Hello folks,
I am new to home inspections (and to business ownership in general). What are some things you have learned along the way that would have been great to know starting out. Even though I have my license now I know that the learning is just beginning.
Thanks!
Welcome to our forum, Juan!..enjoy participating. 
Juan, contact some CMIs or CPIs within 40 to 50 miles, or closer, to your area and communicate with them. Maybe one, or more, will help you. Some inspectors feel as though they are training their competition by ride-alongs or mentoring or hiring.
Here is the link for CMIs: Find a Certified Master Inspector®
And the link for CPIs: Find Certified Home Inspectors Near You - InterNACHI®
And Mentors: Home Inspector Mentoring - InterNACHI® and https://www.nachi.org/my/mentoring
Also, you may want to take advantage of your Education Team at education@internachi.org for specific questions e.g. https://www.nachi.org/become-home-inspector.htm and https://www.nachi.org/masterclass.htm .
And there is the https://www.nachi.org/howto.htm for many other things. And the InterNACHI online education page: How do I navigate the InterNACHI online education page? | InterNACHI FAQ
I wouldn’t say these are things I didn’t know, but these are things anyone coming in should be aware of…
Nicely done Ryan!
Thanks for the reply!
Whatever your marketing budget is:
Multiply it by at least 4. You’re going to need it.
How to write faster reports
This wasn’t an issue when I began so many years ago, but it absolutely is today…
SAVE YOUR MONEY!!
Don’t fall prey to all the gimmicks offered by every vendor out there wanting to separate you from your money. You do not need 95% of the garbage they insist you need to survive and succeed. What you need is working capital in the bank to get you through maybe 1-3-5 years of lean times!! Like Ian said, you will be spending buco bucks on marketing, and yes, that begins with a QUALITY website! And now that gasoline is $4-$6-$9 a gallon and rising, recommend you start stocking up on gas gift cards to guarantee you can get to and home from a couple inspections when times get worse… because they always do! Nothing worse then booking a job, and wondering how the hell you are going to get there and back, because I guarantee you that one inspection will be 100 miles away, not 2 miles!!
Good luck.
Another piece of advice…
If you’ve never owned or managed/operated a business before, enroll at your local Community College in a Business 101-102 class and get at least a basic understanding of how to properly manage a business. It absolutely will make the difference between you failing the first year, and surviving to fight your way to success.
Very good advice everyone!
I wish I knew how lucrative this profession can be and was for me.
I should have mentioned money in my response above. Especially as it pertains to taxes. I think many new entrepreneurs don’t realize that they will pay a “self employment” tax on top of their regular income tax.
Self employment taxes are an additional tax over and above your regular income tax. This tax is used to fund the Social Security and Medicare portions of your future entitlements. The current rate for this tax is 15.3% of your net income. So if you net $400 from an inspection, $60 of that is going to the government to fund your Social Security and Medicare. This is on top of your regular income tax.
I think a lot of new entrepreneurs coming in after working as a W2 employee don’t realize that your employer has been paying half this tax for you. Once you become self employed, you are responsible for the full amount.
Make sure you have good insurance coverage. Ask directly if your services are covered: Pools, Seawalls, Insurance Forms, Mold Sampling, Etc. Anything you might do that is not covered in your plan can come back to your pockets. Do you need mold coverage even if you don’t do mold sampling/testing?? A good insurance company and plan can also help you when you receive a meritless lawsuit as well. Let the insurance co guide you through client demands, if there’s a refund they’ll navigate it and get the proper release of liability, etc. In my area(Florida’s central-west coast), there is plenty of buyers remorse fueled by the sight-unseen purchases and overpaying due to the lack of inventory. This will surely translate into more Home Buyers/Attorneys filing suit to scare you out of your hard earned money.
Call clients that have complaints, texts and emails sometimes don’t cut it. Make them aware that you are taking it seriously. Have a set process for the complaints.
Your agreement will be an extremely important part of your inspections. Have it reviewed, consult your friendly competitors about what they found necessary to put into theirs. Always have it signed before the inspection: 24 hours is a best practice. If they are signing at the inspection: your first picture(before you start inspecting) should be a time/date stamped picture of the signed agreement.
Take pictures of everything. Things that are working with their brand name, things that are broken, do 360 degree pics of all the rooms. Make sure if you go back through your pictures in a year, there are enough to show a story and remind you of the inspection and conditions/limitations.
In the end, this is the stuff that will allow you to enjoy your inspecting and the people and pets you meet without dwelling on a complaint or spending sleepless nights worried about the lawsuit you were served.
It’s definitely not all doom and gloom, but these are the types of lessons you don’t want to learn the hard way.