Thinking of becoming an Inspector

[Chris Roth]

I have had this Passion for years. I live in Colorado so some of the stuff or at least one is, I do not need a license to operate. I have seen websites of late posting anywhere from 595 to 895 dollars. Is there a good one that you seasoned vets agree on that will give me alot of bang for the bucks. I have one in mind here:


http://icaschool.com/?gclid=CODz2eWu2dECFcm3wAodMiEEvg

Any advice would be graetly appreciated

Chris:)

[Jerry Peck]

Any advice would be graetly appreciated

Keep your day job too ... you will need it for a long time. :D

[Raymond Wand]

Ditto what Jerry said. Don't believe all the bull one reads about how 'lucrative' home inspections can be.

As an example.

http://www.carsondunlop.com/education/us/HawkeyeCommunityCollege/about-homeinspection-faq.php

[ROBERT YOUNG]

I concur with Ray and Jerry.
Don't give up your day job.

Ray, in poor taste for CD to promote this cottage industry like that.
Maybe 10% percent of homies earn 80.000. Average is 40K
And you work hard to earn top dollar!

http://www.payscale.com/research/CA/Industry=Home_Inspection_Services/Salary

3 years before I started to make a living wage. By then I had invested ><30K.

[Chris Roth]

Ditto what Jerry said. Don't believe all the bull one reads about how 'lucrative' home inspections can be.

As an example.

http://www.carsondunlop.com/education/us/HawkeyeCommunityCollege/about-homeinspection-faq.php

OKAY. I am not looking for LUCRATIVE MEASURES. I am looking for my own thing to do. I am tired of working for the man. My old job of maintenance supervisor for a 1,200 housing unit and hotel maintenance, with 20 years of Military Experience should get me somewhere right?If I do it right I could make a small go of it maybe 35K to 40K plus my military retirement should help, Thanks for the tip:)

[Raymond Wand]

... okay ... have you considered a rewarding career in Real Estate?

... no really ...
There are already too many inspectors plying their trade, the pricing is all over the map, licencing is another matter, not applicable to you, but nonetheless you cannot afford to start up as a newbie without incurring huge liability. Maybe you should actually look at how much insurance will cost if you can get it right out the gate. Not to mention your ability to sell yourself in a flooded market, gain trust, stand out.. blah,... blah.. Just saying ...:)

Best.

[Jack Feldmann]

OKAY. I am not looking for LUCRATIVE MEASURES. I am looking for my own thing to do. I am tired of working for the man. My old job of maintenance supervisor for a 1,200 housing unit and hotel maintenance, with 20 years of Military Experience should get me somewhere right?If I do it right I could make a small go of it maybe 35K to 40K plus my military retirement should help, Thanks for the tip:)

Working for yourself is much harder than working for "the man". Your maintenance supervisor experience may help, but may not be much help at all. Knowing how to fix something is not the same as recognizing defects before they are broken. Your 20 years military experience will be little help unless you were doing home inspections in the military.

Home inspecting is not as easy as some think. A guy that thinks he knows how to build a deck, may not have any idea of why they fall apart. are goes for plumbers and wanna be electricians. We see evidence of crappy construction and repairs every day.

I suggest you invest in a good education program for home inspectors. Forget what you think you know, and learn what you should know. If possible, hook up with a local inspector and do some ride alongs, and maybe get a mentor. Your local ASHI Chapter might be a good source.

This is not an easy field to start in, and can be quite hard to succeed in. You should plan on at least two years of doing it part time before you will be ready to do it full time (and have enough business to go full time).