I want to start my HI business, but am apprehensive

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Chances are, you will at some point. Everyone makes mistakes. You just hope it’s minor and easy enough to move on from.

And even if you never make a mistake, at some point, some will say you did. But that’s part of any business.

That will never go away. I’m almost 10 years in with 6 guys under me, and I see still see stuff I’ve never seen before all the time.

Google.

Ask on this board,

Make friends with people in various trades who are willing to answer questions for you.

You talk about your certifications, training, and what makes you unique. 99.99% of people won’t realize you skirted the question as long as you answer with confidence.

I had the same issue. I ended up inspecting friends’ houses for free (houses that were NOT for sale) so I could practice enough until I was confident enough in my abilities.

Not to be a Debbie Downer, but you’re looking at this from the wrong perspective.

Doing the inspection is the easy part. I mean yes there are a million codes, rules, and odd things to remember. But you can learn it all from reading enough articles, and books, taking more classes, etc.

The hard part is getting anyone to call you.

Read this first:

Most wanna be inspectors don’t make it, not because they lack technical information, but because they don’t get enough business to survive.

You live in a rural or semi-rural area. What is your local real estate market like? How many homes are bought or sold within an hour’s drive of you in any given year? What percentage of that number would you need to make ends meet?

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Thank you Ian. I live in the suburbs of Detroit. Even though I still see few sale sign around me, but I don’t mind starting slow. Inspecting friends & family homes is on my list to do (for experience).

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Lots of great responses here @yelias . Take note.

Same here, except I try my best to get the report out same day. Doesn’t always work out though. I have had many situations where I couldn’t see into an area but was able to get my arm and camera in. Or simply didn’t see something that ended up in a picture because of lighting or some other factor. . Viewing all of the pictures taken on location on a larger computer monitor helps more than you would think. .
The only thing I would add is to keep a notepad handy for everything you think should be written up or have questions about so you don’t forget anything after arriving back at home and document your entire time on location with pictures. You only need to include pertinent pictures in the report, but the 350 plus additional “CYA” pictures could save you at some point. Include taking multiple pictures of the same thing at various angles and distances for reference.

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Or you use the note pad app on your phone. That’s what I do anyways. :blush:

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Same difference :wink::wink: Sometimes I’m too old school for my own good :blush:. Hand written things stick with me longer than typed notes.

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Agree. Highly recommended. Develop an inspection checklist for every room / appliance and practice it (using your software / template) until you are confident that you will not forget important items and can produce a good-looking report. Review your checklist while onsite before you leave. Take tons of pictures (of everything) and review them when producing the report. So if you still forget something like, oops, I forgot to check if the dishwasher has an air gap. No problem, the picture of the kitchen sink reveals it was there and the picture underneath shows that it was plumbed correctly. When you do not need to rely upon the checklist (you have it fully committed to memory), you are a seasoned home inspector.

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Hi Yousif,

The first thing I would recommend that you do is to join InterNACHI. I joined this association 6 months before I opened my doors and it was one of the best business decisions I made, not only for my business, but also for me as an inspector, that was back in 2003.

After you join, take all the online courses, this will not only teach you much about a house and it’s systems, but will also help you recognize areas of weakness you may have, you can then focus more on these areas until you feel you’re good to go with them. And never forget, you’re inspecting what is most people’s largest investment, so you want to be at the top of your game.

If you don’t already have inspection software, you need to decide what software would be a good fit for you, get it, and learn it, when I first got my software, I worked with it for 2 weeks to learn the software and how to manipulate it to make my reports look like I wanted them to look.

Then, as already mentioned, inspect your own home and your friends’ houses at no charge. This will help you create a step-by-step inspection procedure, as for me I prefer to start outside then go inside, when I’m inside I prefer to start in the attic, then on the upper floors and work my way down.

It took me a good year and a half to get my business moving, there were times when I called my own business phone to make sure it still worked because it was so slow. Don’t lose faith and stick with it, but it would be a good idea to keep your day job until you can get your business up and running.

Best of luck to you.

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Thank you, Kevin!

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Thank you, Brian!

