JeremyDP Posted March 2, 2009 Report Posted March 2, 2009 Just want to introduce myself and say HI. So... I'm Jeremy Paschedag, I'm from St. Louis, MO. I am studying to become a HI. Thanks to Randy N, I have found TIJ and have been reading lots and lots of posts. Are there any HI from the STL area here? According to the map, I didn't notice any. Although Brian G might have problems with drip pans, I always look forward to his signature and 'title'/closing phrase. I do have a couple of questions. I have handyman experience, but have done everything in, on, and/or around my house except roofing, masonry, and HVAC work. So my question, is in your opinions would it be best to try and get a job with an established HI company? Or go it on my own? I should also mention that I am not intending for HI's to be my main job. I plan to keep my day job. The next question goes the HI's who have been doing this for awhile, out of curiousity have you ever inspected the same house more than once? Meaning you inspected a house say 4 years ago, then that buyer sells the house and another buyer buys the same house so you inspect it again. Thanks!
Chris Bernhardt Posted March 2, 2009 Report Posted March 2, 2009 out of curiousity have you ever inspected the same house more than once? Meaning you inspected a house say 4 years ago, then that buyer sells the house and another buyer buys the same house so you inspect it again. Yes, many times and I've even done it in the same week. Chris, Oregon
Les Posted March 2, 2009 Report Posted March 2, 2009 Jeremy, What is your day job? Yep, have inspected the same house several times over the years. Actually inspected a house in the morning and again in late afternoon. There are lots of inspectors in the St Louis area, many are top notch and a couple of duds. Get connected with the St Louis Chapter of ASHI for educational purposes and professional friendships. Sounds like they will not be your peer group, rather folks that could help. I know several of them and they are a feisty bunch! Good Luck.
JeremyDP Posted March 2, 2009 Author Report Posted March 2, 2009 Jeremy, What is your day job? I'm a desk jockey. I' a programmer. But don't worry, I'm not looking to write any software for the HI business. Unless I'm asked, but I doubt that will happen. So, would it be advantageous for me to work for a HI company before giving it a whirl on my own?
kurt Posted March 2, 2009 Report Posted March 2, 2009 Yes. Work for someone else at first. It will be the smartest thing you do. Also, in this market, it may be the only way you get any actual experience.
Jim Katen Posted March 3, 2009 Report Posted March 3, 2009 Just want to introduce myself and say HI. So... I'm Jeremy Paschedag, I'm from St. Louis, MO. I am studying to become a HI. Thanks to Randy N, I have found TIJ and have been reading lots and lots of posts. Are there any HI from the STL area here? According to the map, I didn't notice any. Although Brian G might have problems with drip pans, I always look forward to his signature and 'title'/closing phrase. I do have a couple of questions. I have handyman experience, but have done everything in, on, and/or around my house except roofing, masonry, and HVAC work. So my question, is in your opinions would it be best to try and get a job with an established HI company? Or go it on my own? I should also mention that I am not intending for HI's to be my main job. I plan to keep my day job. I think you'd be nuts to "go it on your own" with what amounts to zero experience. You'd be doing your future customers a horrible disservice. If you decide to work for someone else, you'll find that the franchises provide pretty good training in the technical skills, but they try to indoctrinate you with horrible ideas about marketing and ethics. They'll also make you sign a non-compete agreement to prevent you from working on your own if you ever leave them. On the other hand, the independent inspectors who are likely to hire you will probably teach you about "they way they've always done it" which means that you'll be learning a bunch of folklore, half-truths & lousy report writing techniques. But don't let my grumpy disposition dash your dreams. The next question goes the HI's who have been doing this for awhile, out of curiousity have you ever inspected the same house more than once? Meaning you inspected a house say 4 years ago, then that buyer sells the house and another buyer buys the same house so you inspect it again. More times than I can count. In a large city such as St. Louis, it won't be a common problem for you. But if you were to do a lot of inspections in smaller towns, it'll be an unavoidable situation. - Jim Katen, Oregon
JeremyDP Posted March 3, 2009 Author Report Posted March 3, 2009 I'm sorry, I should have mentioned that I am studying through A Better School of Building Inspection. They are recognized by ASHI and NAHI, and is accepted as 50 or the 60 hours of training required by the state of Illinois for their certification. Thank you to all of the feedback already.
randynavarro Posted March 3, 2009 Report Posted March 3, 2009 Hey Jeremy: Nice to see you here. It appears you've already spent some time in the archives. Look forward to chattin'. Peace.
