Completed my first 11th month warranty inspection

I just finished my first 11th month warranty inspection today. Went really good, found some defects on the home and the client was extremely happy with our thoroughness. The home was new construction built about 11 months ago. These inspections are fun to do, didn’t feel as stressful as a real estate transaction inspection. I still treated as I was doing that type of inspection.

Wanted to share with you all. Hope you have a wonderful weekend. :smiley:

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Congrats. Curious how did you get the job? Did you target market a new development or something else?

This one came from when I did an insurance inspection for the client a year ago. I’m thinking on marketing these to new construction realtors.

I thought about that also, but most of those agents work closely with the builders. Not sure how receptive they would be. Also thought about getting out there and driving new developments, hanging marketing material on doors.

Marketing material on doors would be a great idea!

http://www.inspectoroutlet.com/11th-month-warranty-inspection-marketing-piece.aspx

That flier, a brochure, and card. Would you recommend hanging on doors or direct mailing to the homeowner?

For me, my time is worth more than my secretary’s time. And I like zeros. Lots of zeros. Zeros, zeros, zeros. So I’d have her go to the recorders office, get the addresses of every home sold in every new plan in my market area, and mail them all a letter with information about my 11-month warranty. If that is 10 homes, good. If that is 100 homes, really good. If that is 1,000 homes, great! I’d have her doing that every month for me. The idea is to keep an employee swamped with work that makes you money. You shouldn’t be driving around doing dumb work like this. Each of my employees make me money on top of what I pay them. Some make me a lot of money. Some make me a little money. But they all generate black ink. And I have lots of employees. :wink:

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Nick - thanks for the advice. As always it’s very appreciated.

Nick,

I cant really see what the flyer says but the page states “…We’ll come out during the 11th month and perform a full home inspection…” and “…We follow InterNACHI’s comprehensive Standards of Practice…”

Unless its different in States, the 11th month warranty inspection is not the same as the full standard home inspection. Am I missing something?

Nick,

I cant really see what the flyer says but the page states “…We’ll come out during the 11th month and perform a full home inspection…” and “…We follow InterNACHI’s comprehensive Standards of Practice…”

Unless its different in States, the 11th month warranty inspection is not the same as the full standard home inspection. Am I missing something?

Why isn’t it the same? Except for some of the wording, everything is inspected the same regardless of before or after purchase.

Start making a detailed list of jobs like this that you can delegate to someone. Maybe try to come up with several months of work, work that you gain no advantage by you wasting time doing it personally. Then hire someone one day a week to start knocking out that list of work. You never want to do anything you can delegate down. Reserve yourself for stuff only you can do. Going to speak in front of agents at a sales meeting, is something you should do. Looking up addresses of homes built within the last year and mailing literature or running door hangers around is something you can hire a kid to do.

I’ve done a number of these inspections so far, but I’d like to bring in more. I tried to call the recorder/assessors office, but they couldn’t seem to narrow down a list of new home sales. Any suggestions or help in getting just the new home sales for my county?

I tried my Recorder’s office and was told they could not distinguish between a new built home and a home being sold.

What are you using as a template for the 11th Month Warranty Inspection and how much is it in comparison to a general home isnpection?

The same one as my regular home inspections. Cosmetic / craftsmanship defects are added as observed but I don’t have many, if any, pre-written cosmetic narratives.

Thanks David, I figure that a modified general home inspection template would work, reading the builder’s warranty in my town(NW Florida)they basically throw everything up to lack of “maintenance” by the homeowner. Other than roof defects and foundation cracks they worded to blame it on the homeowner.

Would charging a 1/3 of what a regular home inspection would cost sound about right?
Let me know what you think.

Manuel Sandino
GB Home Inspections, LLC
Crestview, FL.

Oh no! I charge regular price as a standard inspection, maybe with a small discount. Seems to be the norm on this forum. I give around a $50 discount for 11th month.

Here’s another relevant thread: https://forum.nachi.org/t/new-build-inspections/209851/25

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Why the deep discount?
What are you NOT inspecting to compensate for your time on site, thus deserving of a discount?

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