Licensing

its only 24 bucks a month how much lower do you want them to go???

My license is only $16 a month. If I was operating in southern california, about the only place where real estate is improving instead of dragging at the bottom, I might have a different view. :wink:

Question for others.

I was told yesterday by a lender that per some new law last year, that if a loan is going FHA, Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, etc AND there is a home inspection / the lender is required to have a copy of the inspection AND wants anything on the Summary Page (if used) fixed.

I’ve NEVER heard of this, but the guy told me that he was at a big meeting with lenders, realtors, appraisers, home inspectors, etc 3 months ago and this was covered in great detail.

ANYBODY heard of this??

You can discuss that subject for hours. Fact is, that there are fewer inspections performed than last year, two years ago, etc. for various reasons. Fact; that inspectors are having to charge lower fees to get business, or starve. Veterans are sticking with their higher fees, but are getting no business, again, for many reasons.

IMHO, it is not going to get better for months, or years, especially here in Kansas and Missouri. It would be nice for those who are getting business would share how they are getting it. (soft reports, payola, etc.)

The only solutions as I see it are to create more jobs. I see none of that happening anytime soon.

I have a problem with a president who makes speeches without the American Flag in the background. All other presidents did. Subject for another day.

It is not the mortgage companies that are having the issues; it is the investors that give the money to the banks and mortgage companies to lend to the buyers. They are demanding the homes be in top shape. Banks and mortgage companies are crying foul, but if I was an investor, I would be cautious on what I invest my money in. Makes me wonder who, or what country, these investors exist from.

Mailed application July 1, — Application #18
Received license August 18 ---- License #181

Had a delay on 1990 bogus info on background check - had 5 other license issued with no problem — owell

Thanks Nick & Zoe

Florida Home Inspector #156

Thanks, Zoe & Nick & every one that helped

:D:D:D:D:shock:

I ran into this on a “fix and flip” house Dan, something to do with with the the large increase in price in a short period of time.

Some FHA lenders are asking questions into why a home was purchased three months ago for $60k and now it is selling for $120K and the buyer needs $110K for a loan. How did the home escalate so much in value? Was the sink replaced? Was the HVAC updated? Is there a new roof?

Lenders are demanding reasons, and needing proof. Anyone doing a re-hab needs to take pictures of all of the stuff they feel is new. Sure, it had a sink before, and it still has a sink; how did it go up in value?

This may be good for us, as banks and lenders are thinking about our services; as they should. I hope the new rules in Florida help you guys, but us veterans know different, and the inspectors in Florida will find out soon enough.

August was my slowest month in 10 years. Licensing has not helped me, and has hindered by business, and is close to being zero. I bet most agents here are suggesting ASh* inspectors because they write soft reports by state laws and state SOP’s that they wrote. Very bad here in the midwest. I hope you guys in Florida are doing better. Us NACHI guys here are heading for the food line.

:frowning: Appraisers ran into the same influencing from Realtors & Loan Officers…kill my deal and you won’t get any more work from me. Same thing happens to the Home Inspector…find too many things wrong and kill my sale…you won’t get any referrals or more work from me. It is tantamount to having the fox incharge of the hen house. Just as bad as having Barney Frank and Chris Dodd writing legislation to favor Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac when they were a big part of the housing meltdown. Realtors are doing Broker Price Opinions vs a real appraisal from a 3rd party and I guess soon they will want to do the Home Inspections as well. Their ethics oath makes them unbiased and looking out for buyers. How would you feel about buying a house from a realtor that was part of the valuation process for hundreds of thousands of dollars to change hands? Power being abused in my mind and allowed by corrupted politicians.

Dan, perhaps we need to start another thread on your question. Michael, you are correct. This industry is changing rapidly, due to the virus of home inspection state laws. Here in Kansas, appraisers, real estate agents, insurance agents, even modular home salesmen are all exempt from home inspection laws, so they can inform to the buyer or lender anything they want. Most all new laws do not serve the consumer in any capacity. Most all laws where written and promoted by the “other association” so they could legally write soft reports. IMO, this is actually consumer fraud in the broadest sense.

This subject has been discussed many times on this message board. I know it may feel good to get a license, but it does not guarantee any business, and dumbs-down our profession by leveling how every inspector does the job. Look at Texas. They have many lawsuits pending and their rules and regulations are set by the real estate commission, which IMO is a conflict of interest in itself.

