Getting new business as home inspector

[dharris]

I said above some will not get it because we in this industry are divided between those who do it for pure love of the profession and those whom simply see it as a money making machine.
Yes there are those in the middle.

[/QUOTE]
Golly that sounds like your talking about two HI orgs.
The owner of One will sell any certification for $s

The other run by it's members requires inspectors to qualify and earn those qualifications.

[Bob Elliott]

Ignoring the infiltrator.haha
What got myself and Nick commenting on this thread by MJ is post #34, though I should not speak for him. Take the lowest competitor and price yourself to compete with them.
.Just reread.
Pasted " from post #34

[Bob Elliott]

Dan how would I know what ASHI stands for, as it is a secret society and not open for debate the way NACHI is.
I think a potential client sees this as a good clean disscussion among brothers in industry that care enough to dig deep into all topics without collusion.

[jmichalski]

Robert - I did say that I throw out obvious lowballers when shopping my competition, but I do take the lowest priced guys and set my prices competitively. Sometimes slightly higher, sometimes equal. If I see a particualr reason to do so, hey may be slightly lower.

Having said that, I have not adjusted BASIC prices (posted on my website) for over 2 years. They reflect the market here and have allowed me to establish the solid baseline of a steady business.

I make no bones about the idea that my prices for my BASIC inspection are intended to atract price shoppers. A BASIC inspection is what my competitors offer as a full inspection - the more expensive services offer much more. Again, this is something that worked for me so much more so than the other model, that I thought it significant and worth offering to newbies as a legitimate alternative to the overpricing strategy (which I also tried).

On another topic, the Realtors that refer me do so because they are confident Realtors. In general, they want the best for their cclients, and know that their buyers will buy a home using them as their agent, even if it not this home. BUT the client's impression of the Realtor is going to be impacted by the services they perform and refer, and - in part - whether they feel they got a good house. Most of these agents understand and appreciate referrals as much as I do - so they take the quality of the inspection seriously.

[Bob Elliott]

J.M you can see how I would take what you said as meaning to unercut the lowguy."Lowballing."
This puts a different spin on things if that is not what you meant.
However my general philosphy towards operation remains the same as do the opinions of home inspection in general.

[Brian E. Kelly]

Originally Posted by Tyler Wierzbicki

What are the best, most successful ways to get new business as a home inspector? Should I create mailers/ flyers and solicit them to real estate agencies? What are some of the tricks of the trade?

I would also like to know how to get business doing commercial property inspections. I work in California in the San Francisco area.

Thanks!

You can try the Referral Rewards (illegal here) and pay former clients to shill for you.

[Christopher Currins]

dharris
Golly that sounds like your talking about two HI orgs.
The owner of One will sell any certification for $s

The other run by it's members requires inspectors to qualify and earn those qualifications.

quote] How high of a qualification is a candidate?


Inspection Service /Testing Providers/ Cost /How We Found Them/ Other ResourcesComments General HomeInspection/ U.S. Inspect, Chantilly, Va./ $470, plus $85 for termite inspection.*/ Word of mouth; database of the American Society of Home Inspectors, (www.ashi.org/find) which certifies inspectors./ Our inspector was a candidate for ASHI certification. He examined every crevice, wire and switch during the five-hour process.

[Tyler Wierzbicki]

Thanks everybody for your thorough, great advice. NACHI like a wonderful community that I will definitely join in the near future, and I look forward to speaking with you all in the future about business strategies, etc. Sorry I have been MIA lately, I was in the process of moving into a new space. I am going to be taking home inspection classes at Allied, in order to get certified, then go from there. All of this info is really helpful and is giving me even more confidence that this is a good, lucrative career move. Especially in the Bay. Or as some of you call it, San Fran *grrrr*