How is the economy affecting you?

[Sodapop]

This is mainly directed at Home Inspectors, but anyone can feel free to answer.

I was wondering how the housing market has been affecting Home Inspectors. Our housing market here is pretty poor right now.

How has it affected your business?

[Scottpat]

I'm having some of the most profitable weeks and days that I have had in years. Homes, large homes are selling left and right in my area. Smaller homes under 300k, like my home are not selling. Those that have money and good credit are doing well in today's market when the buy a home.

[randynavarro]

I'm down. Way down.

[Speedy Petey]

Swamped

[kurt]

Dead February, but otherwise I'm slamming. I'm driving to some areas that I would never have considered a year ago, but you gotta go where the houses are.

<10% are realtor referral. <2% internet. Almost all personal referrals.

Supposedly, there's an email circulating around the realtors offices in Chicago that says I'm a pain in the ass, and don't even think of referring me.

That's the sort of limited fame I've always dreamed of.

[Phillip]

I am down. Worse year since I when full time.

[Brian G]

Slow the first 3 months, then good in April and May, now back to just a job here and a job there.

Last year I was fairly slow until the day after local schools let out; then I ran all summer. This year business fell off when schools let out. Go figure.

Brian G.

Feast or Famine, Same as Always [8]

[Brandon Whitmore]

Super slow for me until the middle of May--- now I am slammed and could work 7 days a week if I wanted to. I've actually turned down a couple of jobs, which would have never happened before May.

[Erby]

Don't know who you've been talking to locally SodaPop, but I'm keeping pretty busy. You musta been hanging out with that doom and gloom crowd again. Stay away from them. It's pretty rosy here locally.

PS: When you gonna buy me that cup of coffee? I might even cheer you up a bit!

[davidlord]

30 per month average since Jan 1.

[Jerry Simon]

Originally posted by kurt

Supposedly, there's an email circulating around the realtors offices in Chicago that says I'm a pain in the ass, and don't even think of referring me.

Hope ya don't find out who initially sent it. I'd deny it if you do.

[Phillip]

I don't know about the rest of the areas but here gas has when up 20 cents on a gallon in two days. I felled up my trailblazer yesterday morning and again this afternoon. Yesterdays inspection was 2 hours one way.

[Bill Kibbel]

I'm quite busy with mostly high value properties with multiple buildings and farms. Folks with lotsa money are finding some great bargains. Prices are reduced about $2-3 hundred-thousand per million of asking price. Today's was listed at $2.2 million and sold for $1.7 million.

A few years ago there would have been a bidding war the day it was listed. The winning bid would be higher than the asking price and they would waive all inspections to get their offer accepted.

[Mike Lamb]

My volume is down 40% from '07 and that was not a killer year.

[Richard Moore]

I'm down quite a bit for the year, although much of that was the first 3 months. Things have since picked up and I'm in the middle of a very busy week (for me)...but it's still "spottier" than last year. The one thing I have definitely noticed is that I'm not doing any pre-offer inspections. Last year at this time I was often rubbing shoulders with other inspectors as our clients all tried to remove the inspection contigency in order to make their offers more attractive. Some houses would get a half dozen inspections or more! Kept us all nice and busy. I would sometime do 3 or 4 such inspections for the same client before he/she won a bidding war. THAT just ain't happenin' this year.

But...I married well and really don't mind the idle time. Now...if we could only get some damn sunshine around here I could put the hammock to good use watching my grapes grow.

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[RobFV]

Originally posted by kurt

Supposedly, there's an email circulating around the realtors offices in Chicago that says I'm a pain in the ass, and don't even think of referring me.

That's the sort of limited fame I've always dreamed of.

As Springsteen wrote in "Terry's Song":

And I know you'll take comfort in knowin'

You've been roundly blessed and cursed

[Tim H]

Originally posted by kurt

Dead February, but otherwise I'm slamming. I'm driving to some areas that I would never have considered a year ago, but you gotta go where the houses are.

Same here with the driving. We have always done a lot of rural/lake/farms, but even more this year. 11 jobs this week; 1200 miles. My [:-censore needs a break.

Tim

[Sodapop]

Originally posted by Erby

Don't know who you've been talking to locally SodaPop, but I'm keeping pretty busy. You musta been hanging out with that doom and gloom crowd again. Stay away from them. It's pretty rosy here locally.

PS: When you gonna buy me that cup of coffee? I might even cheer you up a bit!

I'm sure some Home Inspectors around here are busy. I haven't talked to anyone I've just based it on what I have learned in my experience. Several homebuilders have pulled out of KY altogether so the new home market is down quite a bit. Some homebuilders are chugging along slowly.

As far as the cup of coffee, would be happy to meet you Saturday the 14th in North Lexington. I have to change out a breaker in a restaurant in North Lexington Saturday morning. I'll e-mail you just in case.

God bless all.

[msteger]

I've actually been staying quite busy this year. There was a slower week in mid-March, but since the Christmas slowdown, I've been steady most of this year. I'm not complaining.