Thread: "The Hungry Home Inspector"

Detailed Review

To start off let me immediately state that I have no vested interest in Nathans services nor have I ever tried them.
I have met Nathan and he is a younger guy than most Home Inspectors but very bright and driven however other than that there's nothing more to tell.
Since this book is such a big subject let me begin.

"The Hungry Home Inspector"
Merit ?...read on

First question you may have is should you read it so to keep it simple
YES ...if you are aggressive and open to new ideas

Does it have any earth shaking news
NO

Will it help you?
Depends...and I will explain further because if you are using this gig as a retirement supplement,plan on staying single inspector,wish to stay pure basic General Home Inspection minded and do not care anything for business or not staying in the industry much longer skip it and do not waste your time.

The first thing you should know is make no mistake the book is a giant marketing piece and argument for aux services which may turn some Inspectors off but at 201 pages has enough information that forces you to think about your business plan or if you even have one.

Content
First the good

The book tells us quite accurately that most Inspectors do not have a real business plan and do not have a business owners mindset...bravo and very true.

(side bar)Lets face the facts here that many of us come from middle class contractor backgrounds and the values of business and business marketing are simply not instilled into our DNA.
Furthermore go to most association meetings and you feel like you are in a nursing home so does this not mean more opportunity for someone with a little life energy to become successful with new ideas?

Back to the book ..
The main message apart from multi-inspector firms rule (hmmm $$$$ they do) is that to separate yourself from the local comp you need something called (USP) a unique selling proposition meaning simply telling the potential client you do a good detailed inspection and produce a grand report is not enough because that is what we all say....OK good point.
(nobody claims to do a bad job)

Yes his message is that the services he offers do exactly that but read between the lines and he is correct that the more you offer a customer the more your chances to sell them on you.
This is not the place to review Nathans services however they seem legit and helpful to those using them.

Wait a minute as he also explains that the actual customer is a Agent...WHAT! yep and he is right as he goes on to explain the your customer provides the clients in a persuasive argument worth reading.

The book has me rising from my stupor and small mindset of being happy with less and may begin to start putting into practice everything on the back burner as life is short.

My perspective was to read this as a motivational manual.

Now the bad
The book is not really 201 pages as everything after page 131 is about other vendors and their services which you may or may not be interested in but does make you think about possible future offerings.

The first Chapter (17 pages) has a autobiography with a story about a light bulb socket of which I am still not sure what the point was.

Nathan says he understands Inspectors wishing to be a one person shop but spend lots of time talking up the advantages of multi-inspector firms and downplaying those who have no desire to become big business. For me this was the negative area and weakness of the book as many Inspectors are making over $100,000 all on their own and happy with what they are doing (granted a small percentage)

I have an on going poll which indicates at early results that 24 have no plans to ever become multi inspector-2 want to be -and 4 already are.

This may limit interest if the message in the book is multi-inspector firms are better and the message is sprinkled throughout.
Right in the middle of the book Nathan states that a "one man operation will never be a professional in the clients mind" (Page 66).

Reading the first chapter turned out to be a good thing as he explains that his parents looked at H.I from a pure business standpoint and of course he grew up thinking everything he heard about Sole Proprietors was correct as he was raised in a home that was a big multi-inspector company so the mindset may have been to see a guy making less as not as good or as organized thus inferior.

The book promises a chapter on Sole Proprietors that I never seemed to find.

Conclusion
The book is written for those who wish to succeed in a big way and these are the inspectors who will be glad they read it.
You may wish there was more detail such as how he actually got going with his own business (details)

The rest of you do not bother to spend the energy it takes to pick up the book.

(Nathan sees our industry from his perspective and it is up to you to cherry pick any ideas you can which makes it worth reading.)

(reprint from NACHI forum)

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that thread is so long--who will read it--some will--i,m doing reports

cmon guys

Originally Posted by CHARLIE VAN FLEET

that thread is so long--who will read it--some will--i,m doing reports

cmon guys

Is that a review of my review...lol.
It is for those that are actually interested is all I can say.

