Inspector Heaven out there. Market perfect for inspectors to get rich. So get rich!

1

Home inspectors have always complained that the REALTORs hold all the cards, that they won’t tell you who the potential clients (typically homebuyers) are, and that you have to kiss their as$ for referrals. This was because homebuyers remained anonymous. Well times have changed and it is now a home inspector’s market out there.

Your potential clients these days (sellers) are far from anonymous. They are desperate to sell. They will listen to any suggestion that they think might work, like doing a seller’s inspection.

ALL THE PLANETS ARE ALIGNED FOR YOU TO GET RICH DOING INSPECTIONS!

Your talking points and sample letters are in http://www.nachi.org/sellerinspections.htm

You have the report upload system http://www.nachi.org/fetchreportfriendlyseal.htm

You have Move In Certified http://www.MoveInCertified.com

You have the sign file http://www.nachi.org/moveincertified.htm

The REALTORs can’t hide their clients or stop you from contacting them direct. In fact, they want you to help sell their listings. You have their support.

Your potential clients are desperate to sell. The inventory is just sitting there. Just offer a seller’s inspection to them and explain to them why they should do it, they’ll do it.

Each seller is moving and eventually will need what? A home inspector! You’re going to get another inspection out of it.

Your potential clients are telling you who they are. They even put big FOR SALE signs in their yards!

Too shy to knock on their door? No problem. These potential clients have made it really easy for you. They put their listing agent’s name on a big FOR SALE sign in their front yard. Wait, it gets better… they even put their listing agent’s phone number on the sign! Wait, it gets better… they put their own mailing address right on their mail box for you.

It’s inspector heaven out there. Attack.

Don’t have a job scheduled for tomorrow? Set your alarm clock for 7am anyway. There is work to be done.

2

Nick,

The first day I don’t have an inspection this week I’m going to try this, it sure as hell sounds easy, I’ll see how it turns out here in Scottsdale.

Thanks.

3

I’m already working on it Nick, just have few wrinkles to iron out in my area. This is similiar to something I was working on before and now you and Nachi have given me even more ammunition for my arsenal. Thank you.

By the way how does one log into move in certified. com

4

Nothing to log into yet, but we have some big plans for it.

I was talking about Move In Certified to an attorney friend who also sells real estate and he was saying that he wished people who needed an attorney would hammer signs into their yards letting him know to call on them. A house that has a FOR SALE sign in the yard is a home inspection job waiting to be had.

5

And remember… vacant houses are the best!!! The seller is so desperate! You can still mail them the offer (typically the mail gets forwarded). Use http://www.nachi.org/onlineagreement.htm when doing home inspections for sellers who don’t live there anymore.

6

This is something I have been working on for a while and all I have to do now is fine tune it with the moveincertified, print out the materials, do some presentations to realtors in the area, access all the MLS listings within 50 miles of me (already to go with a click of the mouse) and start doing some mass mailings.
Hey what’s that smell, could it be the sweet smell of success. \:D/ Well I won’t start counting my chickens just yet, but come on Nick hurry up and get this thing running, people are waiting. :wink:

7

Bump

8

Joe B…Have you tried selling any of these inspections yet?

Just wondering, because I know if you cannot sell them there, I highly doubt they will make a debut here.

I have inspections until Thursday as of right now and if I can take a full day to try and promote this concept I will certainly try this week just to see what people think about the idea.

I have not tried selling any sellers inspections since the residential market slowed, so I will certainly not rule out anything without trying it again.

9

Denver chapter on fire with them. Remember, bypass the agents… go right to the fella with the big FOR SALE sign in his yard.

10

Thanks for the advice Nick. I have picked Friday mornings to do my promotional visits. I will do them to sellers now to see how that works. You rock!!!

11

Nick,

When I finished my inspection this morning I went to the office and printed 50 envelopes and 50 of your seller inspection fact sheets (so to speak), after I altered the text a tad to fit my area and companies.

After stuffing the envelopes with the one page print I altered from your original in 5 minutes I drove about 10 blocks and found 50 homes for sale that were occupied (trash day, trash cans were at curb) so I knew someone still lived there.

