fee quote for big house

[mgbinspect]

I'm always amazed by some of the prices guys charge. It's interesting and I'm genuinely happy for the those that can market a "high priced spread".

Richmond is pretty much an ASHI "Old Guard" town, when it comes to home inspections (We started VAREI - the Virginia Association of Real Estate Inspectors, and hired ouselves a lobbyist, which prevented state regulation or certification. ASHI remains king here, which I see as good. State regs just mirror ASHI anyway, and proffer a fee).

There's about ten of us that have been doing it for between 15 and 20 years. We're all probably within about $50.00 of each other, and I am not aware of ANY inspector in our area that successfully charges double the going rate. I dare say that if any one of us ever tried it, they'd quickly fall off the radar screen. It must be a Richmond phenomenon. That's not to say I wouldn't love to make that kind of money, I just don't see it happening here. There are simply too many decent inspectors per square mile, which is probably due to the way the market sizzled here for so many years. And, for what it's worth, we're beginning to sizzle here again. I've had a completely full plate - three weeks running. About 40% of the homes selling here are foreclosures, and I even see that as a good thing. A house cleaning is usually healthy. The folks that had no business owning a home no longer do.

[Jim Katen]

I'm always amazed by some of the prices guys charge. It's interesting and I'm genuinely happy for the those that can market a "high priced spread". . .

It's regional. My company is the high price leader in my area, but when I talk to inspectors in the SF Bay Area, they drop their jaws at how low our prices are.

At the risk of invoking the accusation of price fixing, I'll repeat the advice that one of my mentors gave me many years ago: You have to get together with the other inspectors in your area and give each other permission to participate in the American standard of living.

[Les]

Jim,

noticed you changed your signature. Now folks can see what you really look like with just one click!

I have been humbled by competition and economics during the past several years here in Michigan. I used to be the highest price for service and now we charge the same rate as 2002 and are still the highest in this area. We completely changed the "products" we offer to reflect the recession and our client need.

I would charge approx $1800 for the subject house one year warranty. It would be a team approach and not be onsite for more than couple hours inside and couple outside.

[Ben H]

Jim,

noticed you changed your signature. Now folks can see what you really look like with just one click!

You mean thats not Jim in his avatar? I kid, I kid....[]

[Marc]

It's regional. My company is the high price leader in my area, but when I talk to inspectors in the SF Bay Area, they drop their jaws at how low our prices are.

Benchmark or AMI?

Marc

[Jim Katen]

It's regional. My company is the high price leader in my area, but when I talk to inspectors in the SF Bay Area, they drop their jaws at how low our prices are.

Benchmark or AMI?

Marc

Both.

AMI comprises 4 companies that used to be competitors but that are now partners. Benchmark is one of those partners. It still has pretty strong brand recognition on its own so I use both names, but I'm trying to switch everything over to AMI.

[mgbinspect]

It's regional. My company is the high price leader in my area, but when I talk to inspectors in the SF Bay Area, they drop their jaws at how low our prices are.

Benchmark or AMI?

Marc

Both.

AMI comprises 4 companies that used to be competitors but that are now partners. Benchmark is one of those partners. It still has pretty strong brand recognition on its own so I use both names, but I'm trying to switch everything over to AMI.

I wondered a bit about the business arrangement you have. Can you explain why you guys elected to join up?

I've thought for years about finding a couple of the guys in my erea that wanted to do something similar, so we could all relax a bit.

I'd love to hear a bit about your model:

Why you did it

How it's working out?

Things you'd do differently.

I suppose it's thread drift, so you can handle that any way you wish, but I'm very interested in hearing from someone who has already done what I've wanted to.

[Jim Katen]

Originally posted by mgbinspect

I wondered a bit about the business arrangement you have. Can you explain why you guys elected to join up?

I've thought for years about finding a couple of the guys in my erea that wanted to do something similar, so we could all relax a bit.

I'd love to hear a bit about your model:

Why you did it

How it's working out?

Things you'd do differently.

I suppose it's thread drift, so you can handle that any way you wish, but I'm very interested in hearing from someone who has already done what I've wanted to.

Well, we've already hashed out the original post so the thread drift probably won't hurt anything.

I'm not among the original founders of AMI, so my understanding of the genesis it not crystal clear. But the idea was that a small group of established inspectors could strengthen each other by working together instead of separately. They could share expenses (advertising, insurance, legal, CPA, etc), pool resources (knowledge, specialty tools, cash, etc), work together on large projects, and, most important, share an office manager.

