I’ve recently taken and passed the NHIE on my first attempt. Here is what I did to prepare:
- Paid the $$ for ICA Home Inspector Course. I forgot what the price was but it wasn’t cheap. The material is decent, and it’s all downloadable so you can read it pretty much when/wherever you want. It’s divided into modules so it’s easy to concentrate on the areas where you’re weak.
- Spent a cumulative 3 months going over all the course materials. It is substantial, and for me it was necessary to go through it more than once for most modules.
- Became an InterNACHI member.
- Took the InterNACHI courses on subjects where I thought I was weakest.
- Went through all the InterNACHI practice test questions (yes, all 84 pages). Three times.
- Took the final exam questions from ICA three times.
- Took the 120 question InterNACHI exam. I did this over a period of about 2 weeks. I would take the exam every day for three days and note the scores from each area of concentration. Then I would take the course associated with any area where I scored less than 80. I did this twice.
- I Googled “NHIE exam questions” and took every free test I could find.
- Took the NHIE before all that study material leaked out of my brain.
A note on ICA: One of the reasons I paid the money for ICA is that access to the material never expires, and the modules are presented as a slideshow with full narration. I find that combination helps me retain more of the information. Your learning process might be different though.
HTH and GL!