Thread: Bottom Feeding

I saw this price advertised on-line for an HI company that works in both PA and NJ:

$325 Home & Termites inspections and free Radon test - 7 days/week

Unreal.

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People are hungry. You'll probably see fees much lower before the market upturn ever comes around.

rick

Originally Posted by Nick Ostrowski

I saw this price advertised on-line for an HI company that works in both PA and NJ:

$325 Home & Termites inspections and free Radon test - 7 days/week

Unreal.

Q. Just what is a termite inspection in your area. I will spend around
1 or 2hr on a termite Calif termite inspection. and another Hr on the report. for $ 195.00 is the dude just looking for pest or is he inspecting the home? for Fungus damage, Plumbing leaks, Roof leaks, earth to wood contacts, foundation condition, voids, and information on all inaccessible areas. My termite reports are abound 15 - 20 pages.

Best

Ron

Originally Posted by Ron Bibler

Q. Just what is a termite inspection in your area. I will spend around
1 or 2hr on a termite Calif termite inspection. and another Hr on the report. for $ 195.00 is the dude just looking for pest or is he inspecting the home? for Fungus damage, Plumbing leaks, Roof leaks, earth to wood contacts, foundation condition, voids, and information on all inaccessible areas. My termite reports are abound 15 - 20 pages.

Best

Ron

Sounds like you are a minute short of a full home inspection. 20 pages? For a termite report. You are just doing a visual inspection I would assume. I know there are a lot of signs to look for but.

In Texas you do a graph of the home. All you do is step off around the exterior while inspecting. The inside of the home is what may be visible on the walls, under sinks, occasional crawl, garages, bushes touching high soil lines etc. Again you can only look so much. Never is an attic accessed unless there is something down below that show any signs that there may be something above. As far as in the attic the insulation covers the entire attic floor. Even in a crawl there is only so much looking to do. Tubes, rot, wood debris, leaks. Only so long to look at that. You are on the coast and prone to dry wood termites. Very rare around here.

Of course I could mention every item checked off, looked at, possibly probed but it still only takes so long. Our reports are two pages. State forms. Even on those 2 pages you can note all the items you mentioned. What do you put on 20 pages. Shoot. If I got 200 per termite inspection I would do them all day long. I would give up the home inspection business for good. If all I had to promote was termite inspections I could save a lot of money to boot.

Our inspections are maybe an hour with the report. With a crawl a little longer. I could take a Knapp in a crawl for ten minutes and still be out in 20. Take another 10 minute Knapp and still fill the report out in 15. Part of the report is the graph which you are doing most of with the exterior walk.

Other than a crawl I have not seen a termite inspection last any longer than an hour, at best.

Termite inspectors are just like home inspectors.You can not do anything invasive. If you are doing a termite inspection for a home owner that might be a different story. Then, maybe, you might be allowed to be invasive.

Now if you find something you can sit down and do a proposal and of course the proposal and sale takes time but then you are going to make some decent money for a treatment. Now of course you are going to try to get the sellers info to sell them on the conducive conditions, partial or full treatment but around here the seller is almost guaranteed to not be around at the time of the inspection.

Originally Posted by Ron Bibler

Q. Just what is a termite inspection in your area. I will spend around
1 or 2hr on a termite Calif termite inspection. and another Hr on the report. for $ 195.00 is the dude just looking for pest or is he inspecting the home? for Fungus damage, Plumbing leaks, Roof leaks, earth to wood contacts, foundation condition, voids, and information on all inaccessible areas. My termite reports are abound 15 - 20 pages.

Best

Ron

Wow Ron! A 15-20 page report for a WDI inspection? The PA form is 2 pages and most inspections take 15-30 minutes tops. The fee for the WDI inspection around here ranges from $70 - $90.

