02-20-2008, 11:48 PM
|
|
Member
|
|
Join Date: Sep 2007
Location: Sterling, Virginia
Posts: 14
|
|
|
Re: Jumping Ship
Not to try and discourage anyone, but in many areas around the country this definitely is not the most opportune time to be starting a new career as a HI. Here in Northern VA the competition has become fierce among inspectors. The market is flooded with foreclosures and people are dumping their properties desperate to get out from under their ARM and Interest only loans. Logic would tell you, “hey, it’s a buyers market” and there should be a windfall of investors picking up on all of the spoils...so our phones should be ringing off the hook, but people are scared. To compound the problem, there are a number of these “Home Inspector Factories” in the area (not to knock them for a profitable business) who are turning out “certified” inspectors by the dozen each month, thus flooding the industry with lots of ambitious new entrepreneurs looking for a piece of the action. That’s capitalism so hey, no foul for wanting the dream, but local markets can only support a certain number of HI’s at a time. Home inspections are a very specialized field and demand for our particular area of expertise is, unfortunately, often dictated by such men as Ben Burnanke.
I’m pretty well connected here in Northern VA and have lots of friends who are realtors, mortgage writers and real estate investors, but in spite of all this, business is definitely slowing down. I’m blessed to own a separate general contracting business as well, because it may get tougher before it gets better.
On the bright side, this may help to weed out the remedial among us and create more breathing room for the long-term committed pros. 
Hang in there guys!
Last edited by Leslie Stone : 02-21-2008 at 07:47 PM.
|