Newbie Question

I am a new InterNACHI student and decided to join because the industry as a whole is interesting. I love the idea of being able to help a client make an educated decision for one of the largest purchases of their lives.

Since joining, I have been quietly reading through many of the forum topics and watching quite a few discussions.

One of the threads was about the average amount collected per inspection in the 2015 calendar year. As the thread progressed, more information started to flow with regard to the average spend per inspection AND the number of inspections performed. The numbers boggled my mind.

Without being rude or intrusive, are there any seasoned pros that would be willing to answer any of the following questions:

  • How many inspections would you consider a ‘solid’ workload per week?
  • I know it varies, but on average, how long will you spend on-site per inspection?
  • How many hours, on average, will you spend writing the corresponding reports?
  • How much report writing can you realistically do while on-site (maybe on a tablet)?
  • In your region of the country, what would you guess the average HI takes home annually? What about the rock star inspector that works his ***** off?
  • Are there operating expenses that the newbie (like me) would never have thought of?
  • Is E/O Insurance expensive?

Thank you for answering!

With Regards,
Todd Carl

I always did two a day plus ancillary inspections. Sometimes three in the summer if they were town homes and close.

2.5 hours.

I wrote every report on-site as did all of the inspectors in my company including my brother Ben.

100% except for stuff that needs to wait for lab reports like mold and radon.

Who cares? Do I care how many members the average inspection association has? Nope.

I never took home less than a grand a day and after 5.5 years, and feeding my family of four, I saved nearly a million dollars in the bank, and then I sold my company (carried the note) and that put me over a million dollars in profit.

Most newbies drastically underestimate marketing costs. I see it every day here at InterNACHI. Some newbie will order 1,000 brochures. If you are planning on ordering 1,000 brochures, you are planning to fail.

Yes.

Nick pretty much covered it, however when starting out you should plan on putting back into the company just about everything you make towards marketing especially the first year. We order 10,000 brochures and 10,000 business cards at a time more than once a year and hand them out by the handful. If littering was legal I would drive around letting them fly out of the window. The cost between 1000 and 10,000 is not that much. Marketing can be expensive but you have to spend money to make money.

I think this varies depending on personal need/goals/market place.

I have a wife and two kids. I need to be busy enough to support them, but not too busy so I can actually see them. I need $, but somethings are more important than doing an extra inspection.

There is some give and take here. The more time I spend on site, the less time at home.

And every time I come with a way to cut time off my reports, I then find a way to use that time to make the reports even better.

As Nick said, marketing costs add up quickly. Be prepared to take every dime you make and spend it on more marketing.

Oh, and back up tools. Stuff can and will break or go down when you least expect it.

One day I had an inspection on a 4-plex in not-so-great neighborhood, and someone walked off with one my ladders. That sucked.

Wow! Great information so far. Thank you for answering.

This leads to another question … Where/how are you distributing 10,000 brochures and cards to?

Thanks in advance.

Todd