Looking to get into home inspection

Thanks for all of the info. I am excited to get started in this business. I am also going to join InterNACHI as a student. Thanks again

Stacey,

I have had several businesses over the years. Every time I thought about going into a business, it seemed that I encountered nay-sayers at every turn. The comments were always the same: “low pay”, “too much stress”, “too many competitors”, “too much government regulation”, “too much risk” and on and on …

I’ve never regretted getting into home inspection. As a matter of fact, I enjoy it more than anything I’ve ever done. I spent a lot of years working for other people too. I had good jobs with good companies but, for some of us, it is about much more than money and security (or the false sense of security). There’s nothing like being your own boss.

You cannot base your odds of success on anyone else’s. I have known good inspectors who stuggled for years building their businesses. I have also known inspectors who were doing ten inspections a week within their first couple of months. There are many variables that will influence the growth rate of your business.

I would advise against getting your education from AHIT. There is nothing you can get from AHIT that you cannot get right here at InterNACHI. I trained many new inspectors through my school. We used the Carson Dunlop training materials for years. We also used to sell the Carson Dunlop online courses to inspectors outside my geographic area. I recently stopped training new inspectors to focus on coaching those already in the business. I now send ALL new inspectors who come to me to InterNACHI for their initial training. InterNACHI’s training is far superior to AHIT or Carson Dunlop. For that matter, If you shop around, you will not find any better training than InterNACHI’s anywhere at any price. That is not to say that there are not good schools out there. It is just that InterNACHI is at least as good as the best schools out there and there are no schools that offer courses in your area that can compare to InterNACHI.

Alabama’s Home Inspector information: http://www.bc.state.al.us/HI%20Menu.htm

I received my initial training through AHIT. Provided a good starting point, however you can get that same starting point here at InterNACHI…plus you can gain alot of information from reading the message boards. My one complaint with AHIT was the material seemed a little dated. As for the software I received it free with the course. It was a word based program at the time and I found it to have a few system glitches. I currently use 3D and have been happy with it but if I was starting out again today I would explore Home Inspector Pro as it appears to be a similar program, is cheaper, and I think even offers you a free 1 year membership to InterNACHI. I would also add as others allready have that it takes some time to get into the industry…plan for that. Good Luck

Hi Stacey,

Welcome to the MB, I would recommend passing on the AHIT classes and just studying your butt off on the NACHI courses instead. Once you’ve done that I would take the money you’ve saved on AHIT and pay a mentor to show you the ropes on a bunch of real home inspections. I think the combination of those two would be way better than AHIT.

And remember it will take years to get a livelihood up and running, but you are starting off at the right time. Good luck!

Tom

Call inspectors in your area and see ho busy they are… then call the realtors to confirm. Thats where I would start.

Thanks For all of your input. I am more than likely going to use InterNACHI instead of AHIT. And I have looked into 3D Inspection software and have the trail version downloaded on my android phone. It seems very easy to use. I really appreciate everyones input and I look forward to becoming a member and learning more from you guys.