[Clevelander]

I've been doing research on different real estate jobs and I stumbled upon real estate field inspections. It seems to be very simple. I saw that the pay is usually around $15-$30 per inspection, which can add up if you get enough. I was wondering how I could go about getting into this field? Can I start up on my own? Who do I contact for work? Do I have to be a sub-contractor for another field service company? Do any of you guys have any experience in this field?

Thanks! :thumbsup:

 

[Wannabe]

Yes when I did Real estate inspections on foreclosed properties we invoiced up to $150 per property. It started the pricing decent to 75-100 per property and we started our escape. I heard that it's even went FURTHER downhill!

private party house inspections are $350 and up.

I've heard that foreclosed inspections are now paying upwards of $2.50-$5.00.

 

[safeguard dropout]

I can confirm $2.50-$5.00. I was contacted yesterday by a regional offering $6.
I kinda chuckled, then a bit more, then I couldn't stop laughing. He told me it was a good deal and I should take it because in places like Chicago it's $2-$3. I asked him how the hell he can sell that with a straight face.......click.

 

[G 3]

I've done vacancy inspections and property damage inspections, and stopped when the crap dropped below $25 a job. Just got a call about a month ago from a group from Illinois telling me that they have over 300 inspections a month for me, and would be willing to let me do them for $3 a piece. When I asked if they paid for gas, oil, and insurance, I was told that I would more than make up for that with... volume.

I told them to pay for the insurance, gas, and lunch, and I'll pay for the oil. I got the customary "... Whaaaa?", then hung up. Not for me. Someone else out there who really wants the "Job" can have it.

 

[Ohnojim]

I have not been able to make those numbers work

I've been doing research on different real estate jobs and I stumbled upon real estate field inspections. It seems to be very simple. I saw that the pay is usually around $15-$30 per inspection, which can add up if you get enough. I was wondering how I could go about getting into this field? Can I start up on my own? Who do I contact for work? Do I have to be a sub-contractor for another field service company? Do any of you guys have any experience in this field?

Thanks! :thumbsup:

The issue with the numbers is: The inspections never seen to come out in any logical order, geographically and chronologically. It is always two orders over here, one order over there, you get the picture. Doing QC's or PCR's for $20 or so could be profitable if the companies cared even a little bit about it, but they don't. If you can't pull in at least between $2-3 a mile, it doesn't work.

 

[madxtreme01]

I've been doing occupancy inspections here since 2007. I own my own company and cover a portion of my state. The main issue is the due dates. Rushes come in randomly, inspections are due mostly in 5 days which is fair, but in this industry weekends count as days. They don't care if we have time with out families, they expect us to work 24/7 while their offices are open 9-5 M-F. Ok, so with that being said 300 inspections may not seem like a lot, especially at $3 ea, which is the going inspector rate. The regional receiving them is paying $5-6. In all reality most of these properties are occupied. So pull up, a few quick pictures with your camera from inside the car, then pull away. Any company that requires a photo of a call back card, I either tell them that I need $15-20 so I can pay my inspectors $10 to get out of the car, or I tell them no thanks. This industry expects you to get out of the car every time, but in reality it isn't possible. My inspectors are currently making $4-5k monthly full time minus expenses. They key is to find 4-5 of those companies offering 300 inspections each.

 

[safeguard dropout]

5 grand a month working 6 days a week, $3 per inspection.....277 inspections a day. Did I calculate that right? :vs_shocked:

 

[safeguard dropout]

OR, screw the family and friends and work all 7 day of the week and you only have to do 238 inspections per day...to make 5k.....minus fuel, insurance, wear and tear....did someone say McDonalds?

 

[ILInspector]

I see Craigslist ads all the time stating "our inspectors are earning over $20-30 per hour", getting paid $3 per inspection. That's just flat out bullchit. The forms that you are required to fill out with one of those $3 inspections also takes 10 - 15 minutes by the time you have uploaded all the pics, relabeled them, and checked off all the dumbass questions. Sorry, but there is no way in hell anyone is making $20 - 30 bucks per hour unless you only are covering the west side of Chicago.

 

[madxtreme01]

5 grand a month working 6 days a week, $3 per inspection.....277 inspections a day. Did I calculate that right? :vs_shocked:

your calculations are wrong...you forgot a step.....$5k a month divided by 20 days a month (I do not require my inspectors to work weekends) equals $250/day divided by $3 per inspection is 84 inspections per day...... I said it was full time. Some inspectors do a 4-5 hour route and go home after 50 inspections. It all depends on the work load and area. Some towns have 100 inspections while others have 3, so drive time is a huge factor. I have a girl that works for me that consistantly does a minimum of 70 houses a day, leaves at 8 and is home by 3, uploads in EZinspections and it takes her about 1 and a half hours to complete. Your handle is safeguard dropout, so I'm assuming your experience is with them, their software is a nightmare. Ezinspections streamlines everything to make it simple. Although I feel that Trakscape is better, our suppliers want us to use EZ

 

[safeguard dropout]

Yep, I did calculate wrong. You are correct it is 84 per day to gross 5K for the month. 70 inspections minimum in 7 hrs? That is one every 6 minutes on a SLOW day, IF i calculated that right. (I've been wrong before:vs_smile There are very few locations nationwide that would have that kind of density. I was offered $6 and half my mid west state with only 190 inspections per month....and he said only 60% would come in 1st of the month and then trickle in the rest of the month, so I would constantly be making the rounds to keep them on time. If your business and your people can make money at it without giving away the farm, great, go get it. No way this works for most of us.

