How Would Yow Rate Your Add-Ons?

I am a newer inspector and I am still learning, adding certifications, and adding services. I recently went from offering only general home inspections to offering mold as well. I was surprised how well the mold inspecting has been received and it has been a great addition to my offerings. Based on that I went ahead and took the WDO class, since it doesn’t require major investments in equipment, and while wood infestation has been helpful, it hasn’t been as much as a home run as mold.

With 1 being the best, my services rated by success level look like this:
Mold

  1. General Home Inspection
  2. Mold
  3. WDO

I keep reinvesting in my business and now I’m at a point where I’d like to continue adding services. I’m interested in your thoughts. How would you rate the performance of your services?

You can see from my other recent thread that I have already started radon classes, but one major advantage of being a one man operation is that I can be very flexible if something else looks better.

1 Like

What about radon, water, energy?

I only rated what I already offer. You can see at the end of my post I’m taking the radon classes. I’m trying to see what everyone else has had the most success with. This will help me prioritize as the funds come in to invest in more equipment.

We do Chimney inspections, sewer scopes, radon, mold, termites, lawn irrigation and dewinterizarion.

Chimney inspections are hands down the best thing I’ve ever added on. Radon is crap and we mostly sub it out now.

1 Like

What are you doing in regards to chimney inspections? (different then the home inspection) Level II? What training did you need to obtain.

Where I am, radon concentration levels are high so on average, 8 out of 10 clients I get want a radon test. Same for termite inspections since more and more lenders are requiring them.

Yes, I only do level 2’s. I won’t do a level 1 for someone buying a house. I am CSIA certified.

Ancillary or add-ons are greatly regionally dependent.

Radon is a relatively small problem in my area, so (almost) no HI in my area even offers it. I’d never make back the money if I invested in the gear.

Requirements for a WDO license vary wildly from state to state.

Living in the San Fernando Valley of Los Angeles, I see more pools in a week than inspectors in other areas may see all year.

You really have to tailor your add-ons to your area.

As Real Estate agents say: Location, location, location.

That is a great add on and one I have been interested in for a long time.
Any tips on becoming CSIA Certified?

Well, I can tell you a healthy portion of people fail the test. There were people there spouting off the whole time how much they knew, and then failed. My father in law has been in the business 20 years and he failed. I think home inspectors are better suited to pass because we already have code books and are familiar with them, and we haven’t been doing the work the wrong way for years.

Just sign up on their site, study, and pass. It’s easy :slight_smile:

Thank you!!

Brian -

You could offer well and/or septic inspections.

Not an easy ancillary service and requires some knowledge of septic systems but can be a good additional source for revenue.

I’m sure many areas of Kent county still have plenty of septic systems!

Thanks everybody for the insight. I might have a mild addiction to gadgetry, which is probably what originally attracted me to radon and infrared. Based on my location well and septic would probably be best at this time.

Brian,

If you need information on how to go about offering well & septic inspections, feel free to contact me.

Pete Russell who has many posts in this part of the forum would the best way to start gathering information.
He has helped me a few times with sound guidance.

I am new to inspections, still training actually, and wondering what the level II inspections are. I thought there was simply a home inspection or not a home inspection.

I am looking to add chimney inspections also. I came across the CSIA site and thought it would be beneficial service. Thoughts on Dryer vent inspection/ service as well?

Chimney inspections have 3 levels-not home inspections. During the sale or transfer of property, a level 2 is required. It’s out of the scope of a home inspection though. I charge $159 for one fireplace and chimney and $100 for each additional. Sometimes, the chimneys end up being more than the home inspection itself.

Ancillaries is what makes the money for me. Have your home inspection start price be competitive, and charge a good price for any auxiliary inspection. Kinda like a restaurant charging $2.00 for a piece of pie, when the whole pie only costs them $5.00. It is called perceived value, if the client thinks the add-on service is worth the money, he will buy it.
Also, most buyers only gets quotes on what a home inspection costs and has no idea what auxiliaries are priced at. Never give package deals and add the prices up for the client. If somebody orders a meal with drinks and a dessert, he may get a surprise when he pays their bill, but will not argue not paying the bill. In his mind he ordered them, so he got to pay for them.

1 Like

I’ve thought about this, but do you have to be on the roof to do the chimney scan? I’ve seen some chimney cameras that can be feathered up the chimney instead of dropping down the chimney.

I can only scope them from the top if the roof is really low slope. Most guys sweep and inspect from the bottom now.