According to the United States Bureau of Labor and Statistics, there is an expected growth of 18 percent in the number of home inspectors between 2006 until 2016. This can be considerably higher than other jobs, but the number of home inspectors can decrease in the future because some states are considering increasing the certification requirements among inspectors.
A survey in 2001 showed that 77 % of homeowners would take advantage of home inspector services before they purchase or sell their homes. Home inspectors are responsible for evaluating the condition of houses and filing reports about the overall condition of the house to realtors or clients.
Home inspectors are responsible for inspecting utility and carpentry aspects of a house. Therefore, an inspector should at least have some knowledge of electrical, plumbing, heating and cooling systems. Aside from that, he should also have some knowledge about local building codes and ordinances to make sure that a house meets those standards.
But training and education-wise, what does a home inspector need to have or how do you become an inspector? Here are some tips and steps on how to be a home inspector.
Determine first, if this is the right job for you. How would you know? Search for job descriptions and what is a typical home inspector day. If you think crawling under houses and searching dark attics would be fine for you and fun enough, then it could be the right job!
Although there is no formal education required in becoming a home inspector, it would be important at least, to have a high school diploma. There are some college courses offered about building construction and inspection, like Associate of Applied Science in Building Inspection and Technology. It would be better to have knowledge in building inspection since there are some states that have licensure and certification requirements before practicing home inspection as a career.
Make sure about the training that you will be getting. Make sure that you would be getting education from licensed and good schools and programs. Home inspectors should have knowledge and training about foundations and structure, drainage, roofing, plumbing, HVAC, electrical, environmental, and visible structure aspects.
Some home inspectors would be self-employed. If it is your first time to do a home inspection, then you can start having on-the-job training to give you an idea on how the home inspection is done.
If you are planning to set-up a home inspector’s business or at least work independently, then you would have at least some basic business management knowledge and skill. You would have to decide on the structure and how your business would operate. Aside from that, it is also important to identify your marketplace. You would have to know the number of houses being sold in an area and also check your competition: other home inspectors and their respective rates.
A home inspection may not be as easy or as simple as you have heard or read. There are different aspects that you would have to consider, like the reporting system. Narrative reports can cost too much, so you would have to figure a system that would fit your budget and at the same time your needs.
There are a lot of home inspectors who went in and out of the business, you would have to deal with physical inspections based on client needs, like time. So flexibility is important. You would have to develop adequate skills in technology like digital photography for you to document your house visit. It is not that easy, all jobs are not walk in the park.
But success would come from people who make the most out of opportunities.
