Thread: Interested in the Home Inspections Industry for the long haul here in the year 2017

At the present I have a contract with a middle school here in South Florida as an IT teacher. Previously I was in corporate IT for several years before the market went bust about 5 years ago. I do have some construction experience from working with a friend on a part time basis that is a building contractor here in Florida.
I have recently gained an interest in becoming a Home Inspector. After reading several comments that have been posted here in this site I am not sure if this would be a good fit simply for the fact, if the market has recovered enough to sustain a career in this type of interest. My question has the market recovered enough here in 2017 for someone to consider jumping into this type of the career for the long haul? What are some of the pitfalls still out there? The pros and cons of breaking into this market? If I did get into this industry should I attempt to work for an established firm at first or start into business for myself from the start? Any suggestions or comments are appreciated.

Thanks
TK

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Hi TK Samuel and welcome to InspectionNews!

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Hi TK Samuel,
You can probably do a search on past threads and get some of your questions answered.

Getting into this business is hard. Starting any new business is hard, but home inspections might be toward the top of the difficult scale.
A lot of people with a little bit of construction knowledge or experience, think they have a good start, and with just a little work, they can be successful. This just isn't the case. Knowing how to build a deck, or replace a toilet is a far cry from being able to determine if something is wrong (outside of the obvious).
While its very important to know how something should be built, or installed, its equally important to recognize when there is an issue, or know how things fall apart.
While home inspector schools can give someone a fair education (to pass the NHIE) on how to do home inspections, they are not really preparing them to do the inspections well. In their defense, they only have so much time to teach, and this is not something you can learn in 100 or so hours.
In my opinion, the economy has bounced back, and business is back to normal (at least for me). However, a lot depends on your specific area and market. Jumping into this profession is not for the faint of heart. You should plan on about 2 years to take to get you to making a living. Some might be faster, others may take longer.
Trying to get an established company to take on someone without any experience might be tough. After all, they have a reputation to uphold, and frankly, new inspectors are more likely to make mistakes. Plus, they may not want to invest time and money to train and educate someone, only to have them leave on their own. However, having an experienced inspector educate you in the field is invaluable. You might get lucky and find a company willing to take you on.
While working for another company may appear to be leaving money on the table (not getting the full inspection fee), you are probably not losing as much as it appears. You don't have the time and cost of marketing, advertising, computer and software, etc. You also have someone scheduling your work. You could probably make a decent living working for an established firm.
Going on your own, will require a lot of work. You will be doing marketing all of the time trying to get your name out their, and convince people to use you. You will have the expense of a web site and advertising materials. Its hard work, and honestly frustrating to get this business going.
Hope this helps answer some of your questions.
Good luck!

In addition to Jack's very helpful response, Florida (especially South Florida) is practically flooded with home inspectors. You'll need to be sharp and on top of your game to have a chance of succeeding.

Try arranging (or paying) for several ride along's to see if this industry is even a good fit for your personality, and for your skill set.

Dom.

Topic and question has been beat to death in this forum. Read all the past entries. They still apply. The market is better than 2008 went it all went to hell but all the other stuff is still the same. Marketing, running a business, finding customers, building relationships, finding out there is a bunch of stuff you don't know that you didn't know you didn't know.

If you decided to open a bakery, tire store, accounting firm or any other business tomorrow. What don't you know about opening and running a business. All that applies to become a home inspector. And you have to learn how to inspect homes and write reports.

I spent 25 years in IT. I have been a home inspector for 12 years. But I like houses and had been studying construction all my life as a hobby. The technical side has not been a problem for me. Marketing a business is my challenge.

US Inspect is a national firm that is hiring both new and experienced inspectors. They upgraded their compensation program 2017. Very competitive. They offer training and mentoring.

The real question is Why Home Inspecting? Why not window washer, dental hygienist, nuclear physicist, baker, or candle stick maker? You need a really really much better reason than just it seems like low cost to get into the industry.