 

[madxtreme01]

We do work primarily for MCS and Cyprexx. They have 2 downloads one on the 3rd and the other on the 15th. So the drops are spread out enough to make routes fairly efficient. With the 70 house day it's usually between 75-120 miles round trip and 6 1/2 hours according to streets and trips. So figure 8-9 hours if you leave late and 7-7 1/2 hours on a normal day. I went out yesterday to help the guys catch up. I took the crap route of 40 houses which was 150 miles round trip and 6 hours. It took me 6 hours to actually do the work plus my drive home (another 30 min) and I was stuck in traffic all day. The key is to work an area, not the due date. Frequently we will do an inspection that was ordered before we are technically able to. Most have start dates. I don't understand why I should be getting it before I can do it, but it works for us. We have been working with these 2 companies now for 2 years. Previously before safeguard ruined everything we did bank of america inspections. We had about 2k inspections per county. They all dropped on the 15th and were due in 2 weeks. There were times when we had 100 in 1 town. It was great. I used to take the urban areas personally and do 150 houses in 3-4 hours. Those times are long behind us.

 

[safeguard dropout]

150 inspections in 3-4 hours?? That's one every 90 seconds. What are you smoking?

 

[madxtreme01]

150 inspections in 3-4 hours?? That's one every 90 seconds. What are you smoking?

I don't know where your from, but I did Essex County NJ which consisted of Newark and Irvington where there was 100 houses on each block and 1 in every 5 were in foreclosure. I used a digital SLR camera so I was at a house for literally 10 seconds if not less. It took me longer to open and close my window. I also used a GPS that allowed me to load all of the stops in at home prior to going on the road so when I got to a house, I told it to take me to the next one (it's called itinerary planning).....We still use this today. I have done my research on how to make the day as short as possible and with the new technology that all of the nationals are going which is using a mobile app, they want you to do the full inspection while in the field using a smartphone. I think it's crap and takes much longer.

 

[safeguard dropout]

Well, I see we live in 2 different worlds. Let me explain where I live. My wife and I bought 5 acres rolling hills timber with a 3/4 acre pond in 2005 for $12,000. Then, for the price of a falling over foreclosure in New Jersey, I built a new 1800 sq ft modest ranch home overlooking that pond where my boys and the dog go fishing and swimming or just playing in the mud every summer day. Oh, and I built that home with only 2 permits, one for the septic and one for the driveway approach off the county road...total...$400. I live 2 miles from a small town with a couple good watering holes, a mini Wal Mart and decent schools, new middle school last year. My nearest neighbor is a mile away and it's 200 yds to my tree stand from my front door. Sound like anything you know in New Jersey? Nope. When I negotiate pricing with a national, many times I am charging more to get there than for the work I do. So you'll just have to believe me when I say, $3 inspections don't work here...it's a different world.

 

[madxtreme01]

Well, I see we live in 2 different worlds. Let me explain where I live. My wife and I bought 5 acres rolling hills timber with a 3/4 acre pond in 2005 for $12,000. Then, for the price of a falling over foreclosure in New Jersey, I built a new 1800 sq ft modest ranch home overlooking that pond where my boys and the dog go fishing and swimming or just playing in the mud every summer day. Oh, and I built that home with only 2 permits, one for the septic and one for the driveway approach off the county road...total...$400. I live 2 miles from a small town with a couple good watering holes, a mini Wal Mart and decent schools, new middle school last year. My nearest neighbor is a mile away and it's 200 yds to my tree stand from my front door. Sound like anything you know in New Jersey? Nope. When I negotiate pricing with a national, many times I am charging more to get there than for the work I do. So you'll just have to believe me when I say, $3 inspections don't work here...it's a different world.

yes, every area is different. Thankfully I don't live in the areas that I have described previously. I live in the suburbs. I live on an acre of land. My neighbors house is about 100ft away on either side. My block is about 1/8 mile and there are 8 houses on it. I live near all major chain retailers and I can walk to the major highway near me that has all of the shopping I could ask for. Here you pay for convenience. The average family home here is at least $350k and that's for a small house that needs work. I would say average is between 400-500k depending on the size. However everything here is in a development or a sub division as it's called in other areas. On average in my area you can expect to be able to complete between 10-15 inspections per hour.

 

[ILInspector]

Such a load of BS. Let's see, 70 houses in 9 hours, not including the uploading. Add on another 4 hours for uploading. That's $210 less gas, wear and tear, insurance, divided by 13 hours = Mc D's for me. Oops, forgot the BS backcharging for a blurry house number that you go to every month, missed street sign, pic of my shoes at the door, lol.

