Home Inspection Training
How to become a home inspector :
The home inspection business came on the real estate scene in the mid-1970s, and consumer demand for the service has been constantly growing ever since. Home inspection is a growing professional consulting service, aiming to help homebuyers make the right decision when buying a house, as it is one of the biggest financial decisions in one’s life. An increasing number of buyers want to know everything there is to know about their potential homes before actually agreeing to a purchase, so if you want to become a home inspector, the opportunity is there for you to succeed as an ASHI (American Society of Home Inspectors) home inspector.
Why Become a Home Inspector?
ASHI estimates that 77 percent of the homes sold in the U.S. and Canada today are inspected prior to purchase. However, the market is still underserved, and the remaining growth potential is significant. The increasingly popular trend leaves room for many to enter the home inspector business, build a career and even establish a home inspection company. Licensed home inspector training, consisting of classroom technical content education, will teach you all standards of practice and help you become a licensed home inspector.
In addition, licensed home inspectors can further expand their business services to include commercial inspections and expert witness testimony. For instance, home inspectors can also provide radon, lead-based paint, septic and indoor air testing, for additional fees. Moreover, compared to other types of businesses, the financial investment and overhead needed to run a home inspection business are rather small, easy to establish and own.
Licensed Home Inspector - The Job Description
A typical home inspector assesses homes for buyers, writes home inspection reports, speaks with prospective clients and handles marketing to consumers and real estate agents. Generally, the home inspection begins when a client or real estate agent calls and books an inspection, setting a fee upon booking. The inspector may have e-mailed or faxed the contract to the client, detail the scope of work, often defined by the ASHI Standards of Practice. Also, the American Society of Home Inspectors recommends inviting clients to attend the inspection.
If not done earlier, the contract is signed when the home inspector and the client arrive at the set location. The inspector explains the process, then proceeds with the inspection. Typically, an inspection may last from two to four hours, or even longer.
For a successful home inspection, the inspector looks at the building exterior, including the garage, explains the findings to the client, describes the building’s condition and details any recommended improvements. The inspection continues inside, as both indoor and outdoor settings must be taken into account. The indoor inspection includes any basement or crawlspace, the living spaces, as well as any accessible attic or roof spaces. In addition, home inspectors frequently offer tips for operating and maintaining the home as they go on with their inspection. Once the inspection is completed, the inspector and client review the findings. Some home inspectors prepare and deliver their written home inspection report on site, while others write the report after the inspection, using their field notes. Because the real estate transaction may depend on it, the home inspection report is delivered quickly to the client, often within 24 hours. Generally, the client pays the inspection fee on site.
Tips to Operate a Successful Home Inspection Company
First of all, a home inspection company must be prepared to provide vast customer service. The condition in a bid for purchasing a home is often for just two or three days, so good telephone service so clients can always get through is important to most home inspectors. When not actually inspecting, licensed home inspectors handle administrative duties, pay bills and deal with all the other responsibilities of running a business. More importantly, home inspectors need to market themselves in order to build a successful home inspection business. Such marketing may include sending fliers, placing advertisements, conducting presentations in real estate offices, building and updating a Web site, writing technical articles and building professional relationships with referral sources such as real estate agents and brokers, mortgage lenders, title companies, attorneys and so on.
In addition, home inspectors also dedicate time to updating their knowledge of homes. Professional associations such as ASHI require members to earn continuing education credits each year in order to keep their skills sharp and their knowledge of construction up to date. Also, ASHI members meet and share xperiences with peers by attending chapter meetings and communicating through discussion forums.
Diversity in the Home Inspection Business
Many professional home inspectors choose to diversify their range of services, offering a variety of inspections, such as termite, swimming pool and spa, home maintenance, well and septic system, indoor and outdoor additional testing etc. Some inspectors also offer troubleshooting inspections for homes with problems, pre-listing inspections for homes about to be sold, as well as inspections of new homes throughout the construction process or at the pre-delivery stage. Licensed home inspectors can also offer radon, lead, asbestos and carbon monoxide testing, mold inspections and inspections of commercial buildings. The home inspection business has many opportunities for offering a full range of services to consumers.
Need Help Becoming a Professional Home Inspector?
Joining the American Society of Home Inspectors (ASHI) is a great first step in pursuing licensed home inspector training, as it is the world’s largest society of professional home inspectors. Through ASHI Education Inc., those interested in the business can get access to great educational opportunities, including comprehensive distance education and classroom technical content education. Moreover, by joining your local ASHI chapter and attending meetings you can learn all you need to know about the profession. The association’s Web site allows members to participate in home inspector discussions and stay in touch with experienced professionals, and ASHI also puts you in touch with numerous products and services for home inspectors. In addition, through an ASHI membership you will have access to special discounts, resources and networking opportunities designed to grow your home inspection business and make you a better inspector. ASHI also offers continuing education, as home inspectors must continually upgrade their knowledge base in order to keep up with progress.
ASHI Certification Requirements - Proper Background for Becoming a Home Inspector
ASHI’s certification requirements specify a combination of training, experience and field work. Also, ASHI Certification requires a number of qualification points, made up of education, experience, field work, a minimum of a specific number of fee-based inspections and written home inspection reports which meet the society’s Standards of Practice (subject to audit).
According to ASHI founders, a combination of formal training and hands-on experience would lead to the best field performance for the profession, therefore certification is not limited to professional engineers nor to licensed heating contractors, but rather a combination of the two types of background produce the best-informed practitioner.
ASHI Conferences and Seminars continue this cross-training among professions, which has significantly contributed to producing well-qualified professional home inspectors. It has led to ASHI’s role as the US and Canadian certifying and training association for the profession and to recognition of ASHI in that role by federal, state and provincial authorities, as well as by allied professional associations. The society does not explicitly require formal course training, but inspectors lacking more disciplined and formal training run a higher risk of facing difficulty in distinguishing between an “opinion” and well-researched authoritative sources of information. If you plan to practice as a qualified professional, the distinction is critical.
In order to become a home inspector with a successful home inspection business, licensed home inspector training is essential, and may require:
- college-level formal education, which may include engineering, architecture, construction management
- high skill level in clear written and oral communication
- hand-on construction experience in all aspects of residential construction (both repair/renovation work and new construction)
- great familiarity with good construction practices for every major residential construction topic, in great detail
- familiarity with computers and word processing
- familiarity with real estate practices, sales, legal and marketing issues
Home Inspection - A Challenging, But Rewarding Profession
Being a professional home inspector is very demanding, both physically and emotionally. It may look easy to the untrained eye, to novices or people familiar with the building trades, but a professional home inspection means much more than just walking around a house for a couple of hours or so and talking about what you see.
A professional home inspection requires in-depth knowledge of good construction practice across all of the building trades, an ability to see acutely, notice detail, understand the implications of details on buildings and translating all that into a recognition of costly or dangerous conditions. In addition, a licensed home inspector must have excellent communication skills, as the ability to communicate clearly with the client, explaining the conditions identified and detailing their importance is essential.
Personal protection may also be an issue, as there are several personal risks involved: climbing on roofs, breathing dust in attics and crawl spaces, opening electrical panels etc. Adequate home inspection training is critical to reduce such risks not just for the inspector, but for clients as well. With proper training, however, the home inspection profession can be extremely rewarding for licensed home inspectors.