Ted I have about 20 or 30 photos per report. and i will pull things back. and yes rip something open. expose as much as i can. i stick a probe in floors walls. ID the amount of board feet set the price for the repairs and treatments. prep a contract. We have some termite inspectors that will give out a 4 or 5 page report in my area. but the are always in court for one thing or another. My HI. report will run 45 or 50 pages with photos.
maybe i just go overboard on things but I like to do inspection.
Calif has about 3 back page buyer info required by the state and a front page required by the state. everything in the center is what ever you want to do. some of my stuff has diagram of foundation and framing or wall systems or types of brick work. you can see one of my reports on my website. Santa Rosa Termite and Pest Control When i started out we gave the buyer a report on the job site no back pages and by hand. now computers and photos...

Best

Ron

A free car wash will be next.

I think Rick just wash his truck for the year and got all burger and shake stuff out.

But a free wash. hay not bad...

Best

Ron

I don't think this cat wont be able to maintain these rates for too long. Pa is raising the fees for certifications and monitors @ $100 per and auditing many testers and labs. He may not even be on the state approved list.

I would also venture to guess he doesn't have the volume to maintain it unless he lives with mom or is sucking on a pension. Not even Earl Shive painted too many cars for $99.99.

I have raised several of my fees in this market, just because and my numbers are up for October, November, December and the year. Go figure...

btw, you can get great prices on car washes in bulk

Which area of PA are you in Richard? I'm the SE area outside Philly and December has been brutal. I've done only 5 inspections this entire month.

If Texas inspections are only two pages Id like to move to Texas and do inspections there.

Originally Posted by Bob R

If Texas inspections are only two pages Id like to move to Texas and do inspections there.

Termite or WDI reports are two pages. Just a graph with your initialed notes bushes, high low soil, termites, carpenter ants and such and check boxes for such so folks know what the initials stand for and a couple small areas for recommendations for treatment or correction of conducive conditions. Seriously. If it takes an hour on most homes that would be stretching it. Again it would be different for a home owner if you find things because then you can do the sales thing. You can still follow up to try and get the treatment but in a good portion of the cases the sellers will find their own termite folks for treatment instead of using the buyers termite guy unless they just give an allowance at closing so the buyers can get the treatment themselves.

Originally Posted by Ron Bibler

Ted I have about 20 or 30 photos per report. and i will pull things back. and yes rip something open. expose as much as i can. i stick a probe in floors walls. ID the amount of board feet set the price for the repairs and treatments. prep a contract. We have some termite inspectors that will give out a 4 or 5 page report in my area. but the are always in court for one thing or another. My HI. report will run 45 or 50 pages with photos.
maybe i just go overboard on things but I like to do inspection.
Calif has about 3 back page buyer info required by the state and a front page required by the state. everything in the center is what ever you want to do. some of my stuff has diagram of foundation and framing or wall systems or types of brick work. you can see one of my reports on my website. Santa Rosa Termite and Pest Control When i started out we gave the buyer a report on the job site no back pages and by hand. now computers and photos...

Best

Ron

I don't know the standard in your area Ron, but if you ripped something open in my house, you'd be paying to repair it.

I'm not dropping my prices. I start with $295 for up to 2500 sq ft. I go up in $50 increments for each additional 500 sq ft. That's the home inspection only. I'll hold here. When the market comes back, I'll contemplate an increase.

Now I borrowed the following phrase from someone else but it really makes sense.

"Cheap can be expensive"

Originally Posted by Darren Miller

if you ripped something open in my house, you'd be paying to repair it.

uh! uh! uh Oh ya!!!

Best

Ron

Fewer inspectors should equal higher prices. I am waiting on the latest number of inspectors in Illinois, all our licenses renewed on Nov. 30. I figure a lot of marginal guys would not renew. I am seeing some really low prices in our area. All I keep saying is raise your prices then the higher price will become the norm.

Steve Reilly
Owl Inspection Services

Price fixing ?

Best

Ron

The key here is to educate the homebuyer or your client, apologize for the uncontrollable price increases, give price-sensitive consumers some promotional options such as a discount on add on services like the termite inspection, pool, or the sprinkler system inspection, and reemphasize the importance of a through home inspection.

rick

Wow 295 for a full home inspection. Here there are around 350.00 for 1000- 2000 sq. ft. I have seen a 195.00 charged and a 3 page inspection report that went with it. I did a Pest and Rot inspection behind it and had six pages of issues. Average P&D report is three pages and takes about 50 minutes.