Truth hurts. Some of us believe in trying to raise the bar and improve our industry. If you believe the value of your inspection is $99 then you should get out of the sandbox.
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Some of this is so full shit it would clog up a 24” forced sewer main. 350 inspections a month is $35k a month or 10 a day.
With few exceptions I refuse to do any inspection for less than $300.
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Simon, have your ancestry checked. Got to be a combination of part indian and part buffalo
After 28.5 years, I average 3.2 per month. It takes lots of rehab after dealing with agents wanting special pricing and revising my report. My price starts at $500.00 for up to 1799 sf. If the lawn guy gets $40.00 for one hours work and $50.00 for a car detail. Why as a Professional, with tons of liability, would you charge under $100.00 for an Inspection? Even ladies of the evening make better than that. HI is not my main source of income, just inspections.
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Wondering if that will cover your legal fees. I bet you give them what they paid for.
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At the beginning I marketed to real estate agents as advised. After my 4th encounter I was black listed so I was told. After my 6th encounter, the same day, the new agent looked at me and said, you are an honest man in a very corrupt industry. I, the realtor, am going to quite and find another job, I changed my marketing strategy to social media.
I retained most of my inspections online. After 2 people tell 2 people the word gets around.
Read and practice what InterNACHI states about marketing. It really works!
As well, if you can pay >< 200 or more to PPC you will get more calls.
Good luck with your home inspection business, Alan. I pulling for you buddy.
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Sadly herein Ohio they regulate us under Real Estate. We need to stick together here
I hate acronyms what is PPC?
I think he is referring to pay-per-click.
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I got off to a slow start my first year in business, relying on realtors for my jobs. I then started getting a lot more jobs from referrals and good reviews online. Its tough starting from nothing and building momentum slowly. If you do a good job, your business will snowball bigger and bigger. I don’t know any tricks for getting your business launched quickly. Hopefully someone else here has some good tips.
P.S. I’m pretty sure Alan Singer is pulling your leg. I reviewed his Sample report on his web page and it looks like he is a good inspector, not one of those $99 guys.
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Great, Bert! 
Have cards with you at most times… and hand them out when you hear of people looking or buying a house…or someone that they may know.
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Yes Bert Hull, I was pulling the 'proverbia’l leg. It seems to me yours is the first truthful answer to the question. Most post how they started up and were doing 300 inspections by their second year which unless they are lying is a complete fluke. One of the easiest ways to compete with your peers is by lowering your price and that is a bad choice. Finding a way to differentiate yourself is the key - good customer service, good quality inspections, good quality reports, and again good quality customer service.
If I charge 500 per inspection and you charge 250 - you will have many more inspection than me, but at what cost - If i do 150 inspections at 500 ill make a gross of 75,000, for you to make the same gross you will have to do 300 inspections or almost 6 per week while I only have to do 3 per week. I’m kicking back and having a beer while your driving around like crazy.
So low pricing hurts you and me - you by working harder to make money and it hurts me because inspections get funneled away to guys that cant stay in business for the long run. If this is truly a business and not your side gig a big chunk of money needs to go into your retirement accounts or you will work until you die. I always see discussions about overhead but never see that retirement accounts counted as a part of business your overhead. Again this requires charging more per inspection.
No I don’t charge $99 per inspection - I dont compete on that level.
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I’m relieved!!..
All I ever wanted to do is one a day. 20 a month. I could have always done way more. But I didn’t feel like busting my ass.
If I done my math correctly that would equal about $96,000 a year on an average of $400 per inspection. Monday through Friday only.
I start all my inspections at 10 a.m. . And I’m usually finished with it by 12, get back to the office have report done by 1 or 1:30 if I don’t drag my ass. The rest of the day is mine.
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Thanks for your replies. I was shooting for average of $300-400 per inspection. Averages about 100 per hour as my inspections are 3-4 hours to perform (not to mention another 3 hours to compile the report). I only do one per day and take over 300 Photos, provide video summary, and full narrative. My reports are 35 pages+ and mobile friendly for millennials. I only need 12 inspections every month to make it a profitable enterprise. If you are already unemployed when you decide to start a business, I suggest keeping your day job. The easiest part is doing the inspections. The rest is 99% hussle and marketing.
I chose this as an opportunity to actually make a good living, not chase my way to a bankruptcy. So far after 8 months, I have only had 2 paid inspections and only sales calls from crooks. I don’t see a sustainable business here anymore and I may have to give-up. I don’t have 3 years to make this work. Maybe my market is oversaturated. Anybody else have a similar experience?
Alan, how are you marketing? Do you have a web site, facebook presence, ads in local papers? I assume you have business cards and have passed them out to everyone you know. Have you visited the real estate companies in your area? In my area, many homes for sale have a literature box below the sign with info about the property. I put my brochure in these. I also stop at open houses. Is your family talking up your business with everyone they know?
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I’ve found in the beginning working things like Instagram was incredibly helpful in getting to work with a few Realtors. Sure I’ve had some realtors with questionable ethics but I’m working for the client, and I never see those ones again, unless a client hires me and I happen to run into them, which is always fun. Developing those relationships though early on was extremely beneficial. From there its moved more towards referrals from past buyers. Additionally you may want to consider mentoring with some local inspectors. Early on I did that and they would pass on any overflow during busy times which helped.
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I was thinking the same thing Peter. I am working toward a certification now and trying to absorb all of it. I thought the average fee was about 3 hundred.
J. Zehel
I agree with you Joe. Clients expect a professional and complete inspection report. How can an inspector do that without even being at the inspection site??
J Zehel