My name is Zack and am looking to make my way into this field, and figured I would shop some advice (the good, the bad, and the ugly) here. I am in Texas and am looking at taking courses to work on getting my license. Some of the questions and concerns I have I have listed in bullet points below. TIA.
Champion School of Real Estate (thumbs up/ thumbs down)?
With only course work and shadow hour requirements where else/ how else can I get more practical experience?
Is getting your license just not enough to be prepared to go into the field, or would it be considered a solid enough base line (of course more experience is always better, but everyone starts somewhere right)?
I’m sure there will likely be more questions to arise from the answers you guys/ gals give, but I am looking to enroll very soon.
Before you get to far into spending what will be quite an initial outlay you should download the Inspector license list here https://www.trec.texas.gov/public/high-value-data-sets . Import it into a spreadsheet, sort by County, then do a count. The information could be an eye opener! If nothing else it will help you prepare yoour marketing efforts.
Champions has multiple campuses so the quality of instructors may vary, but they should be teaching from the same curriculum. The Houston campus was pretty good, it should still be but it’s been a long time since I set foot in there. Do as much in-classroom work as you can and realize that you will only get out of it what you put in.
The classroom training will generally get you prepared to take/pass the exam. It’s not going to get you to the point of being a competent inspector by itself. A lot of the people who pass the course will wash out early. Don’t forget that you need to know something about business as well as the technical part of inspecting if you are going to be successful or even survive on your own. Poor business sense will sink you as fast as inadequate technical and communication skills. Did I mention communication skills? Communication and customer service are the third leg you need to be able to execute well in order to succeed as an independent or even as some else’s employee.
As a new inspector, you will benefit greatly by having someone mentor you. Try to find someone who will. IMO: the guys who need to earn extra money by getting paid to let someone shadow them probably aren’t the ones you really want to learn from. Try to meet someone through TAREI who will let you ride along and show you in the field. Try to get rides with more than one if you can because no two inspectors do it quite the same.
Folks will tell you that no one wants to train their competition so it will be hard to get someone local to teach you. IMO: if you’re in a bigger market, the top inspectors are not in fear of newbies taking their business. They’re more concerned with incompetent inspectors screwing up the collective reputation.
Pay attention to what Chuck said, and be elated to know that Texas has the most stringent requirements for licensing in the U.S.
Some states like Wisconsin you only take a test AND if you pass you’re a HI
Other states you have a 50-60 hr class, pass a test AND if you pass you’re a HI
If memory serves me correctly in Texas, you either (a) take about a 140-150 hr class AND apprentice with a licensed HI for about 100 inspections, Test, etc
OR (b) with a strong background in construction, home building, engineering, etc YOU can take around 448 hrs, Test and sponsor yourself.