE REST OF THE COUNTRY IS WILLING TO PAY THAT MUCH…EVER. I will tell you why. B/c the rate has been in place for so long that if some lenders start allowing the rate for draw inspections to increase the builders will make an uproar and not use them. So it seems that you need to start hitting the builders to start paying more for them. But wait, your into screwing them. Without the builders there would be no draw inspections.
Its not just draw inspectors competing with each other, the lenders are competing as well. And they want to offer the builders the best price so they can get more business from the builder.
RECAP:
This will be my last post on this thread since I have had so many people PMing me asking for help and I have been fighting with a person who has some major internal issues.
Thanks for your support guys and I will help as many of you as I can.
Bobby.
**Now don’t you feel better! \:D/ 
\:D/ **
Bobby… You are SO MUCH FUN!!! :mwa-hah:
**I have not had so much fun since the hogs ate my little sister!:mrgreen: :mwa-hah: **
**You should have left it alone when I said Goodbye and I wished you well or some such … **
Good post Bobby.
Thanks for all your valuable input Bobby, I appreciate it the info
Bobby, FYI, here in NH the cost of the draw inspections are rolled into the mortgage so the builder does not pay a dime. If more than the usual 5 are required it is still mortgage holder who pays not the builder.
Just wanted to clear that up.
Peter you and I both know that for a spec house anything that goes into the cost (draw inspection) of construction loan goes against the builders profit. So that does means the builder is paying for it. I have never heard of a mortgage for construction, just construction loans that will be closed at the end of construction and a mortgage is purchased to pay for the house. But for a custom house the builder or the future home owner can get the construction loan. If the builder gets the loan he is paying for the draw inspections. If the future home owner gets the construction loan then they pay for the draw inspections.
Peter I here complaints from builders all the time about the cost of draw inspections. So there must be builders paying for them.
Bobby, you are correct if you mean builders spec houses which are far and few between up here. This may be where there is some misunderstanding. The draw inspections I do are for homes that are built or remodeled and are directly for the owner who has secured the loan. This may be the difference between the two.
I have just signed a contract to do a 1485 square foot addition which happens to be financed by one of the banks I do draws for but unfortunately I wont be able to do the draws on my own project. To bad because I would have them done in minutes instead of hours.
Down here in my market area the large majority of houses are spec houses. If I were to put a percentage of the draw inspections I do that are specs I would guess that it would be 80% specs and 20% customs and remodels.
When I start building houses I plan on using lenders that I do not do draw inspections for that same reason. They are correct in their thinking b/c it is a conflict of interest. This way I can also try to get their business for doing draw inspections.
Peter you sound like a good person and I wish you the best,
Thanks
Bobby