Thread: Going out on My Own

Hello every one. I'v been working for a franchise for a while now and I love the guys I work with. However, family is first in my life and the amount of work that the franchise owner wants is not working with having two kids ( 8 and 11 ). I need more availability for my children and my wife who just got a nice job that requires a lot of her time. How are you guys including radon testing with your inspections, i am certified to place and pick up but not to test. Are you using local labs. How about marketing, what works best for you. I am also a certified septic evaluator, are you offering septic inspection. How many do you do a year. What are some of your starting prices and fees for higher sq footage and add ons. I know that is a lot, any help or comment would be greatly appreciated. Good luck!

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Hey Jason, welcome to the forum.

Have a 10 year old of my own, so I get needing more time!

The experienced inspectors on here can take care of you with the radon/septic/prices, but I can give you some insight on the marketing from having done audits and working with inspector's marketing....

It'll shift a little depending on your market size and competition, but establishing relationships with Realtors and starting to build your online presence will be the major pillars to your success in terms of marketing.

With Realtors, some inspectors have success with doing presentations to local broker offices or going to open houses, and some have success with connecting online and direct outreach. Here's some templates to get started if you need ideas. Maybe try all the above and see what yields results?

As far as online, a simple Wordpress site and a Google My business account should be all you need to start building your online foundation. The rest (like branding, logo, social accounts, etc.) might be premature to start talking about! 1 step at a time

If you worked with a franchise, seems you would already have some idea about pricing in your area. Pricing varies across the country and often what seems high in one area is normal in another.

Try raising your prices by $25 across the entire range of pricing each year. Every time I raise my prices, I get more business. Most people can only perform 2 a day. 250 week days in a year with 2 weeks off for vacation. That is only 500 available slots. Many full time inspectors are performing 200-350 inspections a year. I don't walk out the door for less than $300. Most fees for me are $425 for typical home inspection.

Here is one method. Pick a fee for a home 1500 sq ft or under. $300. For each additional 500 ft, raise the price $25. Easy to remember and quote over the phone. Write out the fees on the back of a business card and keep in your wallet. When you get a call, ask the sq ft, refer to the card and quote price. Quick and easy. I add $50 for homes older than 50 yrs and $75 for home older than 100 yrs. $50 for crawlspace. Outbuildings $75 for basic shed. If has any plumbing or hvac, $125. You are selling your time. You can only perform two a day. If you are crawling around in crawlspaces, messing with second kitchens, outbuildings, the single inspection may run over the 4 hr time slot. Then you just gave away the minimum fee for the second time slot. Homes over 5000-6000 sq feet should be priced at a minimum of double your lowest fee since they will take more than a single time slot.

You MUST have a website. Number one best way to get work. Get a website before almost anything else. Best grand you will spend for your business. Pay someone do some SEO for you. Well worth it. Include a picture of your face. NO hats! Comb your hair and shave. Wear a clean, ironed, sold color shirt with a collar. Simple background. People love dogs. If you can have a dog in the photo even better. Doesn't have to be your dog, just a model for the pic. Retrievers are very appealing. When people view your website, they want to build a relationship with you and your business. Dogs make you seem friendly and approachable.

Radon classes are about $350 plus $250 for the test. If you are going to do radon, spend the $600. Look at the real cost of doing radon testing. The second trip to pickup or drop off is where you are loosing money. The time of driving back to the site and generating the report. Could that time be better spent performing another home inspection for a larger fee? If you are using canisters, get with the program and use automated equipment that gives instant results.

There are several people in my area that contract radon testing. They pay you a portion of the fee but they do the drop off, pickup, report writing, equipment maintenance, continuing education, etc. I can offer radon testing to the client, collect a small scheduling fee, but don't have all the hassle. More time with the family and more money because I am doing home inspections instead of lower fee add on services.

I live in an urban environment. Very few septic systems. If you are not pumping the tank, how are you performing a valid septic inspection. Dye only shows catastrophic failure. In cases like that you should see sewage bubbling up in the backyard anyway. Pumping a tank is about $300. Develop a relationship with a local pumping company and have them pump and inspect. Again contract out that service. Shifts responsibility to them and you know your client is getting a better service. Mark up the contractors fee $25 or so to cover your time. The buyer now feels like they are getting added value because you have saved them the hassle of finding a trusted contractor. They also know they are moving into a home with a clean tank and no worries for a few years. Get better at home inspections and leave the lower fee auxiliary stuff to subject matter experts.

A good thermal camera costs $4000. If you raise your fee $25 and do 160 inspections you just earned $4000. Internet clients are actively seeking inspectors who do thermal imaging. Perform a thermal scan on every single inspection. Yes, every last one. Clients willingly will pay a slightly higher fee for a thermal image scan. If you are doing 300 inspections a year, in 6 months you paid for the camera. The camera is a marketing tool. Agents will gladly recommend you over inspectors who don't have a camera. Take the camera and show it off during the agent monthly meetings. Betcha get at least one call from agents in the next week because of the camera. Get training and become certified as level 1 Thermographer.

Take code classes and get at least your ICC B1. Everything a home inspector looks at is related to code. If you don't know code, you are just guessing or repeating lore and myth. Technically home inspections are not a code enforcement inspection. You are not enforcing the code, you are learning how a home should be built and will be a much better inspector as a result. Inspectors who say you don't need to know code are just making excuses for themselves. Do it. Agents will respect you and trust your opinion because you are a true expert. They will refer you more often.