Rockaway Beach, OR inspector needed.

[Brandon Whitmore]

Anyone know a good inspector who is more local to that area? They don't want to pay me for the drive charge. This is for a 1970's starter, fixer.

[Jim Katen]

Anyone know a good inspector who is more local to that area? They don't want to pay me for the drive charge. This is for a 1970's starter, fixer.

I'll go for $525 if I can time it to coincide with high tide or low tide so I can go fishing or clamming afterward. Business is slow.

The only other person I'd recommend out there is Mike Harrison. He's up in Seaside. 503 738-7979.

My general impression is that the inspectors out there - with the exception of Harrison - are a bunch of doodleheads. Pretty much everyone who's serious about buying out there brings in an inspector from the Portland area.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[Richard Moore]

C'mon Brandon. It's only 2 hours...each way! You charge for that?

Seriously, I'm getting to the stage where just crossing the street is too far for something described up front as a fixer. Live is too short to be writing "War and Peace" length reports on a POS. Around here they also usually come with the nastiest of crawl spaces.

[Brandon Whitmore]

I'll go for $525 if I can time it to coincide with high tide or low tide so I can go fishing or clamming afterward. Business is slow.

Business is slowwwww here as well. As of Tuesday this week, I had nothing. Somehow, I will finish with 4 for the week-- pure luck.

Sounds like I need to raise my prices, my bid was $25 cheaper [:-tong2] than yours. I wouldn't even consider going out there if I wasn't slow.

Richard, before I gave them a price, I required a copy of the RMLS listing on this one. If it looked like a slam dunk, I would have been a little cheaper and more willing to travel. This one looks like a real peach. It's selling for $125k, and is only 5 blocks from the beach............

[Scottpat]

Try not quoting "Extra" for the drive time, just build it into the price and don't say a word about charging extra for mileage. Folks tend to be more receptive when it is presented that way.

[Brandon Whitmore]

Try not quoting "Extra" for the drive time, just build it into the price and don't say a word about charging extra for mileage. Folks tend to be more receptive when it is presented that way.

Thanks for the good advice. I felt bad quoting them $500 for a base starter home, so I told them I would try to find someone closer. On a nicer, more expensive house that far out, I won't feel bad about quoting a high fee.

[Bain]

Another problem with long-distance gigs is when a problem--real or perceived--arises. You don't want to drive four hours, probabaly for free, to see what's up. I had a woman call me today because all of her window cranks were broken. Luckily I remembered the house. I explained that the sellers had removed the cranks due to their children, and when the cranks were replaced prior to closing, the sellers never bothered to tighten the allen screws.

[Jim Katen]

Originally posted by Brandon Whitmore

. . . Business is slowwwww here as well. As of Tuesday this week, I had nothing. Somehow, I will finish with 4 for the week-- pure luck.

Sounds like I need to raise my prices, my bid was $25 cheaper [:-tong2] than yours. I wouldn't even consider going out there if I wasn't slow.

Well sure. But if things are slow, look at it this way. They're paying you for the travel time for a fishing trip. If you have to do a home inspection before you start fishing, so be it.

Nothing gets the smell of crawlspace off better than a stiff breeze on the jetty.

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[Brandon Whitmore]

Well sure. But if things are slow, look at it this way. They're paying you for the travel time for a fishing trip. If you have to do a home inspection before you start fishing, so be it.

Nothing gets the smell of crawlspace off better than a stiff breeze on the jetty.

Hmmmm.., now you're talking. Typing a report on my laptop while I have a line in the water sounds nice.

Note to self: Sneak fishing gear into work truck while fiance' has her head turned. Then, let her know I'll be working late.

[Jim Katen]

Well sure. But if things are slow, look at it this way. They're paying you for the travel time for a fishing trip. If you have to do a home inspection before you start fishing, so be it.

Nothing gets the smell of crawlspace off better than a stiff breeze on the jetty.

Hmmmm.., now you're talking. Typing a report on my laptop while I have a line in the water sounds nice.

Note to self: Sneak fishing gear into work truck while fiance' has her head turned. Then, let her know I'll be working late.

And won't she be pleased when you come home with a basket full of sea

perch?

- Jim Katen, Oregon

[Brandon Whitmore]

I'll be dropping those off at your house on the way through. Your idea, your fish.