You do have to spend it to make it too however. The trick is to turn a buck into an infinite amount, knowing you are going to have to balance your tax position. Like everyone, I try to spend wisely, marketing smart and making sure those dollars are working for me. Hard to track indeed. But I want to get in my customers heads. Often. Biggest key to success when there are three options given out by a realtor. I could stop marketing now…but that would be an arrogant and failing approach. I try to market like I am just starting out. Nothing for granted. I market when things are hottest. So make sure to apply enough resources early in your marketing. Low cost, low effort, high yield marketing.
I started my Inspection business on the side and didn’t quit my full time job. The second year I made 40k on the side. I’m starting my third year and I still haven’t quit my regular job.
Jeff,
What do you do to market your business? What do you think your “best” money investment has been?
Thanks
Mark
When I started, I had a full time job on a salary. My steady live-in concubine was the QA Director for a state teaching hospital. We usually built 1 or 2 small homes a year for resale ($75k to $85k sales price). I’m gonna guess the combined income without home inspections was about $140,000
We lived in a town of about 65,000 to 70,000 people AND it was the biggest thing for 150 miles in any direction. There were about 800- 850 home sales a year in a 50 mile radius (new and used). There was 2 other people calling themselves inspectors … 1 was an engineer that only looked at foundations OR structural failures. The 2nd was a home handy man that only did appliances, HVAC, plumbing & electrical inspections AND was mainly in it for the repair $$$$$$
It took me almost 4 years to get to about 250 +/- inspections a year at the average fee of $125 to $150 an inspection. That was in the mid 1980’s. Figure out the income on that doing just home inspections.
20 years later in a city of 500,000 people, we were doing 750 home inspections a year (myself and another inspector and a marketing gal that put in 2 days a week). AND we’re doing not only the home inspections BUT termite, radon, mold, FHA inspections, new construction monitorings, septic inspections, commercial inspections AND the income went WAY up, BUT so do the expenses AND 1 day as I was adding everything up, I realized that I’d been making more money by ME-SELF with a butt load less worry about generating business to keep us busy.
SO … my current crew is me AND a 22 year old helper.
Fantastic thread. The information shared here is priceless to us “new guys”. A sincere thank you to all that have contributed here.
Home inspectors income really depends on a bunch of factors like where you’re located, how much effort you put into marketing, whether you’re doing this part-time or full-time, etc. The first year can be a bit unpredictable but as you build your reputation and get referrals, things start to pick up. If you’re looking for average income and other details, reading this article might help: How Much Do Home Inspectors Make?
One the most important skillsets… Detail Observation… such as noticing the age of threads on MB’s and the probability the OP is still around to see your post!
1 Like
The OP: Seen Apr 19, 2016
Needless to say, no longer in the business if he ever was.
When there is no more room in BB Hell the Dead Threads will roam the earth!
1 Like