Home inspecting part time?

Poriggity

Poriggity

Ketchup Dog
Joined
May 19, 2020
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45
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709
Loc
Bates City, Mo
I have been looking into something to do, very part time, to allow me for more money for hobbies. I have been looking into becoming a certified home inspector in my area. From what I can tell, the state of Missouri and Kansas do not require a license for home inspectors. I was looking at joining InterNachi, and getting certified through them, which runs $500 per year. I would then have associated costs of getting a business license in MO, which is minimal, , and I would also want EO and general liability insurance, which I would need to factor in. The plan would be for me to do this on a part time basis, and if it grew, eventually I'd want it to replace my current full time job, but im not sure how feasible that is. Anyone have any insight? Is this a good, bad, or horrible idea? :flipoff2::lmao:
 
I think it is a real good idea that should work out well depending on your local real estate market.

Your success will be much easier if you get in with the real estate agents in your area.

I have looked into the same idea myself, I think the work is good and not hard.
 
crispins said:
I think it is a real good idea that should work out well depending on your local real estate market.

Your success will be much easier if you get in with the real estate agents in your area.

I have looked into the same idea myself, I think the work is good and not hard.
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That was my thought as well. I have a few real estate contacts, and if I have an internachi membership, your business gets listed with them and that is what local real estate agents use to find home inspectors, from what I see. I could be completely wrong, but from all the research I have been doing, it seems like a good business to get into. My only qualm would be if it is something that can be sustained as a full time career at some point.
 
Thatg9659 said:
After watching One home inspector inspect a home it looks like an easy way to collect 500 bucks for an hour's worth of your time with no accountability whatsoever. Smooze up to some real estate agents through friends and family or whatever for the hookup.
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I've heard that more than once. That is the one thing that I am questioning. I'm not sure I want to be affiliated with a business of questionable integrity and ethics.
 
Poriggity said:
I've heard that more than once. That is the one thing that I am questioning. I'm not sure I want to be affiliated with a business of questionable integrity and ethics.
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Problem is you're passing crap because the realtor and seller need it to pass, if you want to be an ethical home inspector I would work for the buyer.
 
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arse_sidewards said:
Then why are you even considering becoming a home inspector?
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That's why I'm asking the questions. That being said, here, the home inspection is bought and paid for by the buyers, and I'd like to think I would be looking out for the buyer, but im sure I would be pressured by both sides to pass things, as thier commission kind of depends on it.
 
Thatg9659 said:
Problem is you're passing crap because the realtor and seller need it to pass, if you want to be an ethical home inspector I would work for the buyer.
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Around here the buyers are the ones that order and pay for the hone inspections, however, a lot of times the buyer real estate agent knows a home inspector and sets it all up.
 
Best inspector I ever had took about 6 hours with a partner and cost about $1200.

and found everything. Even down to the type of screw used to hold a fold down attic ladder being incorrect.

I didn’t buy that house.

others haven’t been worth the money. So be a good one and you’ll never run out of opportunity, imho.
 
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The big stuff our local inspectors miss and the little stuff they make a huge stink about always baffles me. As an HVAC tech I wish I had xray vision like they do. They have noted cracked heat exchangers on equipment that I sure as hell couldn't find. If I call it wrong we have to pay but they have no accountability apparently.

In my opinion some parts of the inspection should be handled by a reputable contractor that's completely nuetral. I'd rather have an expert in the field critiquing some things than the average home inspector. So basically know your **** and know when you don't know **** and you should be fine.
 
Poriggity said:
Around here the buyers are the ones that order and pay for the hone inspections, however, a lot of times the buyer real estate agent knows a home inspector and sets it all up.
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That was my experience, the three inspection companies the buyer called were booked but the realtor "knew a guy." I followed him around and questioned everything he ignored, but in the end I wanted the sale to go smoothly and quickly, didn't see anything deal breaking so **** it. A month later I was ripping all the shingles off the roof. Seller chipped in a 1000$ towards it so not so bad except her son giving the new homeowners daughter **** about it in school. :shaking:
 
Fwiw
As a B general
no lic?
Phawk, what makes the recipient of said $500 chunk of paper a person of knowledge in building construction, (see my point?)
Real estate agents will sell you up tho!
 
Thatg9659 said:
Problem is you're passing crap because the realtor and seller need it to pass, if you want to be an ethical home inspector I would work for the buyer.
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This all day long!
 
Poriggity said:
That's why I'm asking the questions. That being said, here, the home inspection is bought and paid for by the buyers, and I'd like to think I would be looking out for the buyer, but im sure I would be pressured by both sides to pass things, as thier commission kind of depends on it.
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Yer not gunna work much!
 
bowe said:
the big stuff our local inspectors miss and the little stuff they make a huge stink about always baffles me. As an hvac tech i wish i had xray vision like they do. They have noted cracked heat exchangers on equipment that i sure as hell couldn't find. If i call it wrong we have to pay but they have no accountability apparently.

