New Mitigations - Raise Your Prices

Those of you who are performing the new mitigation inspections know that they take more time: in the field and in the office.

Well Time is Money, please, those of you advertising $70, $75 and $55 special Wind Mitigation Inspections need to hike them up a bit. You are killing us, and yourself!

I do all my marketing, web pages, advertising, etc… and still can’t find it reasonable to do dirt cheap inspections. We deserve better for this professional service which requires a more difficult license to obtain.

John,

No offense but I believe you are beating a dead horse. My ads are likely the ones you are referring to and there have been many post about them here in the past. It is how I discovered InterNACHI in the first place. Below I will post a link about the first one I ever found. Since posting that thread Dennis and I have become friendly and refer each other business, you can ask him if you wish. If we want work we have to be competitive in wind mits. Quality counts for nothing to the consumer. The consumers shopping online are only interested in the lowest prices. These reports are only for noting facts as we perceive them it is not like we can do a better job of it then the next guy. If you have high prices the phone will not ring. it sucks but it is true. even with the aggressive advertising I do I still do not get 1 out of every 20 clicks on my ads. I am not the problem the problem is people need to work and will do what it takes to bring home some money. Feel free to call me anytime if you wish to discuss this.

As in any business, there needs to be a certain percentage of overhead. If you are getting 1 in 20 hits, then you are paying $34 per inspection brought in (based on $1.80 per click fee for your adwords campaign). One spends on average per inspection say $10 on gas and tolls, $14 on federal taxes and SS , and 1 hour to perform the inspection and write report. Based on an $80 inspection. That leaves $22 profit, not including any expenses such as office supplies or cost of maintaining licenses. That $22 per hour is not good business in my opinion. I can’t imagine how much profit you can make on a $55 special.

I prefer to keep the conversation public. It is an open message board, and I don’t intend of being offensive or aggresive to you or anyone else who charges ultra low prices. Just trying to understand the business side of it. I understand the idea of having low prices for a short period of time to get you name out there.

John

I thought it was public. if somehow I made it private I apologize it was not intentional. You seem pretty close on all you say. It sucks and the only way looks like to get a larger percentage of inspections. I am beginning to believe to do that I will have to lower the prices even more. I may have to be the absolute lowest in hopes of getting all of the people who are clicking. I believe many clicks come from the competition and google really really frowns on that.

I think the lack of mitigation inspection numbers is because many insurance agents are recommending a particular inspector, who in turn gives them a kickback. The agent does not care about the cost of the inspection, or the accuracy (quality), the agent only cares about the referral fee. I don’t know if this is legal, but it is prevalent in Miami Dade county.

Good Luck

You are absolutely correct Sir… I have even heard of them getting gas cards. I had one booked in Wellington on the 4 page form for tomorrow at $120 they cancled and said it was do to price.

Now this is no lie @ 4:20 I just lost another one and the guy was kind enough to tell me it was for $100. So I will be lowering my prices for the new form effective immediately sorry to all. I lost 2 in one day for sure and there is no way I can afford to do that.:frowning:

[FONT=Calibri]No offense to anyone here but I really feel for you guys who think you need to be the lowest bidder out there.

There is all kinds of competition in my area for wind mitigation services. My main competition, in my own back yard, charges $67 for a wind mitigation inspection.

That being said I have no issues getting $100 all day long for a wind mitigation inspection. I am generating 15-20 wind mit referrals a week at that price.

My father always told me get three bids and go with the guy in the middle.

I think the saying “you get what you pay for” immediately comes to mind.

I have talked to 4 of the 9 agent offices that consistently refer work about a possible increase in price to $125 and none of them have objected.

[FONT=Calibri]Right now I am taking a wait and see approach on how much additional work its going to be. So far it looks like it is going to be a headache I have already made two phone calls to local municipalities to verify a roof install date because the info was not accessible online and the current owner did not have any roof docs. If this continues the prices will increase. More services equals more costs. This is basic economics. You decrease the costs of services by decreasing costs and working more efficiently or by sacrificing service. Currently I do not see how the new form address the first part of this equation.
[/FONT][/FONT]

There is a huge difference between busy and profitable. The math eventually catches up with low bidders. They will always be around just the faces change.

Honestly guys, This is like beating a dead Horse.

All the HI guys are complaining about the price of wind mit’s they, strickly speaking are not licensed to perform. Yet, they want the licensing to perform these inspection.

If the price is too low now, wait until another huge group of people are licensed to perform these inspections.

It simple economics. Supply and demand.

If you want to know why I’m lucky to get 65 for a WM on the Treasure Coast? It is because the area was SATURATED by HI’s performing FREE wind mits for the MSFP.

It’s not the out of work contractor, forced to HI, to feed his kids.

You want the price of WM to go up, close the door on who can perform them. You guys will never see the price rise, if everyone can sign them.

It’s not my intention to provoke, It’s just an economic reality.

