How to Become a Home Inspector with Carson Dunlop

hi I'm Alan Carson president of Carson dong-ha let's take a few minutes to talk about what it's like to be a professional home inspector home inspection is an amazing professional consulting career the rewards are both financial and meaningful it is a profession where you can make a positive difference in people's lives every day you act as a professional consultant you help them make great decisions on the most important investment of their life you can make a hundred thousand dollars a year you can be your own boss and set your own hours you leverage your knowledge and experience you don't have to be chained to a desk there is no physically challenging work if you enjoy the nuts and bolts of homes and how things work home inspection may be right for you if you like people and enjoy helping them home inspection may be right for you if you like being paid for your knowledge rather than your physical labor home inspection may be right for you if you are comfortable in the role of an unbiased expert advisor home inspection may be right for you let's look at the prerequisites do you need a background in construction absolutely not you can learn the skills you need through a good education program you do need to be able to speak with home buyers sellers and owners and with real estate professionals you need to be able to write at a high school level although you do not need to be a trained technical writer you need to be comfortable with mobile phones and personal computers you need to be comfortable with the internet email and texting you need to be able to climb a ladder and crawl and crawl spaces so what are your options for how you're going to work well you can start your own business you can buy a franchise or you can work for someone else and of course you can work part or full-time so how much do home inspectors make well average fees are about $400 per inspection and inspectors can typically perform two inspections a day even one inspection a day for 250 working days is 250 inspections a year at $400 an inspection that's $100,000 a year a fully deployed active home inspector can perform about 500 inspections a year and still have a good work-life balance that is a gross revenue of two hundred thousand dollars it doesn't happen immediately it takes a while to build your business you will need a plan let's look at 10 key steps to success education is the cornerstone of success in any profession of course knowledge is power as they say you select your business model your own business working for another firm or buying a franchise you do your market research you build a business plan and a marketing plan to start your own business or buy a franchise you need some money up front options include self financing or a business loan some people work at home inspection part-time while maintaining another job and they transition to full-time as their business grows this approach may not require any outside funding although it may take you longer to get where you want to be you'll need some tools although the list is not too long or too expensive you'll need a few types of insurance you'll need a vehicle you'll need a rapport rating system and some business management tools you'll need some legal and accounting advice upfront and a bookkeeping system or a bookkeeping person if you start your own business you'll need a company name a phone number email website business cards letterhead brochures and so on what about regulations you'll need to know whether you need a license to be a home inspector in your area in Georgia for example you do not need a license to be a professional home inspector so what is a day in the life of a home inspector look like well here's a typical day you might start by speaking to agents or clients on the phone who need an inspection you describe your services including your differentiators and explain your fee you book an inspection you send an email confirmation receive acceptance of the contract and payment electronically and a good reporting system like horizon and we'll do all that for you your pre inspection routine includes preparing your tools business cards and work order some inspectors also review the property online before heading out you drive to the inspection arriving well before the start time you pay attention to the neighborhood typical houses and their ages and note the topography is the house at the top of a hill or at the bottom of a valley for example you meet the clients agent and possibly the seller on-site in the role of trusted adviser you perform the inspection with the clients communicating as you go the process is look think and then talk a typical inspection may take about two and a half hours you discuss your findings in layman's terms you give the clients the information they need to help make their buying decision you stay within your scope not advising them whether to buy renegotiate the price or walk away you answer any questions you rate the report using your inspection software in your vehicle in a coffee shop or back at your home or office this may take roughly an hour you email the report to the client the same day as the inspection you archive the report along with the work order and the payment records and good inspection software does this for you as well the rest of the day you might perform a second inspection respond to emails phone messages and texts work on marketing your business do some professional development or you might go fishing let's touch on communication communication skills are as important as the technical skills in the home inspection profession can you speak to people clearly and simply can you listen patiently and attentively and answer people's questions are you a relationship builder can you take charge without being overbearing can you be fair honest and unbiased even when you're telling people things they don't want to hear can you admit when you don't know something and get help when you need it can you rate technical reports with good report software you don't need a degree in literature or technical writing it's easier than you would think and it's about following a system and being consistent what about the learning process itself really good education programs help you understand the technical and help you become a good report writer at the same time a one or two week training program should be considered as an introduction to the profession it takes considerably longer to learn a professional consulting practice of course when choosing an education program you want an education organization that is in the profession you are looking for the essential training delivered in an easy-to-understand manner let's look at a couple of learning models distance education on the one hand and classroom training on the other changing careers is a big deal and you want to get it right look for an education program that lets you learn on your terms distance education means you don't have to travel to class you may want a program that allows you to start at any time and work at your own pace you don't want to wait for classes to start or attend to place far from home at times that may not work for you distance education programs let you start anytime work at your own pace and study when it works for you many adult learners struggle with exams a good education program gives you lots of practice in a low stress environment this prepares you for success and what about practical experience getting practical experience in the field can be challenging some schools offer field training programs which can be invaluable insight by Carson Dunlop is an accelerated apprenticeship app that allows you to gain months of infield experience in just hours through the magic of technology in home inspection competence leads to confidence a top-notch education program gets you well down the road to mastery professional associations make sense we recommend that you join at least one professional association there are several national and regional organizations there are many advantages to joining an association including education networking credibility shared experiences keeping up to date with new developments and of course a sense of community we've mentioned a marketing plan let's have a closer look at that home inspectors need to differentiate themselves from others in the marketplace marketing efforts are often concentrated on the real estate community real estate professionals are involved in home sales every day they are often easier to market to than consumers reaching consumers can be difficult since the market is so large and very few people are buying a home on any given day home inspectors are in the knowledge and communication business and this can be part of your marketing strategy providing valuable information to the real estate community and other allied professions can help establish you as an asset and a resource you want to become known as an unbiased expert you need to maintain your independence and always perform your work with integrity to ensure your long-term success what about a website and social media well virtually all businesses require a good website some education programs and software providers health home inspectors get set up with a website marketing through technology is cost effective and practical although success is not automatic social media and consumer reviews have become important elements of marketing many home inspectors rely on outside help in this area should you offer ancillary services home inspectors can offer many other services related to the home these include things like radon mold indoor air quality asbestos infrared thermography termite swimming pools and spas well and septic systems and sewer video scans for example you may perform these inspections yourself or outsource them to sum things up home inspection offers a rewarding career in a growing professional consulting practice it is a relatively young service and there is room for expansion the opportunities are good the timing is right to learn more contact one of our career consultants at carson Dunlop thanks for joining me and welcome to the world of home inspection I'm Allen Carson

Channel: Carson Dunlop

Views: 2,819

Keywords: home inspection training, homeinspection, become a home inspector, home inspection courses, home inspector classes, becoming a home inspector, home inspector, home inspection classes, home inspection training online, home inspection training US, home inspection training state

Id: -rSEG6ScWyM

Length: 12min 53sec (773 seconds)

Published: Fri Jul 19 2019