Home Inspections?

caswensk

Anybody on here perform home inspections for real estate transactions? I've got a lot of experience in the construction trades and carry my Professional Engineering degree, but am unsure of what I need to "break" into the business. Michigan has no licensing requirements to perform such inspections which seems somewhat odd to me...?

Michaeljp86

I was thinking about doing the same and also live in michigan. I looked into it also and there is a certification you can get from alot of places but that just says that they say you know what your doing. The state doesnt have any sort of license but I would recomend getting one of these certifications just because it makes you look better. Everyone who knows nothing about it says wow this guy is certified even though it pretty much means nothing.

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Brock

Nope nothing nada. All you have to have is eyes and legs. An average home will get you around $300.00 for a 3hr. inspection. Make sure you go google to get the right legal form, so when they have an electrical fire they don't come back and sue you.

concretemasonry

Unfortunately, Michigan must be one of the backward states that does not have a certification requirement. That means that you will be competing with a bunch of amateurs and out of work carpenters and remodelers that are just doing it as a fill in. The good, experienced tradesmen can get a certification if they have the experience and ability.

Keep in mind that a home inspection (pre-sale or pre-purchase) is not the same as a code inspection. In some ways it is more critical and in other ways, code compliance may not be a factor. The intent is to make a visual inspection of the property and its systems, identify major anticipated costs, unfunctioning items and note any safety problems. It also should note areas where a more in-depth examination should be made by a specialist (electrician, structural engineer, HVAC, etc.).

If you are serious about home inspection, take a class (about a week long) from one of the 3 or 4 good organizations that teaches people that are familiar with construction and buildings what is important about home inspections, how to properly perform them, how to get business and how to run an inpection business. The class also teaches you how to handle evaluation of systems without creating big liability - like pulling a poping a breaker and shutting down a computer or oxygen system without restarting.

You must set yourself off and away from the part time inpector/contractors. After you have conducted enough qualifying inspections that may be reviewed, you can take a national certification test. This is essentially the same test that is used by the states that require certification. If the past is any predictor, all states will eventually have some sort of certification because of the problems that have been encountered by non-professional home inspectors.

By all means, avoid the groups that offer the opportunity to take a test on-line and buy a certificate that is not recognized by any real certifying authority. This is the type of piece of paper that some inspectors use to get credibility.

One of the requirements for a good certification is that the inspector CANNOT do any wotk on the property inspected and must offer at least 2 or 3 referrals to customers that request the names of contractors. This is done to maintain credibility.

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Dick

Engineer, designer and consultant recently active domestically and internationally on construction and design in about 35 countries.

Home Serve

I did home inspections in Missouri for several years. I bought a franchise from World Inspection Network. This worked very well for me because I was able conduct myself as a professional in a short amount of time. The training and tools were great. Training really is something that you need to continue to do in the home inspection business. You have to enjoy people and be able to handle communication between the involved parties well. There is a certain amount of "tight rope" involved as to what issues are important to who and which simply aren't.
They are located in Seattle. Check it out.
I enjoyed it a lot.
Dave

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Missouri Remodeling Company with services for Replacement Windows Vinyl Siding and Entry Doors