Thread: 11 Month Inspections

As a licensed (Maryland) home inspector I am interested in offering 11 month warranty inspections on new homes.

Could any of you who are already doing these inspections tell me how your version differs or is the same as your pre-purchase inspection?

How are your contracts different or the same, and how do your fees compare (to your regular home inspections)?

Any input would be helpful.

Thanks,

Bob Kenney
Independent Home Inspection
Independent Home Inspection

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Originally Posted by Bob Kenney

As a licensed (Maryland) home inspector I am interested in offering 11 month warranty inspections on new homes.

Could any of you who are already doing these inspections tell me how your version differs or is the same as your pre-purchase inspection?

How are your contracts different or the same, and how do your fees compare (to your regular home inspections)?

Any input would be helpful.

Thanks,

Bob Kenney
Independent Home Inspection
Independent Home Inspection

Little to no difference for me. I use the same inspection agreement and I charge the same fee.

I do find myself looking at more cosmetic type items and I note/address most issues, concerns or problems my client (the homeowner) might have. I ask my client to make a copy of their concerns or issues for me. This does a couple of things for me; it makes sure I'm addressing their concerns and it also helps me to find that little crack or spot that they have been looking at while sitting in their Lazy Boy recliner watching Wild Kingdom reruns for the past 11 or so months!

I'm only in the home for a few hours, I let my clients know this. They are the ones that have been in the home for almost a year so I make it known that I need for them to tell me of their concerns and problems. So far all of my warranty clients have been more than willing to list their problems... It really helps to speed the process up when the do this..

What Scott said.....
When we book this type of inspection, we ask them to give us a list of their concerns/problems. I usually spend the first 10 - 30 minutes going over their list and concerns before I start inspecting.

The price is the same.

I had one today. The roof, exterior, basement and attic are the same routine. I pay much less attention to opening windows, checking doors, cabinets, appliances and plumbing fixtures as these are things the homeowner will already have a handle on. I do check for water stains around windows, dishwasher drain line etc - things in which the owner would not normally recognize or notice a problem. I charge a little less for this because there's a little less work and liability.

No difference in pricing, procedure or agreement for me. Why should there be? As soon as you start rationalizing things, you begin to do dis-service to your client.

Eric, you say you pay less attention to windows in new houses. I would recommend you pay the same attention. Occasionally I find one that's way too tight in the frame and difficult to operate. I've had feedback from clients who said the builders replaced and or fixed those issues very quickly. Also, very frequently doors do not even line up with latches and weather stripping around exterior doors is lousy. I find electrical wiring issues in bedrooms where the switched lighting does not function at the receptacle and so on. Dryer ducts disconnected in attics and I could go on and on.

One reason I don't reduce fees on warranty inspections is that sometimes builders challenge my findings which I happily engage taking me more time prove to them what they should already know.

An inspection is an inspection. Find out what's wrong and tell your client. It's simple and no "circumstances" should change that approach.

If it is a house I inspected for the client when it was purchased, I charge $50 less. They are return customers and I do know a lot about the house already. I follow all the same procedures as when I inspected the house the first time including looking for structural items that could only be wrong from construction. The big hope is that I don't find something I missed the first time, haven't yet but if I do it'll just be time to bite the bullet. (Hope I haven't just jinxed myself ).

My costs were significantly cheaper due to the fact that these take a little less time to complete (@ 175.00). I dropped my price because I found them a hard sell. You almost need to follow new construction developments and advertise at the right time. I use the National Association of Homebuilders Homeowners reference booklet and bought packs of "Residential Construction Performance Guidelines" booklets. The book defines the acceptable level of quality, and the corrections or remedies that should be sought. For example, the acceptable/allowable measurement of a bow - or the displacement size of a crack in a foundation or slab. I found it not only helpful, but I included a copy with my inspection report. I think it would be better to emphasize and promote your New construction inspections, and at the same time sell the fact that you will come back and make them a punch list for warranty items. Give them a fridge magnet or something to remember, and make a note in your calendar to call them 30 days prior. I gave up on them myself.

My fee is the same as a final new construction inspection, unless I did that inspection on the home. Then I give a 10% discount to my client. If it is the first time I have seen the home it will be rife with IRC deficiencies - this is Texas where we have a building code, but the builders don't recognize that fact. If I did the final inspection I expect that at least 40% of the issues noted in the first report will not have been addressed by the builder. Additionally, like others have said, I inquire of the owner regarding things that make strange sounds or do not work properly. They have been on the shake-down cruise for 11 months and will provide a wealth of information.

