Education

I found some old posts with recommendations to online home inspector education. It seems AHIT may still be good. What are some thoughts on new and experienced inspectors regarding a good source. I intend to become an InterNACHI member. Also I have two prominent real estate agents willing to put me on their lists.

Thanks for your input!

Toby

Toby,

 Man oh man, where do I start. There are so many good schools out there like AHIT and A better School of Building Inspection. I highly recommend both but to be honest with you nothing beats InterNACHI. Hands down it is the very best association and the education that you will get here is second to none. If you will look up in the upper right hand corner of each inspectors reply to your post, you will see the year that they joined. That should tell you something right there. If this wasn't the place to be, we wouldn't hang around. I have been a home inspector for 21 years now and an InterNACHI member for 7 of those years.  I wish that I would've joined a lot sooner but I just don't like to spend money. I can tell you with a Big Ole smile on my face that it has been the best money spent and return on investment that I ever have made. Putting the education and tons of benefits aside, InterNACHI is a place that we all call home. We love it here and you will too. I'm a blacksheep of the home inspection industry and I beat to my own drum but this is my home. Each member comes from different walks of life and we sometimes don't agree with each other. Sometimes we get corrected because none of us know everything but that's where we grow and learn. InterNACHI turns boys into men and newbies into seasoned vets. I laughed and cried with these guys and girls (they are my brothers and sisters) and I respect each and everyone of them to no end. It takes sacrifice and commitment to be a home inspector, I'm not going to lie to you. It's turned my hair grey and I've put on some weight over the years. When you get out there inspecting,  you are going to have to use common sense man. You're going to have to listen to your clients and you're going to have to listen to your heart and make some tough calls. They won't tell you that in any school but I just did. You are going to hear yelling at times, you're going to be given dirty looks and hear people talking about you behind your back. You are going to make mistakes but you will learn from them and sometimes it will cost you. You will have inspections booked and some will just cancel for no reason at all. It comes with the business.  Then there are times that break your heart seeing kids that want to be just like you or hearing a soldier tell you that he lost his Mom and that she would've been so proud of him. I have hugged a lot of hugs, shook a lot of hands and prayed a lot of prayers for the people that I have encountered on my journey,  being a home inspector. I have tried once as Top Notch Home Inspections, Inc. and my first wife took my business and assets right out from under me. Yes Sir and they don't teach you how to deal with that in any school. I'll tell you now Toby how to handle that. When you fall and you will my friend believe me, we all do ... You pick yourself right back up dust yourself off and go dancing. That's right - get some rhythm in those jeans of yours and wake up everyday saying to yourself that you are going to be the very best and that no matter what comes your way that you will overcome it, because by God - you are Inspector Toby Anvik. You will also make lots and lots of friends in this industry and possibly a couple of haters along the way as well. It comes with the territory. 1 day you will be on the phone with another inspector, mine was a legend ... and then the next day or 2, they get hoslitalized with a stroke or a heart attack and the good Lord, calls them home. Part of the family died man and it hurts so, so bad. I uh-um sometimes get choked up, like now.  They don't teach you that in school, but I'm not going to lie to you or keep it from you. When you make that commitment to be a home inspector,  it is life changing both good and bad in so many ways. I am not discouraging you Toby, but you need to be ready. I wish you well and success in your journey into the wonderful world of home inspection.  Stay safe, keep your head up, listen to what others here have to say and pray for them, because whether you realize it or not, they are praying for you. You made that scary first move by posting for your first time here. Each time it will get a little more easier and like really good sex, it will feel so, so good each time that you post here. I make love to the InterNACHI forum with every post or reply and I thoroughly enjoy it. I don't rush like a newbie. I am a seasoned veteran and I take my time and enjoy my lady called: Home Inspection.  She makes me feel OH, OH, So good. If you think I am crazy now, you should see me on an inspection. Oh things get pretty intimate.  I listen to what a property has to tell me. I betcha 5 big ones that they don't teach you how to listen to what the property is trying to tell you in those schools anymore either.

Thanks Micheal. I would definitely save several hundred dollars by going straight through InterNACHI. I will be a member. But was considering another school to get another angle on how to see things. All the free stuff available here without being a member says a lot. The boards also seem to be pretty active which is a great thing.

I used AHIT and it got me to where I needed to be. To be honest, I found the video tutorials rambling, amateurish, lacking in meaningful content (watching a talking head read from a script is not my idea of effective use of the medium), and not aligned with the printed curriculum. I gave up on the videos and concentrated on the printed study guides.

I have nothing to compare AHIT to, but I think it’s safe to assume that there will be flaws and drawbacks in any curriculum. The information is there in the study guides, but there was the occasional apparent contradiction, omission, and outright inaccuracy. The online quizzes were sometimes aggravating, with typos galore and other errors in formatting and execution. The impression was that they were assembled by a third party and never really tested by anyone.

I did find it very easy to get in touch with educational support at AHIT, so that’s a big plus.

I likened the experience to being taught to swim by being thrown into the swimming pool, but that’s probably a good thing, because from what I have seen in this business you have to be ready to find the information and figure it out on your own. Spoon-feeding would not be good preparation for a career as an inspector.

So, pluses - AHIT training (and use of every free prep exam I could find) got me through the testing process for my license, and they have very good support both during and after should you have any questions preparing a report.

Minuses - Disappointing video modules and quizzes, and study guides could use updating, IMO.

Where are you located? That might have an impact on what training to take.

Fargo, ND

great

Thanks for your input!