I'm considering a career change as a home inspector. I have extensive knowledge of carpentry ( run a large construction crew ) but realize it takes a lot more then that.I am not worried about rushing into this.I't may even be something that I will pursue when I retire. I thought it would be informative to see what type of training everyone here has had.

If you live in a state with licensing you will have to follow their rules for licensure. I tagged along with a Licensed Home Inspector for 125 houses.
After 50 or so I started doing the Reports and he would review and make changes as he saw fit. I then took Home Inspection courses. Passed a National exam and got Licensed by the State.
The key is education.Educate yourself by reading books on electrical, plumbing, framing, heating/AC etc. Code books. IRC, local codes etc.
Take courses on your weak areas. I still study on days I am not working.
It takes a lot of work and you never stop learning. Very satisfying work to me.
Most people appreciate your effort.
Good luck. Lots of information on this site under search on books etc.

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Dave

Nicholas,

First of all, welcome to inspection news. It's great that you found this site before you started taking classes or making your career change. You will learn so much from this site about everything. Your questions will be answered professionally and respectfully. (I don't like politics, so I stay away from the discussions about what Association is best.) I'm here to learn about Home Inspections.

Like yourself, I am slowly making the change from contractor to HI. I have spent the last three years investigating my options of training and setting up my business. I took a course through the "Professional Home Inspection Institute" and was very pleased with the content, ease of completion on line, and I was very surprised to learn how much I "didn't know" about the Home construction field that I have been in for most of my life.

PHII (Home Inspection Training Schools Courses and Classes) is located in South Dakota and is approved in 48 States and Canada. This is a great school if you want to take your time and learn on your own schedule. It's not easy, but who wants that.

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"Learn from the mistakes of others, because you won't have enough time to make them all yourself."
Tim Bruns - Hillside, IL

Nicholas,
Welcome to the forum. I too came from a construction background with a detour being a codes inspector for about 12 years.

When I decided to jump into inspecting homes for a living, I got a copy of a professional report a friend of mine had. I dawned on me that, while I did know a lot of stuff, there were many parts of home inspection I really didn't have much knowledge in. In my case it was HVAC, and I was not all that strong in electrical either.

What I did was hang around with the County inspectors I worked with that handled those fields. While we subbed out all of our HVAC in our consruction business, we had an in house electrician. I started spending a lot of time with him and learned a lot.

I also took classes at ITA (now Kaplan) in those two areas. That helped a lot.

There are many good quality schools around the country. I imagine you could probably get good reviews from just about every one of them. The one thing I would suggest, is to go to a nationally recognized school, and not someone that comes into your town for a 1,2, or 4 day seminar on becoming a home inspector. There are many of these that travel around, but I don't think much of them.

Spend the money, and travel (if necessary) to go to an established school that has high reviews from past students. Ask each school for a reference list of past students, and contact them. After all, they are not cheap, and you don't want to waste your money.

Then when you think you got it down, find something else to study - and never stop. I'm approaching the end of my second decade doing this, and I still "study" and learn.

Good luck to you.
JF

This is not a sugar coated post.

The Home Inspection profession is not an easy profession to succeed in. Roughly 90% or those who start up as a home inspector will not be around in two years. After you have been a home inspector for around 3-5 years, you should be able to sustain your business.

As our profession grows in both numbers and in age it is becoming more difficult for part-time inspectors to compete and survive. This is in part to the complexity of the knowledge base and the expense of running a professional operation.

If you are still OK, with becoming a home inspector read on:

You will need formal education through one of the major training schools. Even more so if you are a builder or have worked in the trades. A major part of being a home inspector is training yourself in defect recognition, this is what a good school will help with.

You need to take the National Home Inspector Exam (NHIE). Do this only after you have attended a school and have gone a few "Shadow" inspections with an experienced and well qualified inspector.

Get a good reporting program for your reports.

Get the appropriate insurance coverage. E&O and GL and what many have.

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Scott Patterson
Spring Hill, TN
http://www.traceinspections.com

My advice would follow Jack and Scott’s among others and as they said the success rate is a very small. percentage Sort of like RE agents in that if you can survive for at least 2 years on little or no steady income until you build a decent clientele you just may have a chance?.

On top of that this is not the best of times to enter our profession as many are leaving it mostly due to the “Ninja Lending” practices that have gone on for the past several years. Most of the builders are sucking wind and many related businesses that live off of the construction industries are suffering mightily.

Bottom line; it’s been my experience after spending over 50 years in construction as a builder, inspector and consultant that to be successful in any area takes both good timing and dedicated preparation. Real estate inspecting takes an inordinate amount of specific knowledge on all of the major systems and components in a building and the quest for additional knowledge is basically endless. Even the very best in this profession admit that know only half of what they would like to know.

The strange, but excellent part about our profession is the attitude of so many of its seasoned practitioners to help increase the knowledge of the less experienced is outstanding. This is a market rarity and one that I as many other have enjoyed. The down side is the legal liability that goes with the job and the pathetic fee schedule that far too many real estate inspectors maintain. Of all the services that are attached to buying and selling real estate the inspection segment may well be the most vital, but is the least financial rewarding when compared to both the knowledge it takes and the personal exposure it presents particularly when compared the agents who peddle it. OK, I’m off my box for now.

PS: please note; I refer to our profession as REAL ESTATE INSPECTORS, not home inspectors. Let’s get rid of that out-of-date, silly and limiting title.

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Jerry McCarthy
Construction Consultant
www.expertbuildingconsultants.com

I refer to our profession as PRIVATE BUILDING INSPECTORS, lets get rid of both 'home inspectors' and 'real estate inspectors' ...

Most do more than "homes" and few actually inspect "real estate" ... as in 'dirt'. We do, however, inspect the real improvements on the real property.

We (the profession) "inspect" "buildings", and we do it on a "private" basis for our clients.

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Jerry Peck, Construction / Litigation Consultant
Construction Litigation Consultants, LLC ( www.ConstructionLitigationConsultants.com )

Why do we call them "buildings" if we are done building them? Shouldn't they be called "builts" or "crumblings?" Thanks to Gallagher to innovative observational humor.

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