Strange you have time to say you are off work and playing golf for a few days however...
http://www.inspectionnews.net/home_i...olf-great.html

Thanks for posting that, Bob.

No problem as I promised a full honest review would be written highlighting excerpts thought interesting and this is the result.

Your having taken the time and effort in providing that most detailed summary and thoughtful review is most appreciated.

Sincerely,

H.G.

Oh MY
Bears win and a compliment from H.G Watson but my alarm is not ringing on the night stand yet so what gives.

Let me begin by disclosing Bob that I am not directing my comments to you per se, but rather Nathans ideas on how to run a business as reviewed by you.

Right in the middle of the book Nathan states that a "one man operation will never be a professional in the clients mind" (Page 66).

I'm not buying that! I am a single inspector and I know that I am seen as professional in the eyes of my clients, I have the proof to back it up because my client questionnaires and referrals attest to it for over 20 years.

What basis is that comment based on? Are we to believe that simply because its written in a book? Where is the empirical evidence?

That is a business decision and I wish so called experts stop pontificating such dribble because they think they know what they are talking about.

I have been trying to keep an open mind but when I read this stuff and his pronouncements I have to wonder what exactly his marketing background is? A child prodigy perhaps if nothing else?

This now makes me question as others have about Nathans actual background. Perhaps a good writer and idealist but lacking in real world experience.

Wait a minute as he also explains that the actual customer is a Agent...WHAT! yep and he is right as he goes on to explain the your customer provides the clients in a persuasive argument worth reading.

You lost me there, can't understand what is being conveyed.

Nathan says he understands Inspectors wishing to be a one person shop but spend lots of time talking up the advantages of multi-inspector firms and downplaying those who have no desire to become big business. For me this was the negative area and weakness of the book as many Inspectors are making over $100,000 all on their own and happy with what they are doing (granted a small percentage)

I have to agree with you Bob, again the author seems to have a narrow mindset and thinks big is better.

One can have a Big Mac hamburger (big chain burger) or you can go to a small niche burger joint and get a really good hamburger thats custom made.
Larger usually equates to inadequate service because large operations are not service oriented. At least in my experience.

I like to think I have an understanding of marketing concepts having been involved in the film production for 15 years from an advertising pov (Compton Advertising - New York and other advertising companies).

Thats my consideration based on your review. And I was going to entertain the book, but now I am completely turned off by unsubstantiated opinions.

Perhaps Nathan needs to conduct a number of focus groups to ensure that the information he is trying to convey is borne out by real world attitudes and ideas.

Closed minded? Perhaps. Open minded to facts - not fictional concepts

The review was not negative or a gloss over and he does make very valid points while ignoring the one man shop model in my opinion though in parts of the book he admits not everyone wishes to be a big inc.

As stated there are good ideas to be cherry picked and reading it does tend to motivate you in either case.

New ideas are never bad and intelligent men never bury their heads in the sand.

My review may be the toughest of anyone that actually read the book so far.

Originally Posted by Bob Elliott

The review was not negative or a gloss over and he does make very valid points while ignoring the one man shop model in my opinion though in parts of the book he admits not everyone wishes to be a big inc.

As stated there are good ideas to be cherry picked and reading it does tend to motivate you in either case.

New ideas are never bad and intelligent men never bury their heads in the sand.

My review may be the toughest of anyone that actually read the book so far.

I wouldn't worry about it Bob, Raymond was looking for reasons not to expand his horizons. Fictional? How about proven, time and time again, by the most successful inspectors in the North America.

Nothing makes me happier than that Bob, who isn't a client of mine currently and never has been, has made a very significant yet minor adjustment in his business model after reading the book- one that will give him substantially better revenue over the next decade.

I think Bob will discover after revisiting the book there might be a little less cherry picking as the ROI on his adjustments come in.

..forget it, it's not worth the headache.

Thanks Nathan. Continued success.

Cheers,