Thread: thinking about HI in arkansas

hello all. im interested in wandering into the HI field and was wondering if it would be a wise idea. i recently had back surgery for a herniated disc, got fired from my job, and waiting until the doctor will release me to go back to work. i do have the opportunity to attend a two week course in central arkansas for home inspection and the state will pay for it and the test. ive done my research and in the past 4 months there have been around 1900 houses sold in a four county region with only 48 home inspectors also in the same four county area, northwest arkansas. i do have experience with home construction and remodels, not sure if thats a big plus, and some really nice connections with banks and big real estate agencies. do any of you think the area is to saturated, or could northwest arkansas use another inspector? thank you

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Originally Posted by jared walters

hello all. im interested in wandering into the HI field and was wondering if it would be a wise idea. i recently had back surgery for a herniated disc, got fired from my job, and waiting until the doctor will release me to go back to work. i do have the opportunity to attend a two week course in central arkansas for home inspection and the state will pay for it and the test. ive done my research and in the past 4 months there have been around 1900 houses sold in a four county region with only 48 home inspectors also in the same four county area, northwest arkansas. i do have experience with home construction and remodels, not sure if thats a big plus, and some really nice connections with banks and big real estate agencies. do any of you think the area is to saturated, or could northwest arkansas use another inspector? thank you

According to my math, it doesnt look real promising.
1900 homes sold in 4 months =n less than 500 sold per month
apx 60% percent get an inspection -= apx 300 inspections per month
48 inspectors divided by 300 = apx 6 inspections per month
6 inspections X apx $300 per = $1800 per month
business expenses and marketing apx 40% = apx $250 per week before taxes

Connections with banks and realtors, after your in business 70% will say Jared who

Apx cost to get started $15-20,000
Apx time it takes to see any income apx 6-12 months [if you turn out to be one of the lucky 10% that make it longer than two years year in this profession.
You might be better off buying a hot dog cart and hang out at the local street corner.

Dan did some fancy math, but he is spot-on. Sounds like too many inspectors in a small market.

In my market (greater Nashville,TN) we have around 2,000 home sales a month with around 25-30 home inspectors. Life is good as well as the business!

Back surgery?? This is not exactly the profession for someone with a bad back.
Like others have said, your market sounds pretty bad. Don;'t waste your time and money.

hey, thank you guys for the input. even though it was discouraging, at least it will same me the trouble of getting licensed.

Back in the spring, I spoke with some of the guys in your area, and even some of the established inspectors are having a hard time since the housing bust. Things might be better now, they have picked up here in the central part of the state.