Gary -

Youse may be forgetting one of the best EXCLUSIONS in the Kansas Law.

In Kansas, 1 and 2 family houses are EXEMPTED / EXCLUDED from the states engineering and architectural laws. The State Board of Technical Registration has gone down on record several times stating that because of that language in THEIR law / they have NO CONTROL, JURISDICTION or AUTHORITY over an engineer or architect doing a home inspection.

**YET **even knowing this when the licensing law was pushed through a young engineer from Topeka (a John Lyle) and the engineers lobbyist showed up at the hearings and after many testimonies about how if anything ever went wrong in a home inspection, engineers stood up and took it on the chin like big boys and did not duck & dodge like home inspectors AND due to their many years of engineering training PE’s did NOT need any special training to be home inspectors, etc - The engineers were also EXCLUDED from the Bill.

After the Bill went through we discovered among other things that Mr Lyle and his wife Julie (both PE’s) when they got into home inspection a few years ago, hired a Kansas City home inspector to formally sit down and hold classes at his house over a month long period and train them. COOL …

SO although in Kansas 1 and 2 family houses are EXEMPTED / EXCLUDED from the states engineering and architectural laws - The ENGINEERS are ALSO EXEMPTED / EXCLUDED from the home inspection laws.

I’m told we have maybe 18-23 PE’s in Kansas City alone doing home inspections that don’t have to FOLLOW any standards, etc except their own; DO NOT have to carry insurance; AND have NO oversight in case of a BAD home inspection.

Oh Yes / Special Interests in Kansas hard at work.

Hey Nick!

#303 thanks! :o

By the way. I’m about tired of hearing all of you people whine. The market sucks and that is the reason your business has slowed. It has nothing to do with licensing. People don’t have a secure job they are not going to buy a house. When you’re worried about putting food on the table you’re not worried about buying a home. The trend currently is inspections on large expensive properties or short sales and foreclosures. There are more homes on the market now than ever. You people sound like the tea party folks. Work what you got. Use the time to market.

Harry, that post deserves repeating! Amen!

In TN we have gone from right at 1000 inspectors down to less than 400 inspectors statewide over the past 24 months. Most that dropped out had been in the profession for less than 2 years. Just about all of my inspections are on large homes over $500K, a few REO’s and maintenance type inspections for folks that are getting their homes fixed-up to either sell down the road or just because they have decided to stay in their current home.

I have worked under a State HI license since 2001, in MS and in TN. I can honestly say that licensing has not hurt my business. It has actually helped! It has cleared the market of the hobby inspector or the weekend inspector. This has allowed most of us to maintain our fees and for some to command a higher fee than when we were unlicensed. Sure you will always have the lowballer who is trying to live pay check to pay check, but they don’t last long.

You live in a poor state, within a few years HI Licensing will have a devastating effect on the home inspection profession in Florida through standardization, which will be the next phase of intrusion reducing our marketplace while expanding our liability.

HI Licensing is a horrible mistake which ASHI had a hand in perpetrating on the nation simply to sell silly exams, and because of your past leadership you should be ashamed for ever having a hand in this travesty.

Joe, you are always so negative and hateful. I just do not understand folks who go through life with a storm cloud hanging over their head! Life is Good and is even better when you put on a smile!:wink:

Life is good in TN. Our economy is doing pretty darn good as well, homes are selling and folks are finding jobs. What more can you ask for?

I’m very proud of the time and energy I have volunteered to our profession on a national basis. Yes, I served on the board of directors for the national home inspector exam for the past 6 years.

Now what have you done to help our profession other than to criticize others who do not agree with your personal beliefs?

Nothing.

Bullshlt, licensing is a racket which has cheapened and diminished our profession, and you have pushed it for the benefit of your lucrative exam peddling business, now own it.

Thankfully NACHI’s competition will most likely put an end of the practice of EBPHI’s luring unsuspecting states into adopt licensing so that your organization can get rich selling worthless exams.

What have I done… Besides writing and teaching an ICC course, I have done the best to halt licensing progress here in Florida, and I believe that if it weren’t for me and others like me licensing would have arrived in 2004, at least I was able to help stop it and you exam peddlers until 2011.

Licensing solves nothing.

Wow you really are a pleasant guy Joe! :shock: