Good to know Chip, thanks. He is the only one I know charging so little, so probably the same guy.I see you are in Guilderland - I gree up in Voorheesville down the road. I haven’t run into you before, we will have to grab coffeee sometime.
Agreed, we should get together. Small world - I grew up in Voorheesville as well!
Do what we do in Denver. Form a chapter: www.nachi.org/form and at the meetings, lean on the lowballers. Help get their prices up. Also raise yours to help lift the ceiling on everyone’s fee structure.
I think I know who the lowballer is. He was a member of the NY Capitol Region Chapter and dropped out. Everyone spoke with him at meetings about how he is hurting the profession. He also has a real estate business, not doing the work himself but using agents. Also, if info was correct, flips houses and has rental properties. Therefore, he keeps a good income stream. Typical report less than 10 pages, including cover page, info page. Simple checklist. Roof ? yes Electrical, 150 amp. Paint - okay. No pictures in report. Multiple agents, especially newbies, like his “no problems” reports.
Hey Tom. Glad you know of him. I actually asked an agent and she said the same thing - no pictures or detail in the report. Nothing like making our whole industry look bad… By the way, drove by your house today - was visiting some people up over off main street. That new Stewart’s Looks Fancy 
Ok, my turn to chime in. I know this guy, same guy who advertises that he has done over 3000 inspections ( actually HUD inspections). So he’s probably doing HUD type inspections and calling them Home Inspections. He’s a little north of me so I don’t think he impacts me much but I do have an inspection in his area this week. A nice $500 payday. So there are buyers looking past the price.
You are right Dave, he is North of us a bit, but he seems to primarily market in our area. I am busy too, but it does make things tough in certain areas. For instance, a certain agent wanted her client to use him (I am assuming anyways) and tells her client that home inspections cost $200… so she scheduled with us until she found out the price… and guess who she ended up using instead because she said “I was told home inspections only cost $200”. We filled the slot within an hour, but it creates this weird breeding ground for low prices and low quality home inspections (as well as manipulating client expectations). Remind me to tell you sometime about the emails he sent to me…
Nick
I am a new home inspector in Fort Collins. Internachi Cpi. Would you have some quick advice for me regrding how I should charge? Ballpark. I am not claiming to be te most experienced but I have integrity to spare. I am actually trying to get over how much I want to learn and get out there for some practical experience. I am going to do general inspections and I am sitting for the national Radon test this coming week. Any advice on a pricing structure and while Im reaching out any advice on passing the Radon test would be greatly appreciated. I have taken the internachi adv. radon course and passed through but Im still feeling like I would benefit from additional study materials. You may have heard test prep is strangely unavailable online. Looking forward to meeting you at some point and visiting H of horrors. Richard Kaplan
My first guess it the Low Baller has no insurance, is likely not registered with your state for pest inspections and the list could go on. Are you licensed in NY for Home Inspectors?