How do I make more money?

Do you draw the floor plans ?

Ok after page 26 I have had enough. It’s too much useless information. Sorry I don’t mean to be mean!
You asked us for tips on making more money. Before I got into home inspection I spent over 40 years building as a licensed General Building Contractor. I’m still active and the background gives me credibility.
Tip #1
You must have the practical experience building for money. Hopefully licensed.

The gentleman that mentored me was a 30year home inspector veteran who also taught grammar school for 35years.
Tip#2
My mentor enlightened me to the fact that most people have a 6th grade reading level and comprehension. So keep your report simple. Not long. A 13-15 page report at about 18 font with 8-10 photos will be enough.
Provide an on site inspection checklist of about 6 pages with your written comments (notes) being a separate report. You can call it your Field Report. The client can use it as a punch list for repairs.
Tip #3
Build a generic template using a Word program. With general terms that you commonly use.
Example: Heat is provided by a -year-old, ,000 Btu, electric, gas, wall, forced-air, condensing, furnace by, located in the (see below).
Photo
So eliminate what’s not the correct description and add what is needed.
Building a Template will take some time initially. But you should only need to spend 90 minutes preparing and sending your written report out.
Your goal should be to make $100 per hour. A
12-1500 sq ft. House you should inspect on-site in 90 minutes.
Total time ideally 3 hours.
As hard as you’re working now you should be able to do 9-10 Inspections per week if you execute these 3 tips.
My first year out was nearly a 100k year in earnings and 188 Inspections. The fact is that your clients don't want to read about loose door knobs. That's not what will cost them . Deficient systems will cost them $. So stick to reporting only on the SOP.
Be proficient on the SOP before adding specialty Inspections. I hope something offered here will help!

Darrin,

I’re read your report and it looks incredibly detailed and informative. Is this the type and quality of product that other inspectors are providing in your area?
It may be that you’re an outlier. Providing a MUCH higher level of product than the rest of the inspectors in your area.
I think, like others have said, you should charge more. The alternative would be to compromise your quality and increase your volume.
Think of this business like the car business. You have Chevrolet that turns out thousands of cars each year, most of them pretty good. And Rolls Royce that turns out hundreds. Also pretty good cars. But they’re marketed to different segments of the market.
If you’re going to be a Rolls Royce of inspection reports you have to charge appropriately for it and market that product to a very specific segment.

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If that’s all I got, I’d ask for my money back.

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No. I don’t draw my floor plans.

Here in the NYC area, I look the property up on StreetEasy, Zillow, or similar, and most of the time there is a floor plan with the listing. So I save those to my computer, and then delete all the square footage, names of rooms, etc. leaving me more room write on it. This is a pretty quick and easy process. I do it before each job if possible. If there isn’t a floor plan then I usually sketch a sloppy one onsite, but I wouldn’t include my sloppy floor plan in the report like I do with the real ones.

Using a floor plan helps me a lot as I’m no good at using the HomeGauge mobile app. Granted I haven’t tried to master it either.

Thank you everyone that took time to look over my report and offer your insights. I haven’t yet had time to really absorb it all but will soon. It looks like a lot of constructive ideas and opinions and I am grateful for your honestly.
It seems the first order of business would be to make my report writing faster.

Some mention ancillary services. I realize that helps make more money for inspectors but I often feel like that’s what those services are intended for (making money) and not always necessary for the client.

Here in the NYC area we have very low radon levels so, while I do have a digital radon meter, I have never used it aside from on my own home for fun.

With mold, you can often see it. Once you identify it there doesn’t seem to be much reason to lab test for exactly which mold it is. You just get rid of it.

I do carry lead swabs for testing suspect chipping paint.

I don’t do anything special for asbestos, but compared to the others that does seem maybe more worthwhile for the client since it can be hard to identify. Currently, I will just mention that something might contain asbestos. I don’t send anything to a lab myself.

It also sounds like most of you don’t feel the extra licenses are that worth it: quicker report writing is more important. So I guess working on my reporting will be the first order of business.

Something I didn’t mention: I sort of started this with the idea in my mind of providing a report (especially to first home buyers) that doubles as almost like a manual to the home. Showing them where everything is and basically how it works to help make it all seem less overwhelming. This seems to have made me stand out compared to some other inspectors in the area but sadly it may be too much work to be worth it unless I were to offer that type of report as a more expensive option rather than just doing it that way all the time. It also came sort of naturally due to how detail oriented I am - so in that way I am being true to myself so to speak, doing what I do best, or what fits me more, but yeah… It seems I’ll have to change to make the process more lucrative.

I could charge more, but honestly I think that would lose me jobs over other inspectors. Most of my business is from real estate pros. They give 2-3 names to their clients and then they choose one. If I’m the most expensive I may get less jobs than I do now. At least that is my concern.

That’s funny Stephen,

If your report was complete and addressed all the requirements of our SOP. Why wouldn’t A 13-15 page report at about 18 font with 8-10 photos be enough?
Time is money and lots of extra paper and information is irrelevant to your buyer anyway.
To this day I have never been asked for a refund.