In my opinion some parts of the inspection should be handled by a reputable contractor that's completely nuetral. I'd rather have an expert in the field critiquing some things than the average home inspector. So basically know your **** and know when you don't know **** and you should be fine.
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a
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Kissing realtors asses to get into their referral networks could be a full time job. 🤣

What’s your pitch/ value proposition to a realtor firm going to be?

I started to ask what credentials you possessed to make inspection appealing to you, but honestly it doesn’t matter because all in getting a realtor to pitch you to their clients, because 90% of the time buyers will go along with the realtors guy.

as you’ve observed, the barriers to entry are low, so it’s an industry filled with ****bags, and really, nobody can catch 100% of problems 100% of the time, so eventually someone’s gonna be dissatisfied with you at some point.
 
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I have bought 2 house and have a 100% success rate with the inspector not catching glareing issues (check out my durapex thread). The guy we used here in NC was known as "the deal killer" by my agent, and he missed water pipe that has been a known issue in this area since 2010:mad3:. Meanwhile he was flipping a **** fit over the R22 hvac system that had 410 in it and no label. Nice guy tho!

Saying that I say go for, it sounds like an easy way to make $$$ with low overhead, just be a soulless business minded person and stack that $$$!

Has a home inspector ever been held liable for anything?
 
WTF? said:
What’s your pitch/ value proposition to a realtor firm going to be?
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Traditionally the answer to this question is "I have bull**** licenses X, Y and Z and I have no moral compass so I will say whatever I think seals the deal."
 
arse_sidewards said:
Traditionally the answer to this question is "I have bull**** licenses X, Y and Z and I have no moral compass so I will say whatever I think seals the deal."
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Yeah but they already have the last guy who showed up and told them that, and has been sealing deals fir them for years by overlooking major flaws in homes for years while pointing out to their buyers the horrors of ovens missing anti- tip brackets , and outlets installed Upside down.
 
Slander said:
... The guy we used here in NC was known as "the deal killer" by my agent, ...
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how much do you trust/ believe in your agent? The cynic in me says they found an idiot who never finds big problems and then use that ‘deal killer’ line to sell you on the inspector selection.

much like the car sales guy telling you he’s losing money/ cutting his commission on a sale because of the deal you negotiated..
 
Tough to make it as a good inspector. Realtors aren't gonna like you. Good inspectors kill deals.
 
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WTF? said:
how much do you trust/ believe in your agent? The cynic in me says they found an idiot who never finds big problems and then use that ‘deal killer’ line to sell you on the inspector selection.

much like the car sales guy telling you he’s losing money/ cutting his commission on a sale because of the deal you negotiated..
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I had no reason not to trust her I guess. I go into home inspections knowing it's just another tax on the home buying process and it's going through the motions. She's was spitting out those lines while I was just nodding my head if you know what I mean. I guess my point was the entire process is a joke and the OP should just put some of his morals aside and cash in on it if he can.

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if you do it, watch reruns of Holmes Inspection and Holmes on Homes on DIY. Learn to do it right
 
The reports I see are pretty extensive for the price, I don’t see how you could make a lot of dough when you only have time for like 2 per day and at $500? per pop I’d pass.
 
Friend of the family was a GC for years and ****ed his knees and back. Has been trying to make it full time as a home inspector but has been struggling for the last few years. He's got a few side gigs to fill in, but he's busting his hump. His wife is a realtor too, so don't count on connections
 
The hard part might be working around your day job. Since RE deals have contingency deadlines, they are not going to wait around a few days until the the weekend gets here for you to inspect.
 
Hooligan said:
The hard part might be working around your day job. Since RE deals have contingency deadlines, they are not going to wait around a few days until the the weekend gets here for you to inspect.
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Well my current schedule is graveyard shift Friday through Monday at my full time job, so I would be able to do a home inspection on pretty much any given day except Saturday and sunday.. if I worked a conventional Monday through Friday full time gig, I wouldn't even consider this for a side gig.
 
are you a scumbag? Because that's scumbag work. I tried like hell to NOT have a home inspection. I told them I would pay him 50% to not come. The realtor acted like I'd slapped the pope when I told them I didn't want a home inspection.

You know what I got for 500? Pictures of a mug, in the microwave filled with water and a thermal image of said mug to show me the microwave worked. :lmao: I also got 7 angles of a small ding in the garage door.

You know what he missed? A notoriously bad water heater that is known to fail out of the box and every day it functioned was a gift from heaven. He also missed the hosebib on the front of the house that puts out about .01 gallons of water a minute, my best guess is the pex pipe got kinked in the slab when they poured the cement.

Basically, I was forced to pay 500 bucks for nothing usefull and he missed anything that had merit.. screw home inspectors, what a racket.
 
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