Bob,
Maryland like many other states have a SOP that must be followed by law. Though it is usually just a minimum of what should be done. Sadly some use the SOP as the only level to perform to. Still by state law and contract you have to treat it as a complete inspection.

Discount for the repeat business, depending on your memory discount for having some familiarity with the property, knowing where things are (gas,water,waste) rather than looking for them.

Short of that you should perform like it was a first time for the items inspected.

Definitely fill up the shower and check for leaks in the pan. A whole different thread.

As a licensed (Maryland) home inspector I am interested in offering 11 month warranty inspections on new homes.

Bob, it looks like you are an InterNACHI member. Email me fastreply@nachi.org and ask for a bunch of these. 11-month warranty marketing piece.

Staff will send them to you for free.

My only 11 month experience is as a trainee / ride-alongs. Complete inspections so no reason for a differing fee I can see. The trainer has never had one without some issues. It's a good investment for a homeowner.

Originally Posted by Garry Blankenship

never had one without some issues.

Me too.

Couple years ago was about 25%-35% of my overall business. Same fee, same contract, same inspection.

Sent direct mail to home buyers around 10.5 months. Booked about 3-5 inspections for every 100 letters sent. Numbers droped to about 1 per 100 letters. Stopped sending direct mail.

Homeowners call me for warranty inspections. Find me thru internet and associations locator pages.

Originally Posted by Bruce Ramsey

Couple years ago was about 25%-35% of my overall business. Same fee, same contract, same inspection.

Sent direct mail to home buyers around 10.5 months. Booked about 3-5 inspections for every 100 letters sent. Numbers droped to about 1 per 100 letters. Stopped sending direct mail.

Homeowners call me for warranty inspections. Find me thru internet and associations locator pages.

About the same for me, Apx 60-70 % were new homes. Last couple years my numbers from direct mailers dropped from 4-5% to 1- 2%. I quit sending out mailers and still get 8-10 new homes a month from the web, repeat buyers and referrals.

The key to getting referrals is getting in a new sub-division, and do the best you can for your 1st customer there, and stand behind every item you identify in your report.
Doing this I've done as many as 300 homes in 500-600 home sub-divisions strictly from referrals


To reduce/stop arguments from the builder, one key thing I learned early on, identify why the item needs corrected and provide a reference from builder or your states workmanship standards.

and NEVER give the builder an out by recommending Additional Evaluation By the builder or trade that did the work

If your looking for a magic flyer, keep on a looking there aint one out there.
Create your own, let the other guys waste their $s on postage and store bought flyers
The customer thats going to call you already got 10 other flyers and knows why they need an inspection from the other guys store bought flyer, and the value of a home inspection.

Include in your flyer photos of auctal defect YOU found in your area , [not house photos of what you inspect, or other inspectors defect photos from the internet, ] and show the customer how you report the defects.

Tell the new home buyer what your going to do for them, opposed of telling them why they need the new home inspection, or using 1/2 of the flyer telling them how great you are because you belong to a HI association, and took some on-line courses and quizzes on how to inspect the components in their home.

Hope this info helps. This info is from some one thats done over 3000 new homes over the past 10 plus years.
Disclsure .. FWIW. I dont monitor and spam chat boards to sell you something , or require you to pay me to belong to a club to get free information to put on flyers to sell to you .

Not to rain on your parade but the pool of 11-month old houses sure isn't what it once was. In fact, there are probably the fewest # there have been for a couple decades.

New construction starts is a stat that should be easy to find... I'm sure there's a graph somewhere pointing toward the ground.

It should start to pick up, though so it's not a terrible idea moving forward. Just don't expect your phone to ring off the hook.

We made a run at these 5 years ago or so and the return on effort/investment was horrible. One of the few people that called be said they liked my flier better than the other "dozen or so" they received!!!!

You might do a little research to see if HIs in your area are already marketing the idea to death.

Veering from OP into marketing.
If you had done the inspection making a follow up call to inquire how you clients are doing in their new home at 6 months, no selling at that time. Then another followup at 10.5 to check in on them and at that time mention a follow up inspection (sell the idea) to go on record before the 1yr is up with documented 3rd party report for leverage.