May Offer A New Service ??

tzzzz216

I'm looking for some input on a new service that i want to offer, to new home buyers or sellers or even home owners , This would stickley be plumbing, I want to offer an evaluation service for new home owners and or sellers to go in and evaluate their plumbing, all fixtures,water heaters and all exposed piping,( crawl spaces and basements) and give them a full report on my findings noting any areas that which may need attention, A flat fee of
$$$$$$ for the service, and if service or repairs need to be done and the work is done by our technician a rebate of $$$$$ from the inspection fee will be applied to the work done , A written estimate will be provided prior to starting work for any repairs needed .
A referral fee of $$$$$ will be paid to any customer who refers
our service to their friends, neighbors or family Who also use our service.
I got some feed back from one realtor , they said it would fly because when they get a home inspection all they get back is a report!
How much would anyone here be willing to pay for this service and how much of a referal fee would you pay a customer.

Thanks in advance


Try to send these jobs overseas!!

wackman

I know that here in Oregon you legally can't be the inspector and also the repair contractor because of the conflict of interest. You can recommend a contractor to do said repairs that you found and he may be a friend or relative but you can't have any sort of interest ($$$$) in that company.

Good chances for fraud there, not by you but by one of the less than moral.

Maybe the laws are different where you are and if so then youv'e got a niche to exploit. I have a feeling though that if you haven't heard of companys doing this already then you probably have similar laws.

Good luck!

Wack

Mike Finley

There are a few of the biggest electrical companies here that offer something similar. They offer to come in and check out your entire electrical system, starting at the panel and let you know where you are at. There are HVAC companies that do similar services for your furnace and A/C before those seasons begin. Of course the ideas is you are going to be finding work for your company through these inspections.

I've heard it both ways, where some offer a limited service for free and some charge. I would think that if you wanted to do more than a couple of these a year you will need to do a heavy advertising campaign to draw responses. It sounds like a bit commitment of money up front to get any volume.

Teetorbilt

FL has the same law as OR.

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Grumpy

We do roof inspections all the time. INspection consists of what ever the customer is willing to pay. Either the inspection form, or a sumary, or pictures with explination, or even a CAD drawing. The more you want the more we charge... and by the way a free written estimate accompanies which ever report they choose to go with... It's like getting paid for an estimate.

CE1

Have you looked into doing commercial or industrial work? This is a big-ticket item in my area. Just an example would be to do the annual inspection of backflow preventers for commercial and industrial water systems. This would be a good moneymaker depending on where your market is. Plus it would get your foot in the door to be able to say "Do you have any plumbing problems that you would like me to look at while I'm here" and do this every time you do the inspection. Over time you might find that the customer waits and saves work for when you show up.

tzzzz216

I think my statement was miss understood , I wouldn't be an inspector , if someone wanted to have the plumbing in a house they were buying evaluated i would do it for them for a flat fee. But I did call the state this morning and ask them as to what i posted here today and they told me they didn't see a conflict in at all , the reason being is that i'm a contractor and thats part of my job is estimating work that needs to be done for the consumer. I'm also in Florida.



Try to send these jobs overseas!!

Double-A

Contact the State Attorney General office and ask them. They are the ones that are going to ding you on this and in the end, its their opinion as to how you conduct yourself that determines if you might be prosecuted in the future.

They will probably want the question in writing with examples.

You might also inquire if there is any benefit or protection for use of specific language ( or not using it) such as the difference between "inspection" and "evaluation".

A company I worked for used to offer "visual inspection of all exposed plumbing accessible without invasive or destructive techniques and not requiring the relocation of any items."

Simply put, we're not gonna pull out a washing machine to look for exposed piping behind it. Nor are we gonna open a wall, or pull a cabinet for the same purpose.

We always included photos (in digital form only) of any suspect items and photos of major connections and branches of plumbing in attics, unfinished basements and crawl spaces. This was to allow the homeowner to see for themselves what we were seeing without having to crawl or get dirty.

All fixtures with serial or model information were also photographed. This was to validate age.

This was a great revenue generator for the company, as we were advertising on local cable TV and on the "Weather Channel" crawl along the bottom of the screen.

Folks just love knowing how much to budget for repairs/upgrades/small remodels.

One particular note. All our digital camera's had the option of placing a caption or copyright mark on the images with the company name.

Grumpy

Oh you are right these jobs can't be exported, but they (the powers that be) have been importing since the start of this country.

asbestos

I do sort of the same thing for some RE agents( ) and for FSBO people. it is basicaly a pre inspection, inspection. They generaly have a few things they need done and ask if I could look around and see if there is anything else that needs attention. It is not a formal inspection just sort of "the inspectors gonna say . . . . " then they have me fix it ahead of time. Good way to stretch out a one day job. Honesty is paramount. If you are not honest in terms of what is important, and what can wait etc. you will get the rep as a scammer.
If you are good there should be enough work without fixing what ain't broke

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Peladu

Friend of mine is a police officer.
If they had to kick down a door, or of there was a domestic
call with property damage, or damage from theft, he would
give them one of my business cards.

He did that for three weeks, then the chief of police had a
talk with him saying that he couldn't do it anymore because
someone beefed.

Thought I found a niche market, just to be stopped by the 5 0.

Tom R

We had a guy around here, - - a local cop, - - started a construction business on the side, - - his buddy was an insurance adjuster, - - his brother-in-law was the fire chief.

Fire chief would alert the cop and the adjuster of the fires the minute the calls came in, - - the adjuster would show up and introduce the owner to the cop/contractor. 'Deals' were usually made practically before the flames were even out. Customers said later they felt they could trust a 'guy in uniform' that everyone was highly recommending . . .

Went on for a couple years 'til they found out the adjuster was 'paying' druggies (from over the state line) to set the fires.

The adjuster, - - who was formerly the COUNTY ARSON INVESTIGATOR, - - is now serving time.

The cop, - - who they could never quite prove had a hand in paying to set the fires, - - is still awaiting sentencing for fraud, theft by deception, and I'm sure a few other 'minor details' . . .

The fire chief (supposedly) seems to have been 'unaware' of what was really going on . . .


Never a dull moment, huh??


P.S. The cop/contractor had asked me several years ago to 'run his show' for him (name my price), - - but I had 'declined', - - you could just tell there was something shady . . .

AtlanticWBConst

Tom R,

WOW

Now THAT....is a story.....

(Who knows...probably will show up on 60 minutes one day)

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Mike Finley

Is that why the Sopranos live in NJ?

Tom R

Ya, - - and did I mention that the cop took one check, - - $54,000, - - right to the Atlantic City casinos . . .

The homeowner never even knew the check had been issued 'til he got his bank statement later that month, - - the cop had signed BOTH NAMES . . .

The cop said later, - - "it was neither forgery nor theft, I just signed his name to expedite the process, and I had still intended to do the work" . . .

Tom R

Ya, - - tough towns around here, - - gotta love it . . .