Nachi/ashi

Compare benefits pages: www.nachi.org/benefits.htm to http://www.ashi.org/inspectors/join/whatsinit.asp

Furthermore, we are like a race car running laps around the other do-nothing associations: www.nachi.org/whats_new.htm We do so much, so fast that we make other associations appear to be standing still. www.nachi.org/whats_new.htm

Patrick,

You’re correct in that most consumers do not ask about affiliations. I have several reasons for my dual membership. One reason is getting my dues back many, many times over. Loyalty and dedication are outstanding personal attributes, but how much are we willing to sacrifice to maintain them?

Erol Kartal
Pro Inspect

I believe a case can be made for dual association membership when a particular association has a strong local presence, other then that it is probably a waste of money.

I attended the two major home inspector associations in this (my) area when I became a home inspector. Most of them were ASHI but I also went to NAHI meetings / education events. It was to learn / explore who had the best bang for my hard earned $. Something was lacking…

I wanted an approach to this industry that I felt was the best at understanding what home inspectors and inspections are all about. I chose NACHI because of the inspectors I meet and resources available to any NACHI member.

Do I want to be categorized / labeled or held in a status of what the association thinks I should be? No way… Do I want to be pressed into a situation to use / have extra low inspection fees so I can get my “full membership”?
What is that all about?

Do I want to feel like another number instead of a valid participating member that has a voice in the chapter… Ugh:roll:

If you are suggesting that “loyalty and dedication” are the only reason that I chose NACHI as my association then I have to tell you it’s only part of why I am a member… YES , My dedication is to my chapter, bringing top notch education to my chapter and to members of NACHI is only one of the reasons My role is the Chicago Chapter Education coordinator not for my own benefit, but to bring to my fellow inspectors a “buffet” of education events that benefits us all.

Education is of primary importance to any inspector. The best inspectors are the most knowledgable ones. :wink:
I want top quality courses, instructors at a great price that no other association can get…And we are doing it! :smiley:

Marketing maybe one reason for joining dual, triple associations…
but it’s not for me… I would rather find a different way for a return on my investment.:slight_smile:

Pat,

I agree with your comments. My dual membership is based on a significant return on my $395 investment. See “Jimmy’s” obnoxious post about dissapearing threads. :slight_smile:

Glad I logged on, even if I am 3 weeks late.
Lots of good thinking, questions and answers.

I believe it comes down to “Doing your Job the way you know it’s supposed to be done”. We all know that continuing education and field experience is what we need to make us better and keep us better.
I enjoy my membership with NACHI for all the above reasons and more. I enjoy meeting with others in my industry, sharing ideas, situations and working with people who just enjoy what they do. I have visited the other Associations at various meetings and they seem suspect, closed-mouthed. If you’re not one of them, your on the outside, looking in.
In Georgia, there is no Prof. Lic. yet, but it’s coming. In Georgia, there is no Prof. Lic. for Res. Home Builders, but that is coming as well. I have a cynical view of more Government in my face.
For me, it comes down to doing my job for my Client. I do my job, and my business is increasing. I work with the R/E Industry happily, but I’m not totally dependent on them. I market myself in a variety of ways and I market different services, as we all do. You just have to keep moving forward with your plan, be flexible, but never sell your services cheap. Were worth every penny we charge for what we do. Remember why our client hires us.

Well said, Greg, and very true.

Yes. There are the costs that people regularly forget about, and that is the cost of maintaining membership, i.e., continuing education credits (CEC).

When I was with ASHI, it was impossible to get enough continuing education credits without attending the national convention. I think there’s a reason they do that; they make tons of money off of their convention. Note that, theoretically, if you volunteered for everything and attended everything prior to the convention, you could get enough CEC so that you didn’t have to shut down your company for 3-5 days to go to the convention. However, also note that ASHI hates Candidate members (but they love your money), so they will not call on you to volunteer for anything, so there go about half of your opportunities to get CEC. That means that you will have to shut down the company and go to the convention. Now conventions can be good or bad. ASHI’s, for the most part, especially during your first couple of years in business, are good. However, after a point, conventions become “been there, done that, attended that, listened to him.” Now you’re at the point where you’re busy, so you don’t have as much time to volunteer locally or go to a convention with the same seminar speaker speaking again. So either way, unless you dedicate yourself to the trade association, you’re still sunk. That was one of the many reasons why I joined NACHI; I could do virtually everything online and would never have to shut down my company to go to a convention anywhere. I’m in this business to make money, not to support a trade association. I’m not even here to support NACHI; I’m here to help NACHI members. If that helps NACHI, great, because then that allows me to help even more NACHI members.

I believed that when I got started because 99.9999999% of the home inspectors here were CREIA and/or ASHI (note that CREIA and ASHI provide reciprocal discounts to each other). However, based on my previous business and marketing experienced, I also believed that great marketing could overcome anything. Since I was a “Candidate” member of CREIA and ASHI during my first year, I could not use their logo, etc. All that restriction did was provide me with the opportunity to prove that my marketing could overcome CREIA and ASHI’s marketing and thinking. And, indeed, that’s exactly what I did. I did 18 inspections in my first 15 days in business, 397 during my first 12 months, and 493 in my first calendar year, the third fastest start in HomeTeam history.

If you have a strong local presence, you simply need to come up with viable marketing answers for the question, “Are you a member of…” That marketing answer, delivered with confidence, overcomes.

Well said.

However, that final phrase, “never sell your services cheap” is what trips many people up many times. For example, I have ten different inspection services: LIST, BASIC, WALK, STANDARD, PREMIUM, TECH, DRIVEBY, FLYBY, CARRY, and VOICE. My least expensive is my WALK inspection, which starts at $49 for a 351-SF condo (the smallest property I’ve ever inspected). Too many people think that I’m lowballing, etc., at $49. But they rarely ask me what “services” I am selling at $49. It is not a full-blown (STANDARD) home inspection; hec, it doesn’t even include a report. So in marketing one’s different services, make sure one prices those services appropriately. Could I sell a WALK inspection at the same price as my STANDARD inspection? Absolutely not. Do I do the same things on my WALK inspections as my STANDARD inspections? Absolutely not. Each inspection provides different services, at different prices, and is targeted towards a totally different marketing.

One inspection does not fit all!

More than an inspection. An education!

Russell,

Good points.

Unfortunately, Georgia statute doesn’t give us that option, at least not that I have found.

Georgia is not a Licensed state yet, but rules are there by statute and it requires us to provide a contract and a report. Now, there are a few stipulations as to how much you say or what you say in detail in the report, but…

I wish we had your flexability of services, sometimes.

I’d bet that it does if you analyze the statute. I bet it gives you the opportunity to do whatever you and your Client agree that you will do. Then all you have to do is put that in writing, educate your Client continually about how you are agreeing to do something outside the norm, etc.

Think outside the box. The legislators don’t think outside the box, so you have that advantage, too.

The trick probably lies in the terminology. For example, in PA, I would not consider RR’s WALK inspection to be an “inspection” at all. I would consider it “professional consultation” - big difference, and no laws governing or restricting professional consultation.:smiley:

Exactly.

I call them all “inspections” simply because I’m an inspection company and have great latitude here in San Diego.

Actually, my DRIVEBY, FLYBY, CARRY, and VOICE “inspections” are not “inspections” either because they also have no written reports associated with them. The VOICE inspection gets a recorded inspection, but it does not adhere to any trade association SOPs. The DRIVEBY, FLYBY, and VOICE inspections also have no reports associated with them.

:twisted:

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