Ideas Wanted

[John McKenna]

Need ideas that really work... OK?

What would you suggest to advertise to sellers (not buyers)
about a home inspection?

Garner email address off the internet and send spam?
Gather physical addresses and send brochures?

I think everyone would profit from some good ideas.

[Paul W. Abernathy]

John,

Not sure it will help much but I do post cards and 24 cent stamps. Ends up cheaper than a letter and if you design a nice looking post card it can have some impact.

I have many designs I use for electrical seminars, home inspection and to build electrical contracting business.

The problem with the post cards and this form of advertising is you need to commit to sending to a person atleast 5-7 times before they will actually LOOK at the thing...so it is an undertaking.

It costs me about $ 20.00 for 500 business cards and I usually do about 100 mailings at a time...so $ 24.00 in stamps....so if the ratio of ONE inspection comes in...it is worth it..

[Bruce A. King]

I sent out 50 post cards and got 2 inspections but one of them was a relative that needed a warranty inspection.
A few weeks later I sent out 250 more and got zero.

Sellers are done with the house, do not want to have any knowledge of big items, feel like they already know everything about the house and are willing to gamble and let the buyers get sent down the last minute path of quick decisons.

I even called several sellers and could not book any.

[Steven C. Waskewicz]

This is a nice simple 3-fold brochure that I pulled off the NACHI site somewhere, and customized for my use, for Pre-sale inspections.
You are welcome to rearrange and edit as needed.
It uses MS Publisher,

[jmichalski]

Originally Posted by bking

I sent out 50 post cards and got 2 inspections but one of them was a relative that needed a warranty inspection.
A few weeks later I sent out 250 more and got zero.

Sellers are done with the house, do not want to have any knowledge of big items, feel like they already know everything about the house and are willing to gamble and let the buyers get sent down the last minute path of quick decisons.

I even called several sellers and could not book any.

I pretty aggressively targeted sellers for about 4-5 months. Even signed up with a FSBO site and got leads directed to me as they signed up. I tried to pitche REaltors during this period as well. I booked 3 - none as a direct result of any of the marketing I did.

It is a hard sell and the time and effort (and small expense) I put into it would have been far more purposfully spent on other marketing avenues.

This is not to say it will not work in your area, just that I found it to be counterproductive.

[Paul W. Abernathy]

I guess my mentality was this with the post card thing....I send them to builders and usually with 250 post cards get 2-4 plan's submitted and if one of them results in a $ 8,000 to $ 15,000 electrical contract it is well worth it.

So I actually send post cards to agents ( even if I dont like to...I do )

Here is a corny method.......go to as many Open Houses you can and while walking thru with other people...hand out your own business cards until the hosting agent KICKS you out the door.......that could work...

[John McKenna]

Thanks guys for the feedback.

Sellers call me from time to time by finding me
on the internet... but I have never gone out
looking for them.

I hear Nick talk about how some inspectors
are doing a lot of sellers inspections and
was wondering where they found them...

????.....

Perhaps someone will let the cat out of the bag soon.

[Russell L. Britton]

Paul,
If you don't mind, what do your post cards look like for Home Inspections. Just curious, not sure what all to include in it. Got any good suggestion. I have a good brochure, but I think you are talking about something different with the post cards.

Russell

[Paul W. Abernathy]

Russell,

I will see if I can post one here later, basically since you can get (4) per page in card stock it gets more cost effective if you are going to do mailings.

On one side I have my company name, NACHI seal and all that jazz and a motto tag line and on the back I have basically a summary of what services I offer, a brief verbage of our qualifications and contact information and so on.

If you have Publisher I can send you a copy of it to edit yourself and put your own information in.

[Bruce A. King]

An agent told me that the real problem with pre-listing inspections is when it is done by a non-thorough inspector and then the buyer brings in a thorough inspector.

[Russell L. Britton]

Paul,
Yes that would be great if you could send me a copy so I could get some idea on what to have or not have in it.
Thanks again for all your help.

Russell

[mwood1]

Paul could you send me a copy also? I have been trying everything to get business and I was wondering what to put on a post card. I really appreciate it.

[Paul W. Abernathy]

Here is a picture.....

[jhugenroth]

Originally Posted by bking

An agent told me that the real problem with pre-listing inspections is when it is done by a non-thorough inspector and then the buyer brings in a thorough inspector.

That same argument could be used on the buyers' side as well, if they sell the home in a year or two and someone finds something the inspector missed. Hopefully if an agent is referring you, they trust you are thorough.

It is a tough sell, but now that real estate has cooled somewhat and it is more of a buyer's market, selling the idea of a listing inspection is a little easier. I point out the marketing advantages to the Realtor, as pre-inspected homes are few and far between. The listing inspection differentiates that seller's home from the rest, and may give some buyers peace of mind. I also have signs that say "pre-inspected" that I post on the lawn next to the "for sale" sign.

I remember reading somewhere that something like 80% of houses that have been inspected at listing do not get inspected again by the buyer. That alone is enough to convince me, as it gets me some inspections that I otherwise wouldn't have gotten.

It is not a large segment of what home inspectors do, but the growth potential is definitely there.

[Gregory A. Liebig]

Originally Posted by bking

I sent out 50 post cards and got 2 inspections but one of them was a relative that needed a warranty inspection.
A few weeks later I sent out 250 more and got zero.

Make sure you get ahold of a good list!! I sent out 300 and got 145 back because the houses were vacant. (At least that what what written on the return to sender as the reason) 0 calls.