Greetings,

I am considering a change of career to HI. I 've left an introductory post over in Introductions.

Greetings

I would like to gain some experience and credentials on HI. I took the sample test that I found online and scored an 84. Some of the things I fell short on were things that are not commonly seen up here in new England. Heat pumps,tile roofing, etc.

I am thinking on taking one or more exams to boost my confidence and credibility. It appears that before I choose an exam, I should choose a school or class or other educational means (online, mail etc). But before I choose an educational means, I should choose an organization, which leads me to my first question.

ASHI, NACHI, NAHI, etc. ????? I read one post that asked the latter and it turned very personal and antagonistic. Not what I am looking for. I just want to see if I am on the right track with my thought process, and hear some suggestions or comments about membership in the various orgs (or perhaps no membership), and the best way to go about testing/learning etc.

Thanks

Paul...

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Without a doubt, you have to spend at least 200 hours and preferrably ongoing time to exceed 800 hours reading AND participating in the NACHI message board.

Skip over the BS posts and read about inspections, technical, legal, report writing etc. The members only section has a lot of technical threads also.

No school can give you the knowledge and insight gained from reading and participating in online discussions about inspection issues.

But, you must have a good memory and truly understand the subjects discussed. If you do not have a thousand questions, you may not be suited for this field.

If the RE market is not going very well in your area, I would not get into this profession. More inspectors are getting out now because the gravy train that they have been riding for the past few years has ended.

You need to attend a real HI school and invest in your future if you get into the profession. As for a national organization, you need to find a local chapter and get involved and make friends with the local inspectors. Then select the organization that fits you.

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

Paul,

When I started many years ago I thought that I was fairly well prepared. I then went to an home inspector training school in the D.C. area and was buried with so much info that I was overwhelmed. I realized how unprepared I was for this line of work.

But it would be difficult to express how much there is to learn. You watch House Inspector on TV and you'd think "that's easy." But it's not. Put in the time, investment and hope for some luck and you can make it. As Scott mentioned, many many inspectors have dropped out or simply failed in this business. You also should be considering the risks that go with the job. People will make claims against you and some will be legitimate. How will you deal with them?

As for the various inspector organizations, they're not equal. Find local chapters and attend a couple of their meetings. Check the websites. You'll find one where you will feel most comfortable.

__________________
Eric Barker
Moraine Woods Consulting, Inc.
Barrington, IL

run far, long, and well...in the opposite direction.....

Odd thing to post on InspectionNews, doncha think? You're just slumming here?

LOL! He has obviously found Inspection News John, I was making sure he knew of the other one.

Any good inspector will frequent both message boards.
Both have good and not so good threads but both are very educational for newer inspectors and experienced both.

Starting out. Advice, Recommendations?

Yeah, don't complain when the wife asks for permission to have a boyfriend or your kids start calling the neighbor Daddy.

Hey, they are entitled to a life too.

Your going to need all that time freed up to promote your business and be up at night typing up those reports. There is a price to pay for being your own boss.

Rick

Thanks to all who replied, I appreciate the time you took to respond.

My comments:

Scott, Yes, the real estate market in my area is soft. It is certainly a sellers market. There are many more homes for sale that there are buyers. I had two thoughts about this. 1. In a sellers market, perhaps there is need for a “sellers inspection” Kind of like a pre-emptive inspection should a buyers inspection be “over zealous”, a seller could trot their OWN inspection report out and refute something that the buyer’s inspector my have been a little more stringent on than he should have been. Is there a market for this type of service? I don’t know. Thoughts? My other thought is that while the market is still “tanking”, it can’t go down for ever. It has to turn around at some point. Historically it has been rather cyclic. By the time the market rides high again, I would have had my training, passed an exam or two and several inspections (ride alongs) under my belt. Wishful thinking???.

What do you mean by “a real HI school” As opposed to what?


Jeff, I am a little put off by your reply. Can you elaborate a little on it? It sounds like you are either very disgruntled by the business, and are attempting to help me not make the same mistake(s) as you, or perhaps you may be concerned about another “wanna be” getting into the business and possibly giving the “rest of us” a bad name? Not sure what the reply meant.

Rick, I like the idea of the wife’s boyfriend ... Kids are out in college. Long, hard hours never scared me away from any job. If you are happy with what you do for a living, hard work and long hours are well worth it. I am very unhappy now, and I still have the long hard hours. How many HI's like what they do? Would you get out of the business if you could?


Thanks again folks.

Paul…

To me a real home inspector school is one that has a building and is not done as a study at home type school. You get so much more when you attend a school for 10 days or so. I would say that you should be looking at the 90 to 125 hours schools.

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

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