Has anyone had any experiences with inspection companies that advertise needing inspectors to evaluate foreclosed homes for banks and other lenders??
W. Bancroft–WI
Yup… They want YOU to do all of the work for peanuts! :twisted:
Frank is partially right…they do want you to work peanuts. However, the work involved is minimal at best. Anyway, I make about $1500-2000 per month extra doing this in my little area. Some companies do pay better than others but the real key is to do some real volume.
Check out the link beow:
http://www.google.com/Top/Business/Financial_Services/Field_Service_Companies/
Good luck,
Dave
[FONT=Arial]Dave,[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]How many of these inspections did you do to earn this amount? [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]How much time / days did it take? [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]$1,500.00 to $2,000.00 works out to be 2 to 3 Home Inspections for me.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]{My average is $850.00 per inspection.} [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial]Anyway… I wish you luck!:p[/FONT]
Frank,
I would say I do in the neighborhood of 100 per month, some months more and some less. The minimum is $10 per with the average being $16 per. Some companies will pay more but not to many.
Time involved is minimal…I typically have two, maybe three, days a month tied up in this. For my business, this has worked out to be a nice additional stream of income.
Dave
Hi Dave!
MOST Companys pay an average of $35.00 to $50.00 per inspection with some paying $75.00 per inspection.
I suggest that you raise your prices!
Good Luck!
My experience has been spending between 1 1/2 - 2 hrs total (Includes driving, time on site, report writing, etc) on the ones I’ve done. In my time as an inspector I’ve done a total of 3 of these, and as far as I’m concerned that was 3 too many…nevermind taking 30 days to get paid.
Don’t fall into the trap of going broke and not even knowing it…
Scott,
I got a call this morning… The “Lady” wanted me to drive 186-miles roundtrip to do a $75.00 dollar inspection.
- I asked her if this was a JOKE and if “One of my friends” had put her up to calling me.
She said … “No this is a legitimate request”… I then asked her if she was “HIGH” OR … JUST CRAZY!:twisted:
Frank,
Unbelievable. I wouldn’t drive half that far to do a full blown inspection!
[FONT=Arial]Yet… there are some “Newbies” {and even one old fool} who will break their backs to “Fetch & Tote” for these companies because… “Well they give me business close by all of the time so… I HAVE to keep them happy” :roll:[/FONT]
You guys crack me up. What we’re talking about here isn’t draw inspections or anything along that line. This is simply driving by a residence and taking a picture, determining if it is occupied or not, not much to it. Again, the key is volume for an area. Anyone who drives any real distance for this is crazy, and anyone who doesn’t see this as a possible income source is crazy.
So, Frank, please don’t mock myself or others for trying to earn a living. Just because you can’t make a go of it in your area doesn’t mean it doesn’t work in other areas. Try to take the blinders off for a moment and you might be surprised at what else this world has to offer. Go back and re-read post 3 and 5. Doing this type of work supplements my main income, nothing wrong with that. And it supplements it pretty nicely I might add. For 3 days max per month and making an additional 1500-2000, I don’t think anyone would argue.
Oh yeah, if the “old fool” remark was to me, well guess what, i’m only 39, hardly an old fool. Maybe, just maybe, the old fool is in your mirror.
Dave
Dave,
Thanks… I needed a Good laugh! I wish you well!
HMMM been there done that with the drive by inspections here in CA and never got that volume of work to generate 1500-2000.00 per month and we are the highest forclosure state and at one time I had both counties in the top 10. I am not disputing your income from that but what did you do with the info??? I myself use these types of inspections as a way to market my inspections. If I get a call to do one and im in the area i will do it, and then leave my brochures, flyers, cards or whatever to generate business.
Doing the math, you would have to do 5 of your inspections per day at the rate of 10.00 and then what??? after driving to the different areas to do those what would then be your ROI?
New Hampshire is WIDE open and the towns are FAR apart???:roll:
The whole state of New Hampshire is the size of a frigging county. 
Paul,
When you say “Do the Math” you are correct. I had already done it before I posted but… Here goes!
$2,000.00 divided by $10.00 per inspection comes out to 200-inspections.
- 200-Inspections divided by 3-days is 66.66 inspections per day.
- 66.66 inspections divided by 8-hours equals 8.33 inspections per hour!
- Remember… This does NOT include “Drive Time” between inspections!
- This does NOT include getting the keys, opening the doors and “interacting” with the client and or maintenance person who let you into the house!
Now… after conducting 66.66 inspections you have to;
-
write 66.66 reports.
-
and either mail them at you cost or
-
E-mail on your own time or ….
-
Fill out 66.66 forms and send 66.66 faxes!
Then… you are in the 32% income tax deduction bracket so… $3.20 subtracted from $10.00 equals $6.80 per inspection. {I think that Burger King pays more per hour.}
Once again I say… To-each-his-own…but… There is NO WAY that I could earn a living that way!.
I say… God Bless all that chose to do these types of inspections for $10.00 to $16.00!
I wish them luck!
PS:
{Do the math at $16.00 per inspection and you will see a dismal “Increase in pay” @ $12.80 per inspection.
[FONT=Arial]Home Depot pays more per hour! :shock:} [/FONT]
FRANK:
I appreciate your opinion, but I still don’t think we’re comparing apples to apples here. And your “math” is flawed in that you assume $10 for all inspections, and your time for each inspection is WAY to high…not to mention that if anyone really reads your math the last thing you imply is I make only $6.80 per hour, wow.
First, there is NO interaction with anyone…ever. Second, there is NO report to write. Simply drive by, snap a photo, repeat. At my office I input into a website (each company has their own program) the info, upload pic, and done. The only true expense is vehicle operating expense.
Burger King doesn’t pay near what I make doing occupancy/driveby inspections. If I were to do 50 occupancy/driveby inspections for $16 that is $800. On average i’d say 6 hours TOTAL time invested (prep time, dirve times, input time), that equals $133.34 per hour, then you’d minus out taxes. Of course that amount varies each time out, but you get the picture.
I know my math isn’t perfect either but is more realistic than yours.
PAUL:
If you don’t have the volume you won’t make money. I guess one of my keys to success in my area is that there is not a lot of competition. Also, I don’t just receive a “call” to do one, I receive a list via email twice a month and have 10 days or so to complete.
For me, it has really worked out to be a couple hassle free days per month. I actually enjoy doing these as I can just go at my own pace. Sometimes my wife or kids come and we do special things (shop, go out to eat, whatever).
Oh yeah, and the liability, well, I won’t say there isn’t any, but it certainly is less than a typical home inspection.
Anyway, with you Frank I bet we could debate this all day to no avail…so write your last comment on how it’s a waste of time and blah blah blah. Hope you have a nice sunny day!! 
Thanks for the input Dave. Every little bit helps and I’m sure others will see the use for this as a filler between inspections.
I work for the same company Dave does and it pays much more than minimum wage.
Easy work and for me all simple questions reported on a checklist on a PDA.
With 3-5 days to do most of the work orders it allows me to do “Regular” Home Inspections and drive by a few homes when I am in the area.
It pays the mortgage and if I were to get hurt, I could still do these and no need for a ladder.
Bashing on the site is not needed. We all are allowed to make a living in a way we see fit. Diversification of income has made my business thrive.
Richard -
Comments in this thread don’t even begin to approach ‘bashing’. After being around for awhile you’ll understand this.
To those of you able to justify the field work discussed, I wish you well… All I can say is I have a good handle on what $$/hr I need to be profitable, and these field inspections don’t cut it.
Ditto. Never have and never will.