When things are busy, it's fabulous. Lisa answers the phones, books our inspections, manages all of our schedules, does the day to day bookkeeping, and maintains an archive of our database and all of our inspections at her office. If one of the guys wants to take a vacation, or even a few days off, it's easy. The other guys fill in for him as necessary and, when he gets back, his schedule is already booked & ready for him to resume work.

After I broke my back and was ready to ease back into work, Mark very graciously loaned me his full-time assistant. When Toby broke his collarbone, we took turns carrying his ladder and crawling his crawlspaces.

Another benefit is that, by occasionally working with or assisting each other, we get exposed to different inspection methods & concepts. I learn something each time I go out with one of the other guys.

We're also registered as an education provider in Oregon. So we can teach classes to other inspectors and the classes automatically qualify for Oregon CEUs. That's kind of cool.

The thing that is absolutely critical is that the personalities must be compatible. That's not really an easy thing to achieve because home inspectors tend to be iconoclasts. We've found four personalities that not only get along, but actually complement each other; that was the result of very, very careful planning. Also, the office manager has to be a good fit because she's the glue that holds it all together.

There are two big drawbacks. First, when work is slow, it's an expensive way to run a business. Second, when the office manager goes on vacation we take turns filling in for her, and we really suck at doing her job.

[mgbinspect]

Originally posted by mgbinspect

I wondered a bit about the business arrangement you have. Can you explain why you guys elected to join up?

I've thought for years about finding a couple of the guys in my erea that wanted to do something similar, so we could all relax a bit.

I'd love to hear a bit about your model:

Why you did it

How it's working out?

Things you'd do differently.

I suppose it's thread drift, so you can handle that any way you wish, but I'm very interested in hearing from someone who has already done what I've wanted to.

Well, we've already hashed out the original post so the thread drift probably won't hurt anything.

I'm not among the original founders of AMI, so my understanding of the genesis it not crystal clear. But the idea was that a small group of established inspectors could strengthen each other by working together instead of separately. They could share expenses (advertising, insurance, legal, CPA, etc), pool resources (knowledge, specialty tools, cash, etc), work together on large projects, and, most important, share an office manager.

When things are busy, it's fabulous. Lisa answers the phones, books our inspections, manages all of our schedules, does the day to day bookkeeping, and maintains an archive of our database and all of our inspections at her office. If one of the guys wants to take a vacation, or even a few days off, it's easy. The other guys fill in for him as necessary and, when he gets back, his schedule is already booked & ready for him to resume work.

After I broke my back and was ready to ease back into work, Mark very graciously loaned me his full-time assistant. When Toby broke his collarbone, we took turns carrying his ladder and crawling his crawlspaces.

Another benefit is that, by occasionally working with or assisting each other, we get exposed to different inspection methods & concepts. I learn something each time I go out with one of the other guys.

We're also registered as an education provider in Oregon. So we can teach classes to other inspectors and the classes automatically qualify for Oregon CEUs. That's kind of cool.

The thing that is absolutely critical is that the personalities must be compatible. That's not really an easy thing to achieve because home inspectors tend to be iconoclasts. We've found four personalities that not only get along, but actually complement each other; that was the result of very, very careful planning. Also, the office manager has to be a good fit because she's the glue that holds it all together.

There are two big drawbacks. First, when work is slow, it's an expensive way to run a business. Second, when the office manager goes on vacation we take turns filling in for her, and we really suck at doing her job.

I really like the idea, and understand fully how critical it would be to find guys that you get along with and can trust to the marrow. I've had a couple of bad experiences with partners. One usually carries the other.

Having owned and operated several business, before finally settling on the home inspection business, I've always known one undeniable fact about one man band companies: When times are especially good, you always really need a man and a half - not two, but one and a half. In other words, one ends up doing all things poorly because there's not enough of him. and the fee the public is willing to pay for the service rendered won't support a non-productive person.

I think you've really come up with a marvelous way to smooth out a lot of the bumps in the road before a small company. Starting up such a model from scratch would be a real challenge, but well worth the effort. Very cool!

[:-thumbu]

[Marc]

For three years, I had a similar arrangement with two clinical social workers. Payroll and other office-related business expenses were divided equally with each of us paying for our own phone lines. The land lines all went to the secretary's desk. We all kept our own bookkeeping and CPA'S. It was a great arrangement but fell apart when business got too slow for too long.

One particular secretary that was in our employ for two years is now a contractor of mine. He handles all calls for a percentage of those sales that he participates in (some sales are via Email/text). He keeps my business phone with him which is now a cellular. Works very good plus I don't owe him when business slows.

I'd pause at sharing a secretary with other inspectors. My area has an over abundance of inspectors and the fierce competition ruins most any chance of the trust needed for such an arrangement.

Marc