Ten Myths about Becoming a Home Inspector

[Music] hi this is Melvin Sisson with inspections by Bob I want to take a few minutes today and dispel a couple of myths and misconceptions about what it takes to be a home inspector misconception number one you need a construction background to be a home inspector that's not true what you need to do is take a really good class that teaches you about construction systems construction methods and techniques and learn how to spot the clues and defects that tell the story of the house so that you can communicate that to your client misconception number two you need a lot of expensive tools to do a home inspection that's not true either you actually only need four tools in order to do a Maryland home inspection one of them is a one-story ladder you also need a good flashlight you need a simple circuit tester and a screwdriver that's all you need misconception number three it's a dangerous profession now granted every year home inspectors are injured but those are the ones who try to do things that aren't safe the Maryland law allows you to not perform a service if in your opinion it is not safe for example when it's raining I'm not going to go climbing on a roof because the roof may be slippery misconception number four home inspection is no job for women also very untrue now granted fewer than two percent of home inspectors in America are women there is no reason why women can't do just as well as men in home inspections it's not really a physically taxing job if you can carry a ladder you can be a home inspector and houses really don't care misconception number five home inspection isn't a profession also very much not true home inspectors are held to a very high standard of Education ethics and behavior we're highly trained we know a lot about all the different systems in your home and how to connect all the dots so that you have a complete story misconception number six you're on your own that's not true either there's lots of resources available to home inspectors for education support or just camaraderie there are home inspector associations that have monthly meetings there are conferences all around the country and there are also webinars that you can attend misconception number seven the market is saturated sure you're not going to be the only home inspector in town but that doesn't mean that there isn't plenty of work for everybody houses are being bought and sold every day plus there's people getting ready to sell their homes there are people who want to get a home check up the business is out there you just have to be the one to go get it misconception number eight you can't make a living being a home inspector again not true many full time home inspectors make a very comfortable living doing inspections sometimes they even have employees that do the inspections for them they're multi inspector firms now granted those are people who have had a couple of years experience under their belt but it's not impossible to get there misconception number nine it takes years to get traction as a home inspector well false and true if you are going on your own as an independent home inspectors starting your own business sure it contained a couple of years to ramp up and to get really busy but if you want to hit the ground running you can be hired by another home inspection company by a franchisee join a multi inspector firm it's lots of different options misconception number ten the only way to get business is to market to Realtors that used to be true but now it's false the majority of our customers find us via the internet most people aren't finding their homes via the internet so if you have a really good website and good search engine optimization you'll be able to get business without having to spend money marketing to Realtors the final thing to remember is that you need to take a really good training class Maryland requires it in order to become a home inspector it's part of the licensing process one of the really great classes is one that I teach at Frederick Community College the next semester starts on February 12th it's an all-day class running from February 12th until February 28th we'll be in class learning about all the different aspects of home construction and home inspection a lot of defect recognition you'll come away from that class ready to take the national home inspector exam and ready to start your new career [Music]

Channel: Inspections by Bob LLC

Views: 104,386

Keywords: home inspection, career, frederick community college

Id: Gf-TQElu6Ro

Length: 5min 53sec (353 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 15 2018