InterNACHI members who offer the option would get paid immediately by InterNACHI. I’ve come up with several ways to make this service available at no cost to the inspector (InterNACHI member).
Allowing your clients to pay at closing:
prevents charges on your client’s credit card from harming their credit score and mortgage approval.
reduces your client’s focus on your fees.
encourages your client to order additional ancillary inspections.
Please help me by posting here and letting me know if such a service would be of interest to you.
Also, if you use a competing service, could you please send me any of their marketing and legal documents that you can procure. I’d like to see what already exists out there. My email is nick@internachi.org. Include your shipping address, because you know me, I’ll send you something awesome.
I’ve seen these things go around and have never really been interested. Mainly because I’m not asked by any clients or agents and just don’t feel it would give me any competitive advantage. It well may be different in other areas but it’s just not a thing in the areas I serve. That being said, I trust that whatever InterNACHI has come up with is better than what I’ve seen previously so I am interested to learn about it.
On some level the concept of buyers financing their inspection and paying for it for the next 30 years feeds into my core opinion of what is wrong with our society financially these days but I imagine that’s soapbox I should stand on elsewhere. As for getting paid “immediately” I’ve never understood that one either. I don’t care if I’m paid today, tomorrow or two weeks from now. I’d hope people aren’t running their businesses so tightly that few days or week of payment matters.
Sorry, I don’t mean to sound negative and am interested to hear what you have to offer. I’m just doubtful it’s something I’d be able to use.
I’m with Matt.
I’m interested to see what you wil propose, but I’ve never been asked for this service.
If properly marketed, it may be a way to increase inspection and ancillary service fees
I am paid for my services that day or prior the report being delivered. I incur no out of pocket expenses unless my clients use a credit card. In Canada Interac bank E-transfers are free.
So Realistically, it cost me nothing in the first place. It’s getting them to phone that appears to have slowed. The market has shifted.
Don’t get me wrong, I concur, great idea, clients being able to pay at the closing is a unique idea bound to tantalize prospective clients. This would certainly interest me.
I hope other members chime in to keep the conversation going. You might be onto something big.
Haven’t we spent enough time battling to get our respect back from uncouth realtors attempting to scam us into something because they don’t like their own situations?
I personally would not have a problem with being paid at closing as long as it is guaranteed or some form of guaranteed payment if client walks. Here are a few situations that concern me about getting paid. How does the home inspector get paid for the inspection if the client walks away and or does not qualify for the loan after receiving the home inspection report? I have performed thousands of inspections in the last 15 years and probably 10% (approximately) did not end up buying the home for whatever reason.
@gromicko - it’s a popular service, and has been shown to increase sales. The pay at close options out there charge the inspector quite a bit though. We would love to integrate Inspector Toolbelt with your pay at close program you come up with. Just let us know
I would be very interested in this program. It would be an outstanding tool to have in the arsenal.
The one program out there that I’m aware of is only available to ISN users (which I am not). But I have read through their info just to see how it works.
The biggest problem I have with it is that you have to raise your rates across the board to cover their fee. By law, you can not charge extra for the service to just your pay-at-close customers. Therefore you need to charge extra on all inspections to make up for the fees.
*Note: Consumer finance laws do not allow businesses to charge their customers a fee for deferring payment. Charging a fee to pay over time makes you a lender and requires a license to do so. Therefore, in order to offer Pay-At-Close legally, your business needs to offer Pay-at-close for free on every inspection and then build the Pay-At-Close fee into the cost of all of your inspections.
Morning, Gary.
The way I read it is, InterNACHI payes you upfront, after the inspection. The client does not pay out of pocket until the closing.
What are your thoughts now?
For me I don’t care who pays for the inspection, brother, sister, uncle, friend or the guy on the corner. My concern is what happens if the client decides not to pay for the inspection, who is left holding the bag.
If I had to pay an additional fee for this type of service I would not use it……
You ever have to occur? Truly…
Myself. Once in 12 years. The gripe, my Square pos did not work that day. I offered to compensate to difference. No go. Her bother paid me 2 months later and offered interest. He explained, she was going though an acrimonies divorce. I could not blame him:-)
InterNACHI pays you once the inspection once completed and I suspect when published and delivered to the client.
I see no advantage in accepting fees this way. I already get my money first, so any advantage is for the client only. Can’t see that this has any marketing potential as most home buyers are already aware of HI fees and this product does not save them money, it merely delays the burden and complicates for the many who end up not buying.
The people who would benefit the most from this are agents who will market the sh^t out of this as a convenience they are providing their buyers. More smoke and mirrors!
I don’t see that as a problem, 90% of my inspections were realtor referrals. I do NOT downplay or write a report just to get return business; I call balls and strikes as I see it. Like or not realtors are a factor in the home inspection industry. My concerns are listed above regarding payment at closing.
We’d still collect from the client. But you’d already have your money.
My biggest concern is this: It’s adverse selection. If a buyer is so strapped for cash and their mortgage is so tenuous that they need to pay at closing, do we want to target them at all?
When I did inspection for real estate transactions, a homebuyer would sometimes ask (at the suggestion of the real estate agent) if I waited until closing to be paid.
I would respond to their question with this question: “Do you want me to include all my observations, including those that might cause you to back away from the sale that your agent and the seller are depending upon to be paid … or do you want me to consider that my fee is also dependent upon your decision to buy the house as I write your inspection report?”
In every case, without exception, they preferred that my inspection fee NOT be tied to the closing of the sale.