Lowballers, Please go away!

[Mario A. Kyriacou, CHI]

Originally Posted by gluck

Hey Mario! The next time you get one of those big beauties to inspect and include the I.R. scan let me know, as I can provide a big value added service that will allow you to get your prices up even further. I am offering to do a cat scan, at an additional charge of course, as I can get really badly scratched just getting her into the pet carrier.

Done.

[Yuri Olhovsky]

Originally Posted by mkyriacou

Toronto is not a depressed market Claude!

At least not in Bayview/Lawrence area where almost every house cost more than a cool million.

[jbettencourt]

Originally Posted by vmitchinson

When I started in this business 10 years ago after 30 years of construction inspection I charged 175.00. I got lots of inspections of old pre WW 1 beaters and scrapers. I raised my fee to 300.00 and starting getting 1200 sq ft houses built between WWI and WWII. I raised my fees again and started getting more inspections of houses built after WWII up to the new ones (I hate new houses, they are a mess). My fee is now 450.00 and most of my jobs are of newer homes 1970's and newer and bigger. The newer bigger ones have less defects, are cleaner and most times a pleasure to inspect. The clients are also more knowledgeable and appreciate quality work and are more them willing to pay for it. I love the million plus houses and the fat fees that come with them. I wish the low baller well because he gets the crap and likely will not be in business next year.
My rant for the week.

Vern,

You nailed it right there, like I said in my earlier post I may struggle a little right now because I will not budge on my prices but in the end it is worth it. Saturday did one 1200 sq ft bungalow for a husband and wife realtor team( they are buying it personnaly for themselves) over $500.00 with IR for 3.5 hours work. Educated , informed client was a pleasure to work with. Combine that with the fulltime gig of $900.00 clean for the week and it wasn't a bad week. If people want to prostitute themselves for $199.00 than be my guest, I will suffer for a while and beat my path because I believe it will pay off eventually.

[ADAM HANNAN]

Originally Posted by jbettencourt

Adam I feel your pain, I know that this year I have lost out on a number of inspections because I am not budging on my pricing. To the point where financially it is hurting but I am doing what I can to stay the course and that is pretty hard for a fairly new inspector that doesn't have that large a referral base yet. I wanted to take it fulltime this year but had to go back to the regular job until things improve. But once you get known as the "Dollar Store" Inspector you will forever be known as that, the upside is that I get to deal with a different type of client with the inspections that I do book( more informed and do not haggle just want the job done right). Funny thing to is I have done a number of inspections for realtors this year on homes they were buying themselves and their personal homes with my thermal imaging but yet they rarely call me for their clients. Does it hurt to loose some of those inspections right now? You bet it does but I believe that if I stand my ground it will eventually pay up in the end. Hang in there and keep plugging.

Thanks Jerry. You're right that once you get known as the person with the flexible fees - you're doomed!
Good on you for standing your ground!

[shenry]

OK, I'm new, I admit it. On the other hand, I've put a lot of work into getting the qualifications, taking the CE, etc. and I will continue to put a lot of work into the CE until I have all of the qualifications, and by then I hope there will be new courses to take. I intend to continually upgrade my knowledge to be able to provide the best service possible to my clients.

So, being new, how do I know if I'm "lowballing"? I decided to charge $350 for a "standard" inspection (3 bedrooms/approx 2500 sq.ft. or less), and $450 for larger homes. (I'm in the Barrie area) I've looked at the web sites of competitors, I've read through the info on NACHI, as well as CAHPI/OAHI, etc. I set my charges based on what I paid my home inspectors when I bought houses. So am I lowballing? Should I adjust my pricing?

[ADAM HANNAN]

Originally Posted by shenry

OK, I'm new, I admit it. On the other hand, I've put a lot of work into getting the qualifications, taking the CE, etc. and I will continue to put a lot of work into the CE until I have all of the qualifications, and by then I hope there will be new courses to take. I intend to continually upgrade my knowledge to be able to provide the best service possible to my clients.

So, being new, how do I know if I'm "lowballing"? I decided to charge $350 for a "standard" inspection (3 bedrooms/approx 2500 sq.ft. or less), and $450 for larger homes. (I'm in the Barrie area) I've looked at the web sites of competitors, I've read through the info on NACHI, as well as CAHPI/OAHI, etc. I set my charges based on what I paid my home inspectors when I bought houses. So am I lowballing? Should I adjust my pricing?

Hi Stewart,
Best of luck with your new endeavour!

I can't speak for all regions, but IMO, anything under $300 for a detached is "lowball". Investigate your local area. Do some research, speak to a few realtors, etc. Try to be in the top 1/3 of pricing.

[shenry]

Thank you for the info and your good wishes.

Between your comment and the Mike Holmes Inspections web site that somebody linked in another thread, I've decided to raise the prices that I charge a little bit so I'll start at $400 and go up from there based on square footage, and also charge a little more as well for the older or "century" homes.

Thanks again!

[Mario A. Kyriacou, CHI]

I like your pricing Stewart!