HouseMaster franchise has been SOLD!

[Nick Gromicko]

Post removed as per request from HouseMaster.

[relliott]

Brian ,I must admit that I am with you in just hoping these schlock franchises go away.
(I hope you don't mind me assuming)
Only a true Independant can give clients the service they deserve.

Greed in making money off the backs of other Inspectors keeps them from growing too big.

If I start a franchise it would be a true Coop.

I already refer my extra biz , (when it happens) to other NACHI guys free of charge.

[James E. Braun, CMI]

I was glad to see the House Master franchise in my area close its doors this year. They was the biggest lower ballers out there. I am guessing this is what caused their demise.

[James H. Bushart]

In a competitive market like we have today, I don't think an inspector who has to pay the overhead of franchise fees on top of all of his other expenses can do very well.

What could a franchise offer that would make sharing your fees with them advantagous?

[Peter C. Russell]

Investor = borrowing. Borrowing increases overhead. Overhead = increase in sales to meet overhead. End result is more sales to meet the overhead and in a down market the results can't be good.

I wonder what the individual franchise owners think about this?

[relliott]

Originally Posted by prussell

Investor = borrowing. Borrowing increases overhead. Overhead = increase in sales to meet overhead. End result is more sales to meet the overhead and in a down market the results can't be good.

I wonder what the individual franchise owners think about this?

Who cares as they would only join if they can not do it on their own.

Time to take care of biz and make real money.

NACHI is our franchise.

[Brian A. MacNeish]

Originally Posted by relliott

Brian ,I must admit that I am with you in just hoping these schlock franchises go away.
(I hope you don't mind me assuming)
Only a true Independant can give clients the service they deserve.

Greed in making money off the backs of other Inspectors keeps them from growing too big.

If I start a franchise it would be a true Coop.

I already refer my extra biz , (when it happens) to other NACHI guys free of charge.

You assume correctly, Robert!! I call them "white bread, burger franchises" for the HI industry. You can't really get fine dining at the burger franchises so do you think you get a top notch inspection with HI franchises? In many cases locally, IMO, a rubber stamp for the realtors.

Story:
5 weeks ago got a call from a doctor who was buying a 2.5 year old, 3,500 sq ft, 1.3 million house. The house had been designed and built by an architect for his brother.

The doctor has roots here; his family are quite big in rentals/construction so he knew a bit about buildings. He said "From your website, you don't sound like a rubber stamp inspector?" I said "No, I wasn't!" He interviewed me for about 5 minutes including questionms about a thermal storage heating system in the house. I quickly told him the name of it and how it worked on an "Off Peak" rate with 50% off regular electric rates.

A couple of hours later he called me back and said "You're hired! None of the other 5-6 inspectors I phoned knew anything about the heating system; you knew its operation mode and even the brand name."
So the inspection:
-The realtor only allowed 2.5 hours for the inspection!!!! Told him to book another 2 hours for the next afternoon.

(1) About 1/2 the siding was Hardipanel, a commercial product that the arch liked. It was peeling paint at quite a few areas. The realtor says the owner claimed it was originally painted in poor weather; they would touch it up before closing. All joints in the product were caulked.....which I didn't like. Told the doc I would research the product that evening since we were coming back tomorrow. Manufacturer's instructions said that "All horizontal joints were to be flashed with "Z" flashing!!!
(2) Only the master bedroom had met the codes for fire egress as it had a door to an exterior balcony/deck; all other bedrooms had windows (no doors) that did not meet code......and the house had an occupancy permit from the municipality so it was supposed to have had a final inspection!!
(3) 3 bubble tubs and a regular bathroom receptacle did not have GFCI protection.
(4) 3 of 4 bathroom fans did not meet code.
(5) there was damage to garage gutters from ice damming and moisture staining on the garage interior roof sheathing from condensation......driving snow/slush covered cars into the garage.....snow melts from residual engine heat, water evapoates and condenses on cold roof sheathin......residual heat also causes snow on low slope roof to melt leading to ice dams. Well planned!!

