Some of you may have already seen me and know that I am a new inspector. Business is going decently and I’m ready to add my first ancillary service. I don’t have a lot of funds and they will have to be added slowly. What is the best first ancillary service to add that will be the cheapest but also bring the biggest ROI.
Any other tips for New inspectors would be greatly appreciated
ALSO please visit my website at ahouseonarock.com and click the “like” my facebook page button on the bottom.
Do mold or radon. Offer services that your competition doesn’t. Get off your a s s and do more than just sit in front of your computer daydreaming about perfect inspection reports.
I’ve been doing mold inspections for a Kansas environmental company for 3 years now.They do mold remediation for the major financial institutions before the foreclosures goes on the market. I take 3 air samples and 1 lift tape sample, about 20 photos and a short 2 paragraph description of the property. The samples are sent to their lab for analysis. So I pay for the sampling supplies and FedEx Standard shipping (everything cost me about $30). They pay $300 per inspection. I did 62 inspections for them last year. So far that has paid for my expansion to include a separate thermal inspection business and I have recently invested in energy auditing certifications and equipment. Or you can only concentrate on your home inspection business and hope you get rich someday.
I wasn’t trying to belittle anyone, just sharing some ideas with Juan. This thread is about ancillary services not about surviving with mediocre business.
Gee… did you think that was aimed at you for some reason ?
I was was simply pointing out that if you treat clients well you have enough work that you do not need tons of addon services to make more off meager calls.
$300 (minus supply costs) for 45 minutes work for mold sampling or $175/hr minimum for infrared services is hardly meager. That’s the difference between us, you’re happy with $30,000 a year, I prefer to triple that. Gotta run, my office at 900 N. Michigan is calling.:p:p:p
I would agree with Linus. Mold and Radon. Radon first as there seems to be less liability involved. As you are a newer inspector, I would avoid things that have a lot of liability attached to them.
Termite inspections would fall into that category. Here in S. Florida, the termite inspections are fairly simple. Where you are located, they may be more difficult to perform and with that, comes a greater chance for a miss and as such, liability.
Thermal imaging would also be something to look into.
You need to find your niche. There is no shame in just being a home inspector. I have done it for over 20 years…and I would consider myself very successful. You’ll never see me on her complain about a lack of business…because there never is…
You need to weigh all your options.
What services would you like to offer now or in the future?
Which ones require certifications of licenses in your location?
What is the cost to add each of the services to your current business?
looking at the cost of startup for each of the services that you wish to provide. along with initial education and certs or licensing, insurance. What service makes the most sense to start up first?
Juan, you stated that you wanted the best ROI, for the cheapest amount. Keep this in mind, if you buy a cheap thermo cam you get a cheap thermo cam and may get bad results…just sayin
So you hustle the fear of mold out of every single Home Inspection client?
Man you would be great in the carpet cleaning business as they taught us to make turn $5@ room into a $400 job which I was great at for the 3 weeks I did it till I figured sleeping at night is more important than a few extra bucks.
There are many ways to make $$$ if you put your head to it .
I made more than $30,000 last year plus have been increasing calls every year but it is none of your business and I never believe those that pseudo brag.
Take the money you have to invent in ancillary services and use it for marketing. Get your website to rank well organically and you will have little time for other services that IMO add more potential liability than profit. Add a WDO to an inspection for a meager $40? Not for me but YMMV. Some HI’s here in San Diego add IR for free so there ain’t no point in that. Radon? If you have anticipated radon concentrations in your service area above the actionable level, sure.
Once you have a good solid income stream from your primary business, let it ride for a year to get some traction in your marketplace. Then I might suggest adding a modest mold inspection kit ($300) as the ROI happens after the very first inspection. No brainer there. Do a few of those and if it sticks, maybe upgrade your kit (some of the pumps that operate on DC are very cool and reduce inspection times).
Return on investment is $300? How do you figure its $300? You need a temp and humidity meter. You need a mold machine, a calibration device, education, and the time to understand what you are doing. Then once you get the results you have to be able to explain them. Then there is additional insurance. Then you have to get a back up of all equipment, how can you offer something and the minute it breaks you are screwed?
Copies of IICRC S520. IICRC S500, IICRC S300…those books alone are about $300.
Its so damn funny that people think mold “inspections” are taking a sample sending it to a lab and then being “off the hook”. Why is it acceptable to do this and yet if a guy bought $300 worth of tools and had ZERO home inspection knowledge and sold himself out as a home inspector you would crucify him.
Learn to do whatever you want to do and be the best you can be, all other services still reflect on your company image. Those who think mold testing takes 20 minutes and zero liability and education is not only ripping the client off, they are also doing a disservice to their own company…
douglas
(Douglas Wall, CIE, FL Lic. Mold Insp #2)
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