So I have had my license since late Feb 2023. I have completed a total of 19 inspections. I need to ramp up with my efforts to get business but I am wondering what services I should prioritize being able to offer? I am just doing home inspections, 4-points, wind mits. In Florida WDO requires a good amount of additional licensing etc. What should I look to be offering here in Florida? Mold testing, radon, lead, etc.?
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I don’t care where an inspector is located. IMO, their first year or two they should be focused on mastering their core business, that being Home Inspecting!
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But I need the business to get that. What can or should I offer to help get those jobs. I had a large amount of knowledge related to home inspections before starting this so I am ahead of the game compared to someone with little to no knowledge starting out.
It’s a tough business to get into during normal times and it’s currently exceptionally slow due to a variety of economic factors. I’ve got 23 years experience and have moved into a new market and am barely working. The existing multi-inspector company I just sold is doing roughly half the volume of average for this time of year. Is diversifying into other services the answer? Maybe, but I’d be more inclined to focus on less things and do them well as opposed to throwing darts all over the place in hopes of catching crumbs. Definitely a good idea to have a side hustle during these inevitable down times in real estate (or a pile of cash you don’t mind spending). Again, this is a really hard business to get into. Everyone on the outside looks in and thinks it’s easy but there’s a lot to it and A LOT of competition.
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Doing 19 in your first 3 months seems pretty decent if you ask me. I would continue doing what you are doing. As far as ancillaries, mold and radon are both fairly easy and cheap to get into.
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Ancillary services aren’t the reason for your situation. We are in a very hard to define real estate market currently, with most “rule of thumb” business slogans or mottos no longer being applicable.
Florida has far too many home inspectors, and the real estate pie is only so big.
Patience and perseverance are the 2 best qualities you need to develop, more so than offering bundled services. You are not being “past over” because you’re not offering radon (no one tests for it if Central Florida anyway).
Up your marketing budget, or door-knocking time, or whatever method you choose to get in front of clients. Since insurance reports seem to be the never ending ball & chain now, hit the insurance offices and see what shakes out of that tree.
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Some get into this not because it is easy, but because they thought it would be easy.
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Being in florida you should be offering 4-points and Wind Mit inspections for the insurance companies. As the rest of the country really does not do them and its not a requirement to get insurance. You should go hit up insurance offices and let them know you do these. You can do 10 a day
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Mold easy & cheap? Not in Florida, if you weren’t grandfathered.
Application Requirements:
- EXAMINATION: Individuals seeking licensure as a Mold Assessor must first take and pass a department approved exam for mold assessment. For information about the examination, visit the Examination Information webpage.
- EDUCATION/EXPERIENCE : A copy of a transcript is required demonstrating an Associate of Arts degree or higher with at least 30 credit hours in microbiology, engineering, architecture, industrial hygiene or occupational safety or related field of science from an accredited institution. The applicant must also demonstrate a minimum of 1 year of documented field experience in microbial sampling or investigations, and documented training in water, mold and respiratory protection;or****a high school diploma and 4 years of documented field experience in microbial sampling or investigations, and documented training in water, mold and respiratory protection. This is not a complete listing of educational and experience requirements. Please see the application instructions page for complete information.
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Not in Florida, have to be a state licensed mold remediator to do mold inspections here.
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I don’t know about 10 a day. I do 3, 4pts and wind mitigations in the morning and write the reports in the afternoon. I no longer inspect attics after 12 noon.
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Your core service, delivered on time with competence and care.
I have an assessor’s license to perform inspections.
I think that is what you meant 
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Crazy. But they don’t license radon measurement or radon mitigation? I guess that is bass akwards from here in MN. Maybe because we have high radon and not near the mold problems you might have in FL.
Florida Radon certification requirements are divided into two parts: individuals and businesses. Individuals are certified for knowledge, skills and abilities in delivering professional radon services. Businesses are certified to ensure that services are performed with appropriate quality assurance, that worker health and safety practices are followed, and that reporting standards are met. Within the Florida radon certification model, a certified individual must work for a certified business so that all aspects of the certification are covered.
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So radon does require licensing, or certification as they call it. I was thinking FL was one of the states that didn’t. Thanks for setting me straight!
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Frank, Here is SoCal hardly anyone iknows what 4-point inspections are. I have been in business since 1992 and offer the 4-point inspections also. But who is your market, do you advertise to Insurance companies. Realtors in our area have no clue, mortgage brokers in our area do not have a clue. I just would like to know the source (I get a call once in a long while from a client who gets the QBE from from their Home Insurance company and I do the inspection per that form,) . I give my info to Mortgage Brokers and they look at me like a deer in headlight, I ask them to forward to Home Insurance companies that they deal with, the most common answer is “What is the 4-point inspection, never heard of it” which surprises the hell out of me. Thanks for reading this, any solution would be great. Will
We do not advertise our service other than our website, Google page, Bing page, and Facebook. Mostly our clients find our information online. Our client are the homeowners. I occasionally drop off business cards when I am in the Insurance brokers offices.
Be thankful, they are a burden on the homeowner and a speed bump in most HI’s schedules.
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