So much for having your architect brother design and build your house!!! I expect I'll be getting more work from the medical community here now when they buy upscale housing!! Got another call this PM about doing an inspection in our most upscale subdivision next week....said he'll get back to me when he gets it set up.

[relliott]

Thats what happens when you do a through job and take time to care about the client .
Here in Chicago I get Developers wanting to limit inspections on large Condos to 1 hour all the time.

To check the roof, I sometimes leave them going down the elevator while I pretend to forget something.

When these guys are with a franchise they need to work fast and may overlook many defects.

Object as they may , I bet many try to lock up referals from RE offices with what I would concider to close of a relationship.

Just this evening I had a guy call for a home Inspection and ask if I had done many Inspections in his town which is next to mine.

I told him I had not since I refuse to market directly to Agents as a matter of ethics.

Said he would call back and I heard from him 30 minutes later.
I am sure he appreciated my honesty, and that is how I operate.

I started this biz so I would not need to bow to an overlord.(I do it my way)

[Joseph Burkeson, CMI]

Originally Posted by prussell

Investor = borrowing. Borrowing increases overhead. Overhead = increase in sales to meet overhead. End result is more sales to meet the overhead and in a down market the results can't be good.

I wonder what the individual franchise owners think about this?

They are most likely working a 2nd job to make ends meet and will not have the time to log-on here and answer your question, but I could be wrong.

Back in 2003 I seriously look into purchasing a WIN franchise, one had become available at a reduced price here in Tampa but I saw nothing that they did that I couldn't do... Back then the supposed big thing was training, I was already a construction genius and decided to pass.

[Dan Bowers, CMI]

Back in 1986, HMA offered me a franchise for $6,800. They didn't have anything between St. Louis and Denver and wanted something in between. Besides that I was doing their relo jobs fom Mid-MO to Mid-KS.

Nice guys to work with.

[Nick Gromicko]

I can't find any franchise doing anything more or better for 8% of your gross (or whatever they charge), than InterNACHI does for it's members for 79 cents a day.

www.nachi.org/success.htm

Anyone willing to pay tens of thousands to a franchise every year surely should be willing to pay $289 to InterNACHI... or else they simply aren't real businessmen.

If any of you find any franchise doing anything that we're not, let me know and I'll develop the program for members, for free.

[John McKenna]

HouseMaster "Realtor Friendly" Inspection Firm Sued.
This probably did not help matters.

The record thus establishes an inherent conflict between the essential purposes of a home inspection
to a consumer as described above and the duty of a realtor who is engaged to sell a home promptly at the
highest price it will bring. It further estab- lishes a pattern of non-disclosure on the part of HouseMaster
such as to render its report worthless to consumers.

HouseMaster's reports strum the chord of high hopes on the part of those consumers who, having
already committed themselves, yearn for confirmation that they have made a wise decision. But its
carefully couched and deliberately softened language fails to raise troubling issues which might
challenge that decision. We reject Austin's characterization of this approach as "impartial." At the
expense of the consumer, it favors sellers and the realtors who represent them in the market place. In
contrast, for the professional buyers of homes for the relocation market, the "big boys," a HouseMaster
inspection picks out and reports every "nail pop" that could affect the judgment to buy. Such a stark
difference in the approach to an "impartial" inspection is further evidence of unconscionable commercial
practice.

[Brian A. MacNeish]

Originally Posted by jmckenna1

HouseMaster "Realtor Friendly" Inspection Firm Sued.
This probably did not help matters.

Why not to depend on realtors for business!!!

[Nick Gromicko]

In a post InterNACHI world, the big franchises have 3 options:

Adapt (all join InterNACHI and let me help them),
Migrate (start selling inspection franchises in Brazil or somewhere),
or Perish.

Go 42 seconds into: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY7Hh5PzELo

[Joe Farsetta]

InterNACHI works much harder for its members (for a lot less) than ANY franchise out there...