It’s perfect… If that’s the service you’re offering. I couldn’t find an example when I looked for one, so it appears that your end product doesn’t figure prominently in your marketing - no mystery there.

I’ve personally never inspected a house where you could possibly cram all of the deficiency descriptions in 8-10 pages, even using an 8pt font, much less a bloated 18.

BTW: I’ve used Stephen’s services. I can assure you that If he had sent an 8-10 page report, I would have requested my money back.

I’m all for exceptionally detailed inspections and reports, but as you have learned, that comes at a significant cost in time and effort. You can’t charge average prices and be exceptional in service and still be successful in your business. You need a business plan and you need to be analytical in your pricing Working RE Home Inspector: How to Price Your Services? If it’s going to take you two days to produce an average report, your average fee needs to be well north of $1,000

Looking at your report, I didn’t read every word and none of your clients will either, there’s a lot of custom written filler that doesn’t really add value. Remember, when they’re in the process of buying a home, they have a hundred priorities going on and limited time to devote to any of them. It’s not the time for them to read a whole house manual. They need to know those things that are important to them in making an informed decision about their home purchase. Anything outside of that in your report is a distraction.

Much of the content of your report is “example photos” (i.e., non-defect related) and custom-written captions. These consume your time, bloat the report (I don’t mean that pejoratively) and make it more difficult for your client to get the info that they need because what’s important to them is buried amongst the inconsequential. This IMO not only consumes great quantities of your time, but it also diminishes the value of your work product for the purpose that your client hired you for - it’s completely counter-productive.

Be true to your nature. Be ruthlessly thorough in your inspections and reporting, but apply your efforts where they will actually benefit your client. Think back to when you bought your own home and all that you were going through in that compressed timeframe. Put yourself in the client’s position and consider what they really need and can absorb in that timeframe. Scour your reports and eliminate anything that does not directly contribute to their immediate needs.

If you’re going to deliver exceptional service, then you need to charge exceptional rates to stay in business. That means you’re going to lose a lot of potential sales due to price. That’s OK. Not every prospect is really a candidate for your service. Let those folks hire the guys that produce 8-page reports in 18pt typeface. There is a market for people who want exceptional service and will pay for it because they understand the difference between price and value, let these people be your clients. That’s the market I targeted https://homecert.com/sample-reports/

Ok let me clarify my comments on making better money in home inspection. My reports consist of 2 separate reports. 1) A written Report. 2) A Field Report.
The Field Report is a custom designed 6 page checklist of the SOP requirements by category. With extra room for specific notes like for example missing closet doors or wall blemishes. Failing window seals etc. The Field Report is used and marketed as a repair checklist with extra details.
The Written Report is the real meat of our services. SOP ;Foundation,
Roof/Attic, Electral, Plumbing, Heating/A/C, Exterior, Interior.
These areas of possible deficiencies are the possible deal killers.
I’m in this business with the real building background to make money while providing an accurate assessment of a given property.
I have not met a client yet who cares about a loose door knob or squeaky hinge. So if members here feel that reporting on items that will not kill the deal are the mark of professional reporting, then continue on limiting your income potential. A 60-125 page report may make an inspector look smart. But your clients aren’t reading it. And the point is to produce a reporting system that’s easily absorbed by our clients. A report that assists them in their investment decision. And a Report that helps us make consistent money.
I would be very interested to know what the hourly goal is for members here? I have already stated $100 per hour for myself. I don’t want a plumber making more than me!

There are clients for every service tier.

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I am of the belief that most reports go unread, in many cases just the satisfaction that a professional home inspector found no major issues is all they really wanted to know.

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I am also a HG user. I see you are not in the FB HG Users group, here is the link. https://www.facebook.com/groups/HomeGaugeUsers/. Many great tips on speed. Your pictures are too huge and the spacing on your pages has made your report too many pages.

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Thanks Scot. I’ll check it out.

Yeah, I do use the largest size photos. When I upload the report to the HomeGauge website it looks better. The photos don’t appear overly large, and things are not broken up as much as they are when converted to a PDF. For some reason the conversion to PDF messes up the formatting. I’ll go down a size though and see how that goes.

Thanks

Because they open up when clicked, I run mine on small.

Interesting. Never thought of doing it that way.

Counterfeiting…:lying_face: :roll_eyes:

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Superdollar? You, too? :open_mouth:

Don’t worry about that, certainly there are folks that go with the cheapest inspector out there. Do not be cheap be good it’ll work out fine.

Try mobile software where you can write the report as you go, even if you can’t actually do it that fast you get it close on site, you can get the report done within an hour or so in most cases… hope it helps

Morning, Darrin.
Hope to find you well and in good spirits today.

Consider this. Typically/Usually you here on the massage board. … Do not give up your day time job until your home inspection business makes it financially feasible.

Consider the average inspection price in your area.
Charge more.
You can bring your price down over the phone to appeal to prospective clients.

Do a SOP inspection with 10% more.
Call me. I will explain some marketing tips.

You have to be appealing to clients.
Make them feel comfortable.
Smile and be happy when you answer the phone. Tell them to trust you. No more.
Let consumers shop around. Do not sell yourself. They will return to you.
You are a CPI.