Originally Posted by
Rick Cantrell
"No one really expects a good home inspection for $139, do they?"
No matter what someone pays, they always expect to receive at the least a standard service. A reduced price does not equal reduced service/ quality. Think about it; you buy a $500.00 moisture meter online for $150.00, it does not work well, you call seller, seller says " what do you expect for $150.00?" you say " I expect it to work". And you do expect it to work.
Reduced price absolutely does equal reduced service/quality. Otherwise, how could you justify not being one of the $1.39 guys? Going down to the standard service is a reduction in service/quality.
I do think that many people would equate licensed with "same knowledge and effort." It's been bred into us for a couple of generations. Most look at Inspections as a commodity, not a service. Toss in the Realtor who reinforces "they're all licensed" and many Clients do choose the inspection for $200 or more less than mine will cost.
Many more people shop a Walmart than anywhere else. They believe it's the same thing. They don't care about employee treatment, product knowledge, service level, or anything else. Walmart sells for less....always.
So those of us who take pride in what we do and charge accordingly accept that we will not get the persons who have internalized "everything is the same, so get the cheapest price possible." I used to resent the $1.39 guys. What a waste of energy. They have their markets, I have mine.
I have one in my area that I almost admire, at least from a business saavy standpoint. He's been in the business about the same amount of time as me. He usually charges somewhere around $200, spends about an hour, maybe a little less/more. But he has absolutely mastered minimalism. As a result, I'm convinced that if you took one of his reports that the chance of him getting snagged by an administrative snafu at TREC would be just about zero. It's the irony of working in Texas. It seems like the harder you try, the greater your chances of getting reprimanded or worse. I'm not being sarcastic. I think that in many ways, he's smarter than I am.
Then again, I chose my path and it seems to be working. Less jobs, more money each and every year.