Jay,

I have never agreed with with anyone more.

Good evening Jay,

I hope all is well with you. Just thought I’d give you guys a little status update. Both the Senate and House bill have been amended to allow for a Licensed Home Inspector to complete wind mitigation inspections. They have also been amended to allow for Contractors and Engineers to have employees complete the inspection.

I am well aware of both positions on this subject.

Looks like there will soon be alot more individuals who can both complete and sign the forms.

Who knows what will happen to the price. I can tell you mine will not change, even when I am Licensed to sign the form. There is a price point with every service where providing that service does not make economic sense.

Anyways just wanted to keep you guys in the loop regarding the bill.

Good Luck

Mike, whats the deal with question #2. As for the price issue… According to my sources, 90% of current inspections being submitted are wrong. In my opinion, the new form and strict oversight of the program should weed out most of the unscrupulous inspectors. If professional inspectors(such as the one’s posting here) maintain a fair price(100-125), accurate reports, and good customer service, they should be able to develop loyal referral bases(insurance agents). The companies, I know, who offer $ incentives to agents, usually tack the extra on top of their fee. Most h/o’s usually go with who the agent refers. Anyway, Im confident the inspectors on this board will be getting fair rates when the fly-by-night yahoos are blackballed by the underwriters after WCE auditers share the error percentages of aformentioned inspectors. Mike -GIve me the scoop on #2!!!

Can’t tell you Mike, how many Ins. agents tell me that all their client’s already have a wind mit. That they recieved a “free inspection” from the state.

Most of my WM are due to resale.

If we really want the price of WM to rise, the number of people that can perform them needs to be reduced, not INCREASED. Otherwise, they will become so cheap that they are a standard part of an inspection. Such as, pictures, or inspecting inside the electrical panel. (And that’s not a jab at you, and your marketing strategy).

It’s my belief that we are in this situation because of MSFP. You can’t give the consumer a product for free, and then ask them to pay a premium price. Especially, when there are an over abundance of inspectors willing to work for less than sitting around watching Oprah.

Anyone want to bet what they go for once that crap goes into effect.

I’ll be the first one to guess $19.99 I guarantee it because:

They have also been amended to allow for Contractors and Engineers to have employees complete the inspection. I suggest if you know who to contact you all try to stop it.

Well I did actually enjoy doing them while it lasted. I guess it is time to start pushing my consultation idea. “not that i thought of it” I just like it.

Hell maybe the fishing guide stuff, that would be more fun. I would offer pontoon boat rides up and down the inter-coastal in my 32’ air conditioned cabin cruiser I inherited but the steering broke this weekend.

So far as of tonight I am only going to give it in dade and broward counties. Everywhere else is sh-t out of luck. I would love others opinions on that. Who knows anymore I may see it in another light tomorrow. I am so pis-ed about all of it I don’t know what to do. I will always let everyone know how I am currently handling things, so we may kind of stick together whenever possible.

Dennis,

I called the head guy Otis Black on State Farms Wind mitigation team and he was not in.

Here is his number for all. Do me a favor and do not tell him I gave it out because he is supposed to call me back to discuss item 2 and other problems.

Otis Black at 863-318-4185. He is the team leader for the Mitigation Team.

They have not even trained the underwriters yet.

Good evening Justin,
Everyone is great and I hope all is well with you and yours.

Justin, I have no doubt that you will land on your feet. Just as bdonner pointed out. The cream will always rise to the top. There will always be a market for rewrites and such for exsisting home owners. And, as bdonner wisely points out, the will choose quality and service over free coffee mugs and gas cards.

However, I think the Ins. industry is untrust worthy with their error rates. I submitted a WM on my personal house, signed by another contractor. It was rejected, by the inspector who reinspected for quality purposes. He showed up when we were not home.
I have security cameras. I saw the ‘inspection’. The guy pulled into my drive way and never got out of the car. He rejected the front doors that open inward, and have a glass insert. From his car, he could not see the hurricane anchors painted to match the wall.
Needless to say, after my phone call. They sent another inspector. He at least walked around the house to verify the hurricane hardware. He did not ask to see the panels, or inspect my attic.

It seems like a mistake or an omission. How can a tile roof not meet FBC/SFBC just because it doesnt meet uplift requirements of shingle/metal. I think this is just a clerical error, but why is State Farm sending out memos clarifying this? I know for a fact that universal will give an FBC credit for any type of roof thatwas permitted in accordance with code. This would be like saying accordian shutters don’t count for no reason. I would love to hear some logic behind this.

Well otis is in a meeting all day tommorow I may hear from him on wEDNESDAY. wE WILL SEE AND i WILL POST. ANYONE WHO HAS A QUESTION POST IT AS SIMPLE AS POSSIBLE i WILL COPY AND PASTE AND MAKE A LIST TO DISCUSS WITH HIM. Sorry about the caps my finger slipped.