Hello All,
Hopefully with the changes in our industry people who give away there services will be forced to charge more and stop giving home inspections away. This all come’s about because today I passed an inspection to a fellow inspector on this forum and I was amazed at what some people charge. The customer that I referred apparently went with some one else that charged them $325.00 for three inspections (Home inspection, Termite and wind Mit.) That is crazy in my opinion…
Where was it? What was it and why did you pass on it? I am asking because usually what is 500 in miami is half that here on the space coast and lately I have seen flyers for $100.
Once standardization comes to Florida (like Texas) I expect to see inspection prices around $99 and you’ll order one from a kiosk at WalMart. 
LOL
I think Red Box.
:roll:I heard the inspection industry referred to as lucrative somewhere. What a joke. Good luck to you all. You reputation will not matter much now only weather you gave the state your money or not. Now that any Tom, Dick, or Harry can do a wind mit they will go for $19.99 or thrown in with any other service someone may offer. I never see inspections advertised for over $200 anywhere. I guess I will just sub them out for $150 and make $25 a pop. I am sure I can swing that deal easily.
Licensing is not going to be the end of the world! It culls the deadwood and the strong will be the ones the thrive. Yes, at first the numbers might go up but when the renewal period comes around or even before then you will see the numbers drop.
Look at everyone that was bellyaching in Washington State and Kansas. They sure have become quiet once the figured out that licensing is not all that bad and is actually helping them in some ways.
Price cutting is just a way of life in just about every profession. You learn to deal with it or you go out of business.
It sure makes it a pain in the a s s. I believe many contractors will now just sub them out to the lowest bidder and then the licensed inspector will have all the risk and hassle and we will still make a buck or 2 off it. Just think about the G.C. who does home inspections and also got trained to do mold inspections that poor sucker will have to maintain 3 licenses and do 3 different sets of continuing ed just to continue doing what he has been doing for years. The only people who it might help is the guy who only does home inspections because that is the only experience they have. Now they can say look at me i do not just take inventory of your house and make my reports as long and wordy as possible to justify my cost. I am a professional and I took a whole 2 and 1/2 hr test to prove how smart I am. :mrgreen: You who wanted this have cut your own throats. Just curious, what was wrong with the way things were? I guess you all felt you needed to be validated by the State.
Mike,
As usual, you have come to a conclusion without any prior knowledge of the history of Home Inspection licensing in FL. The vast majority of practicing Home Inspector did not want licensing, in fact it was mostly people outside the home inspection community pushing for it. There were some inspectors who jumped on that bandwagon thinking just you do that they would be on the front end of the licensing and get all the cookies and got into bed with this group working behind the scenes. Unfortunately for all those who pulled this off, they got screwed right along with everyone else. Many of us who were in this fight for years tried to warn them but their greed and avarice got the better of them and now they have to deal with the consequences of their deed. Welcome to the club.
You need to know it was FAR, Florida Association of Realtors, some members of FABI (as well as ASHI) and Florida contractors who pushed the hardest for Home inspection licensing. There was a cabal of players who started and pushed hard for this for over a decade. Up until Charlie Crist got into office it never got very much footing and was either defeated in committee or vetoed by the Governor every year. You need to get your fact straight. Now that it is here, best advice I can give you either cut bait or fish. Get with the program, figure out what the hell you want to be; either a contractor or a home inspector because obviously you can’t or don’t want to do both.
Scott is right, there will be a ****load of home inspectors in the beginning, many will find out they can’t make a living after shelling out the money to go to HI schools and go out of business. Those that want to hang in there and figure out how to make it work will still be standing in a few years. Coupled with a sagging economy that may be accelerated.
How are they going to hang on for a few years with all the extra competition and added costs? All you say may be true I only know what I read here about the inspector licensing crap and I have not been here to long. Like I said I would prefer to cut out the middle man and do both myself but that does not seem economical so I will likely but not for sure just pick up a couple of guys to do them and assume the risk and make my money that way. One thing for sure letting Home Inspectors and anyone other than what was on the first 1802 form will drive the prices of wind mitigation inspections to free. They will be included in everything.
I don’t disagree with that last statement. There are already guys (contractors) doing them for free here just to get the home inspection. I stopped doing them due to the huge liability involved. I may have to take another look at them in the future but for now, not worth it. As far as how are they going to stay in business…they aren’t. Many will go tits up. Many already go under long before this came along. Only the strong will survive in the long run or those who can afford to pick and chose which ones they want to do. Most do not have that luxury and will become greeters at Wal-mart.
I gave them away with a home inspection. You would be crazy not to. You’re there and looking around anyhow might as well make a few extra notes and give the customer some reason to pick you over the next guy. The people who just do inspections are going to have a real tough couple of years ahead of them. Believe it or not I wish them all well but I think only the big companies will survive and the small guys are done. The individual licensed inspectors will assume all the risk and have to work for the big guy with the deep pockets who can do the mass advertising to get a ton of inspections at a fraction of the cost they are going for now.
Not me…Im coming down and fish off your dock.
Any time fishermen are always welcome. The tarpon are here now and it will not be to long before the Snook show up to spawn.
I don’t understand how you all think licensing is going to increase the # of Home Inspectors. Up till now all you had to do to get in the buisiness was say “I’m a home inspector”. There were no rules you HAD to meet.
I checked my area in the NACHI listings and there are 34 HI with-in 10 miles of my house! That's just NACHI inspectors. It doesn't include all the other affliations out there. In a county (Citrus) that can maybe support 10. Personaly I think that the first thing that's going to happen is all the part timers and contractors that just did it cause they could are going to drop out. The requirements are simple if this is all you do but if your doing it on the side or in addition to it quickly becomes a pain and that should get rid of those that are not serious.
As far as pricing we need to take a look at what other proffesions charge. I don't know of any repair man that charges less than $75 just to drive out. You know it's going to cost you $200 if he actualy stays 15 minutes and does some thing. And it will take a second mortgage if he spent the time it takes to do a full inspection! Sure it's fine to discount ancillary services but we all need to look at what it REALLY costs and charge accordingly.
Larry
Lawrence,
Although I do many things everything I do I try to do to the best of my ability and seriously. I do not get why people here think you can only be great in one thing. If you are fortunate enough to be able to support yourself then why limit yourself. You should sell everything or service you can provide and make the most of every day. I have to ask why should I not do a photo-shoot on Monday. Inspect a home on Tuesday. Do a few insurance inspections on Wednesday. Stucco a home on Thursday. Then work in the office on Friday. Seeing that I make all my own rules and hours I think that makes for a great week and a lot of happy customers.
Mike,
Then quit ya b**chin’. Do what you want and do it well. Maintaining more than one license isn’t that hard, or that expensive. I’ve got 3 and I’m a state certified proctor for the practial test swimming pool subs have to take. Now there’s a test they actualy have to PERFORM to get thier license.
Come on you can’t say that with a straight face. It is a pain in the a s s, a huge one and it will take money and I would rather not spend on it. As of now I am leaning towards subbing out all home inspections. It will be a lot less trouble per dollar that way and I will be able to compete with less regard for the price.
Mike,
Really!? We as contractors only need 14 hours of CE every TWO years. Because I’m a member of trade organisations like NACHI I usualy have around 50 and most of that is free. The insurance costs are based on your gross and your payroll so explain how it’s going to double your cost there. The only time I see people having trouble “maintaining” their licenses is when they can’t run a buisiness any way
Larry
It is an additional cost I do not feel I should have to pay. There is nothing further to explain to you. have a great life. Enjoy Sunny Florida.
Mike,
Yup, the cost of doing buisiness. It takes money to make money.