What is the Survival Rate For Home Inspectors?

I had a similar situation a few months back.

I inspected a house that had just been inspected a two weeks prior.

The first inspector recommended the deck be sealed with a wood dealer. But the deck wasn’t made of wood.

The seller was throwing in a boat with an electric motor, and there was an extension cord running to the boat to charge the battery. The first inspector recommend the extension cord be replaced with hard wiring in conduit. :shock:

The first report was also all text. No pictures. Few paragraph breaks. It was just a wall of text that was hard on the eyes and difficult to read.

But this first inspector had 30 years of experience.

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I took an AHIT training course, 100 class room hours and 40 ‘field training’ hours. There were 16 other guys in the class with me, to the best of my knowledge none of them are performing inspections. There was no way that the training gave anyone without a strong background in construction the slightest clue what to look for. If you failed any of the section tests you could take them over and over and over. The AHIT trainer spent more time getting everyone to buy their cheesy report software than anything else. When I read these message boards most of the time it sounds like everyone is super successful and pulling in the big $$$, but I know that that cant be the case since the standard distribution is 20% of the people/companies do 80% of the work. I am starting year number 4 and am having the time of my life. Wish this was something I started 10 years ago.

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Thanks for your post Interesting information … Glad for you …

Since coming up on my second year on March 25th, I haven’t seen and new ones starting in this year. In the Quinte area (ontario, Canada) 4 inspection companies have closed doors or their sites disappeared. Marketing has been key, in my first year I did just over 60 inspections. This year my goal is 100 and meet 5 agents different every month.

I am really hoping to see what happens this year.

We regularly hear similar comments about AHIT.

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Not many last the 3 years required to become a Certified Master Inspector, compared to how many start the journey.

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That quote right there is exactly why the CMI 3-year minimum requirement is a farce! You are stating that many inspectors struggle to make it 3 years… but when they do… Holy Carp!.. they are CMI quality inspectors if they make it!!!

http://wisehomeinspections.com/about/

/](http://wisehomeinspection.com/contact/) Not listed with any associations .

Carl Maybee

RR 2 Havelock ON K0L1Z0

Phone: 705-778-7157

Cell: 705-868-7272

Email: carl.maybee

there is also a http://wisehomeinspection.com/about/ ,
listed on google in [FONT=Times New Roman]Minnesota.[/FONT]

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               **BDY Home Inspections**

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****Phone: **613-393-2724
**Phone: **613-849-4477
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6133932724 is Registered to A Young located at 888 Ridge Rd Rr 1, Picton ON, Canada, Picton

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Description

I am certified home inspector and would like to help you find the perfect home. A home should be a place to relax , not to worry about. Lets look at your house together and make you feel better about the your decision.

I have been in the construction business for 15 plus years. I have worked on homes from foundation to roof. I am a retired military man and have an eye for detail. I want to give you the piece of mind you deserve.

You are making one of the biggest purchases. A home inspection is a small price to pay, for a safe and sound home. Get yours today and enjoy your new home tomorrow

I started performing home inspections to supplement my income after a divorce since I was paying the ex most of paycheck while working as a project manager for the same contractor of 15 yrs. ( I never intended to leave my day job, when I got licensed). After a year in business I was working 2 full time jobs and did that for another 2 yrs before leaving the construction job to become full time. I have hired (2) office girls and trained an additional 4 inspectors to help me keep up. The transition was easy for me because I have contacts all over town and was running many jobs at a time on the construction front. My stress level went way down switching to home inspecting. My customers are the general public who appreciate a thorough professional job far more than the purchasing A S S in charge of the money at some large manufacturing facility who was put in his position The last couple times I sent someone to the class to get licensed, the school tries to hire them (also a home inspection company). None have been interested.

There were many inspectors licensed when I started and many are still around but I’m doing more inspections than all of them. My advice is to go to conferences and talk with successful inspectors around the country and see what works. Personality, strong ethics, personal motivation, organization skills, and an ability to adapt on the fly are key points to focus on.

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What is your price point compared to all other inspectors in your area?

Upper middle. Most inspections are at or around $350. I’ve bumped my prices a little at the start of last 2 years. 3 yrs ago my average inspection was closer to $275

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There is a guy in my area, very few pictures, crappy report. Does not walk most roofs, and does not go in most attics. He is very well liked by many, most that meet him feel like he is their best friend.

There is another inspector in my area that is a nice guy and thorough, but he scares everyone. He is close to being blackballed.

Everything you do makes or breaks your business, you must find your niche. You will struggle until that day.

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Well put and worth repeating

Interesting comments and without any further detail I interpret that as the thorough Home Inspectors in your area are blackballed while the worthless ones receive all the business.

Absolutely, there will always be some who will not fully do the job and there will be some that will take it too far. There will always be those that interpret what they do as not good either way.

I never said either did not do a good job, just different ways of getting there. If you don’t go on a roof but communicate the roof condition well and your clients are happy, what is the issue? If you scare your clients, who is to say they should not have been. Who says the report must look pretty, what if it is blunt to the point and lacks detail? I may call it crappy and he may call mine bloated.

What if most of your clients buy crappy homes and you scare most of them, you may then rightly develop a reputation of scaring clients.

What if most of the homes you inspect are newer, have tile roofs and you explain to your clients that they should have a roofer inspect and repair the cracked tiles every few years. They are happy that you explained the upkeep of a tile roof and the limitations of walking the roof and the attic.

I inspect mostly newer homes on the higher end of the market and have a reputation of too much detail. I also attract clients and realtors that expect that level of detail.

Like I said we all carve a niche. Your interpretation may be clouded by preconceived ideas.

It all has to do with is marketing. Most Realtors in my small market will not refer me unless it is their family or friends. I usually always have my schedule packed full. Most of the worst home inspectors in my area are the busiest. I got lucky enough to realize a niche. Most inspectors do not. Every once in awhile an inspector has to step out of the box, he put himself in, and look to see what he is doing wrong or what can be improved upon. If you do not a competitor probably will. The goal is to stay ahead so far ahead, that you do not have much competition. It took me about 10 years to figure that out.

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This is good advice.

I hope I remember it in 5, 10 and 15 years.

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The agents I work with most are afraid of inspectors who do 2 things wrong:

Miss a major problem when one is present.
AND
Find a major problem when one is not present.

don’t do either of those and the rest falls into place.

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The poor survival rate boils down to ego. Inspectors have huge egos, myself included. All the guys who aren’t making it always blame everyone but themselves. The other guys are cheap and minimalists; the Realtors don’t like them; realtors are unethical, etc.

It’s never the inspectors fault. He’s always thorough and perfect. You can’t move forward when you can’t even recognize the problem.