So here is the back story. Nearly two decades ago I wanted to get into home inspection. I was very young, just starting out, living in an apartment, didn’t have any money for training, which although wasn’t required by my state (WA) at the time, I wanted to learn how to do it and it cost $2,000 that I didn’t have at the time…
So rather than borrow money and screw myself over on something that wasn’t a sure thing thus making my situation worse, I decided to go for a traditional four year University degree and got into IT. Fast forward to today. I am financially successful, make six figures, company paid health insurance, I have a few real estate investments, etc.
While I enjoy what I do for a living, I absolutely HATE corporate politics and during the process of buying several homes over the last few years, even in this market, realized that…every home inspector I called was booked solid. It was a real challenge to find one that had any openings!
Furthermore, each time I bought a house, I would talk to them about how much business they got, made per year, hidden costs, etc. Each one I talked to made six figures as well! None of them had a college education, just the basic state licensing requirements training. Some worked in construction before they got into HI, while others got into it from some random industry.
Seeing that they are self employed, generally deal with a client for a few hours during the inspection/report writing/questions and are out in the field rather than stuck in an office, I rekindled the idea of becoming a home inspector.
I figure why not? I have a degree and a lucrative trade to fall back on, and am financially prepared. I could even do it on the side on the weekends for now.
My question is, what do I need to know that I haven’t seen/am I crazy? Are there downsides to the job I am not aware of? I know crawling around attics and crawl spaces isn’t the most glamarous, but I’d rather do that than deal with corporate BS anymore. Again, I love what I do, but not the people I have to deal with at work.
I’ve looked into the training required in my area, and while some places seem to be getting rich offering training at 5-15K a pop, I found some places that offer the required training for 3K and are approved by the state. I figure it’s a reasonable price to pay and if it doesn’t work out, I didn’t lose too much. I don’t have any reason to not make it work though. Between education costs, truck, equipment, marketing, etc, I have the capital to put into the business.
In any case, if I missed anything, let me know.
