Bill Sizemore
09-28-2012, 02:49 PM
Hello Everyone,
Sorry for the long post. *If this is in the wrong section, feel free to advise or move the thread.* I am hopingto get some advice, constructive criticism, tips, and general guidance forwanting to become a home inspector. First off, let me tell everyone a littlebit about myself...
My name is Bill. I am 30 years oldand live in West Central Florida (Near the Tampa Area). I have a business managementdegree and have been working as a construction superintendent for a majornational homebuilder for the last 8 years. As a superintendent, I have built somewherein the neighborhood of 350 houses, including single family & multifamily. Ihave experience in estimating and purchasing operations, safety adherence,quality assurance, and all aspects of homeowner warranty service after theclosing. I was hired as a superintendent right out of college, but I did havehands on trade experience (concrete) throughout high school and college. I alsohold a state building contractor's license (CBC). In 2010-2011, I designed andbuilt my own house. I general contracted it myself, as well as did a good portionof the actual labor. I think of myself as having a pretty broad knowledge ofthe construction of a house, and the ability to interact and explain complexthings to my homeowners in ways they understand.
While my job has been good to me forthe most part the last eight years, I have always wanted to run my own company,or at least have something on the side to fall back on. While the market ispicking up, the construction industry is still dominated by low-ball hackers inmy area. At least in production work. I have every confidence I could start asubcontracting business (concrete) catering to production builders, but I don'twant to be another cut-throat low-balling hack. Unfortunately, quality hastaken a back seat behind price and speed amongst most production builders inthe area. Most subs have become "labor brokers" who basically sharethe same pool of unskilled crews to do the work. Not the kind of business Iwould ever want to run.
I could branch out and be a homebuilder myself, which is ultimately what I hope to achieve some day. To do so,I would have to completely leave my current job, as it would be a conflict ofinterests. That isn't an option for me right now, as I am the sole incomeearner for my household. In the mean time, I am focusing things that don't posea conflict to my day job, and that I can realistically do on the side to make moneyand build my company. One of the things that comes up both from myself, andfrom others around me is home inspecting.
So far from what I understand, withmy building contractor's license, I am legally able to perform home and moldinspections, so long as I am not solely in the business of home inspecting(there is a separate license in FL now for home inspecting). In other words, Iwould have to be a construction/contracting company that offered home inspectionsas one of our services. The other construction services I am not worried about,as I is not hard for me to get a few jobs here and there doing a driveway ripout or a extended patio slab, etc. I know that I cannot perform anyconstruction services to any home that I would inspect, as that would be badpractice, and a serious conflict of interests.
Some specific questions I have...
Is home inspecting something that can be feasibly done as a "side business"?
What kind of risk is involved legally from home inspecting?
How do you abate those risks? (E&O, good contracts, etc).
What types of tools and equipment are necessary to have? What are nice to have?
Where do you generate your leads from?
What kinds of costs are involved that I might not be thinking about (insurance, membership fees, startup costs, etc.)
What resources do you recommend?
Do you use a check list for inspections, or follow a report template?
What inspection report software program or service do you recommend? (Thinking something like Home Gauge to start out since it is pay per report).
What is the general health of the inspection industry? (seems to be decent here). I’m sure there is much I have leftout, but I am looking forward to hearing your replies. Feel free to offer yourcandid advice. Thank you in advance.
Bill.
Sorry for the long post. *If this is in the wrong section, feel free to advise or move the thread.* I am hopingto get some advice, constructive criticism, tips, and general guidance forwanting to become a home inspector. First off, let me tell everyone a littlebit about myself...
My name is Bill. I am 30 years oldand live in West Central Florida (Near the Tampa Area). I have a business managementdegree and have been working as a construction superintendent for a majornational homebuilder for the last 8 years. As a superintendent, I have built somewherein the neighborhood of 350 houses, including single family & multifamily. Ihave experience in estimating and purchasing operations, safety adherence,quality assurance, and all aspects of homeowner warranty service after theclosing. I was hired as a superintendent right out of college, but I did havehands on trade experience (concrete) throughout high school and college. I alsohold a state building contractor's license (CBC). In 2010-2011, I designed andbuilt my own house. I general contracted it myself, as well as did a good portionof the actual labor. I think of myself as having a pretty broad knowledge ofthe construction of a house, and the ability to interact and explain complexthings to my homeowners in ways they understand.
While my job has been good to me forthe most part the last eight years, I have always wanted to run my own company,or at least have something on the side to fall back on. While the market ispicking up, the construction industry is still dominated by low-ball hackers inmy area. At least in production work. I have every confidence I could start asubcontracting business (concrete) catering to production builders, but I don'twant to be another cut-throat low-balling hack. Unfortunately, quality hastaken a back seat behind price and speed amongst most production builders inthe area. Most subs have become "labor brokers" who basically sharethe same pool of unskilled crews to do the work. Not the kind of business Iwould ever want to run.
I could branch out and be a homebuilder myself, which is ultimately what I hope to achieve some day. To do so,I would have to completely leave my current job, as it would be a conflict ofinterests. That isn't an option for me right now, as I am the sole incomeearner for my household. In the mean time, I am focusing things that don't posea conflict to my day job, and that I can realistically do on the side to make moneyand build my company. One of the things that comes up both from myself, andfrom others around me is home inspecting.
So far from what I understand, withmy building contractor's license, I am legally able to perform home and moldinspections, so long as I am not solely in the business of home inspecting(there is a separate license in FL now for home inspecting). In other words, Iwould have to be a construction/contracting company that offered home inspectionsas one of our services. The other construction services I am not worried about,as I is not hard for me to get a few jobs here and there doing a driveway ripout or a extended patio slab, etc. I know that I cannot perform anyconstruction services to any home that I would inspect, as that would be badpractice, and a serious conflict of interests.
Some specific questions I have...
Is home inspecting something that can be feasibly done as a "side business"?
What kind of risk is involved legally from home inspecting?
How do you abate those risks? (E&O, good contracts, etc).
What types of tools and equipment are necessary to have? What are nice to have?
Where do you generate your leads from?
What kinds of costs are involved that I might not be thinking about (insurance, membership fees, startup costs, etc.)
What resources do you recommend?
Do you use a check list for inspections, or follow a report template?
What inspection report software program or service do you recommend? (Thinking something like Home Gauge to start out since it is pay per report).
What is the general health of the inspection industry? (seems to be decent here). I’m sure there is much I have leftout, but I am looking forward to hearing your replies. Feel free to offer yourcandid advice. Thank you in advance.
Bill.