Better School of Building Inspection

[Jessie Boyd]

Hello everybody, first post here. This is an awesome forum! I'm glad I found it!

I asked this question on another forum also but wanted to ask here as well. I'm anxious to hear any comments about it. I have three free dvd's of this course coming from them so that should help. I have done a search on this forum but only found one short comment, which was a positve.

I was wondering if anyone has taken or heard any comments of this dvd course "Better School of Building Instruction" from hometraining.net. This course is on the list of approved courses for the Texas HI liscense requirement and is available from Texas State University.

Sometime after the first of the year I want to get training and so far this course is where I am leaning. I have heard good comments about Kaplan as well but they are a little more pricey.

Thanks for any insight on this or any other recommended courses.

[Michael R. Boyett]

Jessie...I'm sure you have looked at the TREC website and see how complicated it can be to understand the licensing requirements. Generally, there are two paths you can take, one where you get minimal training and then apprentice under a licensed Professional Inspector. That path can take several years and many inspections to become fully licensed as a Professional Inspector where you can take off completely on your own.

The other path, often referred to as "Fast Track", provides for obtaining 448 hours of education, taking the state test and then immediately receiving your Professional Inspector license without having to apprentice under anyone. There are several ways to reach that 448 hours, i.e. all classroom, 328 hours classroom plus 5 years directly related inspecting experience, etc, etc.

Bottom line is you need to determine which path you plan to take for your license and make sure the education you are getting will meet the requirements. For instance, if you are planning to get your education, take the state test, get your license and strike out immediately on your own then the "Better School of Building Instruction" course will not get you there as it is only 120 to 244 hours depending upon which set of courses you take from them. You would be much better off going with Kaplan or one of the other full service education providers.

[Jessie Boyd]

Hi Mike, thanks for the reply.

I have researched the TREC requirements and have a pretty good grasp of what needs to be done. I think for now, the 448 hours of full class (dvd), is the best option for me.

BSBI does provide the full 448 hours. Here's a line from their website (their higlighting, not mine). Thanks again for the help, Jess

We are approved to offer all 448 hours required to be a Professional Real Estate Inspector with no apprenticeship/sponsorship required. We offer all 448 hours through DVDs, manuals, and practice inspections--no need to sit in a classroom.

[Michael R. Boyett]

OK, TREC has apparently not updated their pdf file that describes the various schools as that is not what is shown there. Regardless, if they can offer the full curriculum then they should be good to go.

[Russell Spriggs]

If that's Stan's school in SLC, it's great.
I took all the at-home classes, then the full 2 weeks on site, about 6 years ago.