Any home inspectors

[kenmac]

I think I would have gone to another bank or a mortgage co b-4 I would have paid $400.00 for nothing.

 

[Sigarms]

Hindsight is perfect science.

Following is only my opinion (and we all know what they are like /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif).

At your age, if your not thinking about college and don't know what degree you want to get, look at getting into a speceiffic trade (electrical, HVAC, plumbing, sheet metal...). Look at the local community colleges (sp?) and see what classes they have. Is there a union with an apprenticeship (sp?) available?

I've worked with the local community colleges and businesses that "pull" from unions and going the union route would be my first choice.

I know some "techs" who are good/great at what they do and the money is there, you just have to work for it.

Keep in mind, sometimes the hours are not the greatest.

No offense to anyone here who is a home inspector, but some who I know personally (sp?) who are in the field of home inspections really did not do that good in a particular trade and decided to go into business for themselves as home inspectors.

I see it as a nessesary evil to buying a home.

When I bought my house (first one) two years ago, our home inspector was reccomended by both the bank and realtor. He had a ME degree and his "rate" was around $500. He did a decent job, but for the most part, just pointed out the obvious pertaining to the house. As it turns out however, on of my gas furnaces had a recall on the heat exchanger from the manufacturer. This was a BIG issue in the past, and being in the HVAC trade, I recconized (sp?) it once I saw the particular brand (I didn't tell the home inspector what I did for a living, I wanted to "check" to see what he would "come up with" per the HVAC systems). Standard procedure for this brand of furnace was to have a tech do a combustion test on the heat exchanger and to "leave" the results with the furnace to show what the results were (if the furnace "passes" nothing needs to be done, if it fails, the furnace needs to be replaced). Nothing on the paperwork per the furnace, and the home inspector said nothing about it.

As mentnioned here, it's hard to be a master of all trades.

You may be surprised what a good tech can make in a trade, just remember to do each job like it was on your own house, show pride in work, and put your "time" in to learn the trade.

Remember, at your age, you have the time to learn. Whatever you do (again only my opinion) do to the best of your ability and try to be the best person doing it.

People will reconize the difference, and in the end, that is what will determine "how far you can go" and how much money you can make.

 

[Bird]

Apparently you're in Texas and know what is required for licensing as a home inspector. One of the guys who used to work for me got his license and went into that business part time after he retired. But he told me last year that he let his license lapse because of changes in the state law that made the license cost too much for an individual who only did it part time.

Years ago a termite inspection was required when a house was sold, but when I bought this house last year, I was told that was no longer required. In fact, the mortgage company required no inspection at all. So I did my own inspection, but I hired someone to do the HVAC inspection (only because I had no experience with heat pumps) and someone to do a termite inspection (just for peace of mind even though I found no evidence of insect damage).

 

[2nstonge]

They were about a point lower than anyone else at the time. I made the $400 back and then some within a few months, but it was still a pain in the arse.

-Norm

 

[Kub0ta]

Houston is one of the best real estate markets in the US. Home inspectors are trained to find things others dont look at. The amount of hours needed and the training they get is really good here in Texas. By law they cant say you NEED to replace something because thats a liability. Instead they reccomend you get a professional to look at the problem. Just because a few of you may know a trade by far doesnt make you an expert, while a home inspector does. Here in Texas atleast.

 

[2nstonge]

Like in any profession, there's good & bad apples. It doesn't matter if their located in TX, MA or anywhere in between.

About 50% of my work comes from a realtor (high end market) who does a home inspection before listing a house. I then go thru and address as many issues as practical; takes all the nitpicks out of the bargaining when the buyers do come thru.

I believe most home inspectors are really expert at one thing - filling out the forms. Liability is a huge issue and the inspection reports I've seen the past few years are written solely to protect the inspector; they read like every loose doorknob is a potential structural failure, every burned-out light bulb is a fire hazard & every roof (no matter the condition) may fail at any time. Other than anxiety, what does a buyer really get out of that??

The better inspectors I work with have a working background in the trades; they've spent time actually working on this stuff and observing other trades do their thing. If your only experience is classroom work and a few hours shadowing another inspector may be a good start but doesn't prepare someone thoroughly enough to advise a buyer who's plunking down $100's of thousands on a home...IMO. If it works for you - great.

Liability or not I think it's ridiculous for a home inspector to spend your/my time & money generating a report that essentially says to hire other pros to inspect all the big ticket items.

If the home inspection business is really something the original poster wants to do I say go for it. Some of these guys/gals make great money (many don't) and it can be interesting work. It's up to him what kind of service & expertise he wants to provide his customers beyond the state mandated training.

-Norm