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IDE be happy to help. Things are a bit slower right now, tis the season. It’s a welcoming slow down I look forward to. Anyway, I’m open to reviewing any mock/practice inspection reports you do on friends and family houses. If willing, you are welcome to come to ride along with me in Eastern Ohio and the WV northern panhandle. You may want to consider coming to ride along after the new year when things pick back up. If you aren’t ready for that yet, join InterNachi and take as many classes you can on all the components of a home inspection. You are welcome to reach out to me to discuss any details or concerns with the inspection business.

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Thank you Scott for the generous offer, I will definitely take you up on it :slight_smile:

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Yousif, there has been a lot of information from amazing inspectots shared with you. Recap of my thoughts: 1. Agree that you should join InterNACHI and go through all of the training. 2. Find a superior (not anyone) trainer/mentor and spend a couple of weeks in the field with them!! If you don’t mind traveling, I recommend contacting Bert Hull, Owner of Knoxville Engineered Home Inspections. 3. You have to be willing to network, network, and network. Oh, and network! The phone doesn’t just ring if youre on Google. 4. If you’re passionate, go for it. Don’t listen to its a down market, its not a good time to start,… The time is never perfect. Will it be a grind. Hell yes! All good things are. 5. I’m a brand new inspector. My first inspection was July 21st. Yesterday, I just scheduled inspection 85 in just over 4 months. I WILL be over 100 by year end and I WILL do 300 in 2024. Good luck my friend! Remember, you have 100% control over one thing - your decisions. If you want it GO and its okay to say “Its not for me” if that’s your decision.

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I use a similar process. Exterior, roof, then inside, top to bottom.

@yelias you will need to perform mock inspections to attain your CPI anyway so doing practice inspections on your own house and on the home’s of friends and family will not only help you learn but will give you what you need for the mock inspections. Besides all of that, it can get you marketing content including pictures of yourself inspecting. I don’t have the nachi video link right now but maybe @bgromicko1 can chime in with it and some other tips.

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Hi Yousif – Your post really struck a chord with me. I was a little similar to you when I started my business back in 2015. At that time, I was an engineer at a big engineering firm with about +10 year of experience. I felt burnt out with working at a big firm and I also felt that I had an entrepreneurial spirit. I kind of thought, “I’ll just figure it out” and I jumped in and started a business. Once, I got going I realized that even though I had a lot of knowledge, I found out that I didn’t know enough about the scope of the service and what was actually expected of a Home Inspector. Here are a few valuable things that helped me:

  1. InterNACHI was fantastically helpful for teaching me what Home Inspector’s typically do and what they don’t do. The training videos really gave me a lot of confidence.

  2. Kenton’s Narrative’s were also really helpful in helping me to figure out the types of things to commonly be on the lookout for. I use the template for HomeGauge software. World's Largest Library of Inspection Narratives - InterNACHI®. Over time, I landed on which narratives were most helpful for the situations the I typically encounter.

  3. 20% of the realtors do 80% of the work. If you can get in with a busy realtor or two, they are fantastic for lead generation.

  4. For early projects, I found houses that were used as businesses or non-for profits. I went to those places and offered a free Home Inspection for experience.

  5. Inspector’s that take 50 or more pictures have a MUCH REDUCED chance of being sued or getting in trouble. And if you do get called back for a problem, you can explain how you came to your professional opinion. I take about 200 pictures on average and make notes for all components. I then use this as content to generate a valuable report. I have yet to find a software that works well for me in the field. I collect observations in the field and then develop professional opinions based on these observations.

  6. I have about 1000 more tips that I can share with you. Call or text any time: 786-383-6804. I would be very happy to help you.

  7. Don’t go it alone. Find a mentor (maybe me - I am based in KS) or some person local to you. Older home inspector’s are often trying to find a way to exit the industry at some point. If you find the right person, you could maybe work something out with them to teach you and you can buy out their business over time.

  8. This will take some time to get it going. The market is challenging, but sometimes that is when the best businesses are started.

Good luck friend! Call or text if you want some help.

Will Barnhart

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