Mark P Posted March 3, 2009 Report Posted March 3, 2009 Hi Jeremy, I'm out of Swansea, IL - near Belleville. I'm sometimes at the STL ASHI meeting depending on what the topic is. Give me a call if you want to chat.
hausdok Posted March 3, 2009 Report Posted March 3, 2009 I'm sorry, I should have mentioned that I am studying through A Better School of Building Inspection. They are recognized by ASHI and NAHI, and is accepted as 50 or the 60 hours of training required by the state of Illinois for their certification. Thank you to all of the feedback already. Hi Jeremy, Well, thank you for pointing those guys out to me. Now I have to get my state's department of licensing to contact them because these guys have false information posted on their website about my state's requirements. That kind of bothers me, since they've known for many months that a licensing law had been passed here and they'd been told that online training wouldn't qualify for initial licensing. They don't even mention that on their site; instead they say: Washington does not currently have a law requiring licensure, certification, or registration of home inspectors. This means that if you want to become a home inspector, you do not need a professional license from the state to get started. However, to become a competent home inspector, you need training. We offer this training in the form of home study courses, live classroom courses, and our "live course" on DVD that includes the extensive hands-on and field training exercises found in our classroom course. Jeez, they've known about our new law here for many months and it's been clearly stated in the law that any inspectors that weren't practicing home inspections already on the effective date of the law - June 12, 1998 - would have to meet all of the state's education and supervised training and exam requirements before they could be licensed here, so, since online training doesn't qualify and their curriculum hasn't been approved, every new online or home study course that they sell to a Washington State inspector who wasn't already practicing before that date is essentially worthless. That's kind of duplicitous of them. If I were you, I'd contact the licensing authorities in your state directly and ensure that they've approved this school's courses for your state's initial licensing or you could find yourself caught between a rock and a hard place. By the way, anyone that teaches home inspection and thinks it's not important to ensure folks understand how a house is built is like someone who has a medical school that tries to teach medicine without first ensuring their medical students understand human anatomy. There's a strong likelihood that you'd end up with a "doctor" that you wouldn't want to bring your kids to. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike
JeremyDP Posted March 4, 2009 Author Report Posted March 4, 2009 Thank you Mike for the info. TIJ will complement my home study quite nicely. I am excited that no one indicated doing HI's on a part time basis was going to be a bad idea. That will help me. Once I am further along in my studies, I will contact local companies and see if they will take me under their wing.
hausdok Posted March 4, 2009 Report Posted March 4, 2009 Hi Jeremy, Well, the reason that you didn't catch any flak is that you are doing it the smart way instead of diving in head over heels without a plan like so many do. Folks read those full page ads in Popular Mechanics and the Family Handyman and they really do think that they can jump into this gig and make full-time money for part-time work. Then, after they've spent their savings and have floundered around in this gig for a while and realize that it's going to be 2, 3 maybe even 4 years before they're out of the red, they start getting desperate and they do stupid things like ignoring issues that could kill a deal so that they won't piss off the agent involved, hoping that by doing to they'll be assured of future referrals. Or, they just become downright bitter and leave the profession and go around telling everyone how bad it is. This can be very rewarding work, but one has to work at it. As long as you come on here, are respectful of everyone else's areas of expertise and show a willingness to listen and learn, and can show that you are willing to accept the occasional chiding or lecture from one of us old farts you'll find lots of folks here willing to help you succeed. Just ask Chad, John or a bunch of others. Be warned though, there are high expectations that if you hang out with this crew that you eventually become one of the best in the business, don't just say that you are like so many over on the soap opera do, and then you pay it forward to other guys coming into the business. ONE TEAM - ONE FIGHT!!! Mike
Chris Bernhardt Posted March 5, 2009 Report Posted March 5, 2009 Once I am further along in my studies, I will contact local companies and see if they will take me under their wing. If I was doing it here all over again in my neck of the woods, I would join the several home inspection associations in my area and start hanging with the brethren. After they get to know you and your enthusiasm, you'll have a better shot at getting ride alongs or perhaps getting hired in a multi-inspector firm. Actually, what I would do is just pay Jim Katen to teach me. Chris, Oregon
John Dirks Jr Posted March 5, 2009 Report Posted March 5, 2009 Welcome Jeremy, This is a good place to hang out. You'll learn a great deal here. Don't be afraid to ask and engage. The information and knowledge you inquire about here will help you and many others alike. If you ever feel knocked down, just get back up and keep on chuggin'.
JeremyDP Posted March 5, 2009 Author Report Posted March 5, 2009 Once I am further along in my studies, I will contact local companies and see if they will take me under their wing. If I was doing it here all over again in my neck of the woods, I would join the several home inspection associations in my area and start hanging with the brethren. After they get to know you and your enthusiasm, you'll have a better shot at getting ride alongs or perhaps getting hired in a multi-inspector firm. Anyone else wanna chime in on this one? Actually, what I would do is just pay Jim Katen to teach me. Ha, lucky for you Jim is in your state...
Chris Bernhardt Posted March 5, 2009 Report Posted March 5, 2009 Ha, lucky for you Jim is in your state... I pester him every chance I get. Chris, Oregon
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