I was absolutely amazed how many homes for sale are actually empty, simply amazed…:shock:

So I stuck the envelopes into the front door weatherstripping of 50 homes this afternoon and will see if anyone calls.

Sellers Letter-Head.doc

Dear Home seller.doc

12

You should use U.S. mail for vacant homes, it will likely get forwarded to the owner.

13

Yes I understand that, I simply edited what you wrote, made an envelope from “word”, added a business card, and walla…50 letters delivered in a few minutes to occupied homes.

Doing mostly commercial inspections I have not paid much attention to the amount of houses for sale, and even more remarkable, the amount of ones vacant…simply unreal to say the least.

14

Dale,

Greg & I are going to do in-office Realtor Presentations & mail Rack Cards to offices and for home sellers & FSBO’s we made up a Door Hanger.

Joe.

15

How well is this going to work when the RE agent is not on board because, say, I am considered a Deal Killer for “finding and explaining too much?”

I find too many realtors in this area have too much confidence in their ability to dance around the serious issues and their track record of steering most clients who insist on an inspection to Inspector Softy. I could see them opposing this because there is:

  • the wildcard of my findings leading to a drastic reduction of the sales price or making it more difficult to sell
  • it would drastically increase the chance that I will be selected to inspect the home(s) the seller will put a purchase offer on
  • it would provide me with a marketing platform that could lead to me “stealing” a substantial chunk of their 68 percent slice of the inspection lead pie
    *]the agent may be in a situation during the transaction where the deal hinges on my in-person elaborations of the reported findings to the prospective buyer.
    Since the realtors are entrusted to market the home to the closing table, I imagine they have the influence to convince their clients that my services would merely harm the deal …
16

Any calls yet?

17

Nick,

I put 150 of these so far at the front door weatherstripping of Occupied homes for sale after my morning inspections the last couple days.

Handed them to a few people going to their car, or walking to the mail box as I was driving around a neighborhood.

I made two hundred, so I’ll put the last 50 on doors after my inspection this morning.

I talked to a few people, they said they would rather take their chance the house would not be inspected by the buyer.

One lady said her Realtor told her she has a “Good” inspector for buyers, so she didn’t think she needed a presale inspection, even after I pointed to cement tiles sliding off her roof from the driveway.

Personally I do not think this program will ever work to the point anyone in Arizona needs to rush out and have signs made for the front yards…:smiley:

But I can’t say I didn’t try…:smiley:

Even though I knew it would not work…:twisted:

18

I think there is a maturity cycle in play that we have to consider.

When I moved here to Silver City, just under five years ago, less then 10% of the home sales had home inspections and all but a very few Realtors here thought they were an impediment to the sale of the home. I remember when I was purchasing my land and I asked the Realtor for comps so I could determine the value I would put into the offer, her look made me think I had just asked her for something she had never heard of. I had to show her how to get them out of the MLS system!

Now, I have a growing core set of Realtors who are more educated, and see the inspection as a way to protect their clients interest, help their client in the negotiations, etc. Now, probably 60% of sales have a home inspection. Much of this has been pushed by folks moving from states like CA where inspections are far more common. They demand the kind of services that they would get back home.

However, we still have almost no pre-listing inspections. I think that will take a few more years and more education on a national level before people start to see the benefits and want this type of service. Once it takes hold in a few of the more progressive locations, then we will be able to build off that and expand it into our areas.

19

I hear ya…Around here people have a hard enough time paying someone to cut their grass (too lazy to do it themselves), so getting them to fork over almost $300 out of their pocket to tell them what’s wrong with their house is extremely hard to sell.

I’ve had several already tell me I’m crazy. :mad:

I wish it was as easy as Nick states! I’d be all over it.

20

I am seeing a little too much cold water on this

I for one see the market perfect for seller inspections

I am picking on the good homes that have been on the market for a long time

The new listing still think the used home sales person will take care of them

Anything that says price reduced is like a ripe apple

rlb