 

[GTX63]

1845552993- $6
1847736256- $3
1845575720- $3
1859390278- $3
1859323211- $3
1598100142- $3
1845552993- $6
1847736256- $3
1845575720- $3
1859390278- $3
1859323211- $3
1598100142- $3
1845552993- $6
1847736256- $3
1845575720- $3
1859390278- $3
1859323211- $3
1598100142- $6
1845552993- $6
1847736256- $3
1845575720- $3
1859390278- $3
1859323211- $3
1598100142- $3

The following is a sample of what a buddy of mine would get emailed to him with his notice of payment. No other information to describe the property. Now, unless he was willing to pay a third party processor, or come up with his own accounting software or tracking system, he had the choice of sitting in front of his monitor for hours, going thru individual inspections, line by line, matching order numbers to confirm he was paid properly and completely. I do know he had an approximately 10% to 15% loss rate, due to cancellations that came in after he uploaded (didn't matter) and inspections that just never seem to show up in the national's file system after the fact, either though they were the one who sent them. So rather than call and hang on the line for hours each week with someone from accounting who could care less about $43 worth of inspections, he ate it. He may have grossed $4200 for the month according to QuickBooks, but the checks that came in may only amount to say $3500, but hey, $3500 is $3500 so he took it and asked for more.
That also meant he drove to ie one property in the sticks for 13 months in a row without realizing he had never been paid for it.
"Oh wow", she says like she just saw a bad accident. "It looks like someone put the order in the monthly rotation but they never input it into the main system. Sorry, I can't bill the client for work that old. I can pay you the $3 for this month though." He couldn't invoice them; they didn't acknowledge contractor invoices generated outside of their system.

It's too bad these bozos don't have disclaimers posted to their webpages-

"Individual results may vary from person to person. The example shown here is an exception and does not reflect the vast majority of contractors currently working with us. Totals are typical less than presented depending on your efforts and our concern. See your regional for details."

 

[madxtreme01]

1845552993- $6
1847736256- $3
1845575720- $3
1859390278- $3
1859323211- $3
1598100142- $3
1845552993- $6
1847736256- $3
1845575720- $3
1859390278- $3
1859323211- $3
1598100142- $3
1845552993- $6
1847736256- $3
1845575720- $3
1859390278- $3
1859323211- $3
1598100142- $6
1845552993- $6
1847736256- $3
1845575720- $3
1859390278- $3
1859323211- $3
1598100142- $3

The following is a sample of what a buddy of mine would get emailed to him with his notice of payment. No other information to describe the property. Now, unless he was willing to pay a third party processor, or come up with his own accounting software or tracking system, he had the choice of sitting in front of his monitor for hours, going thru individual inspections, line by line, matching order numbers to confirm he was paid properly and completely. I do know he had an approximately 10% to 15% loss rate, due to cancellations that came in after he uploaded (didn't matter) and inspections that just never seem to show up in the national's file system after the fact, either though they were the one who sent them. So rather than call and hang on the line for hours each week with someone from accounting who could care less about $43 worth of inspections, he ate it. He may have grossed $4200 for the month according to QuickBooks, but the checks that came in may only amount to say $3500, but hey, $3500 is $3500 so he took it and asked for more.
That also meant he drove to ie one property in the sticks for 13 months in a row without realizing he had never been paid for it.
"Oh wow", she says like she just saw a bad accident. "It looks like someone put the order in the monthly rotation but they never input it into the main system. Sorry, I can't bill the client for work that old. I can pay you the $3 for this month though." He couldn't invoice them; they didn't acknowledge contractor invoices generated outside of their system.

It's too bad these bozos don't have disclaimers posted to their webpages-

"Individual results may vary from person to person. The example shown here is an exception and does not reflect the vast majority of contractors currently working with us. Totals are typical less than presented depending on your efforts and our concern. See your regional for details."

Thankfully we have never run into this problem. The companies I work for have a pay cycle which is usually the 1st-15th and the 16th-30th. Anything completed during that time will be paid by the end of the following cycle. The only time we have had issues on payment is due to late work. Now for the same reason as you, I'm not going through to see which ones were late and deduct from my inspectors. Whatever the system says they have completed during those time periods is what they get paid for. Being a small guy working for the nationals just doesn't work. It takes a lot of time and effort "chasing" to be paid. The little guy usually gets paid regardless, as long as they work for a reputable business.

 

[GTX63]

Tom's orders usually floated in around the 3rd to the 5th. He covered norther Missouri near St Louis and down into the middle of the state. Some orders were 5-7 days due, others were due the day he got them or already late. Since he covered cities and well and rural, he racked up the miles. He knew his 2nd batch followed around the 15th and had many addresses closes to the areas of the first batch, so he would "jump" some orders and list them on his sheets, submitting them when they came in. Of course that didn't always happen. He'd drive 30 miles out of the way for an order that never reappeared. His exf dates didn't match the due dates so again, no payout.
He started when gas was $1.80 per gallon. A front pic, address pic and occupancy determination evolved into three sides, proof of occupancy, a utility meter, damage, debris, etc. More and more required, fuel up to $3.80 and he still was paid the same. He could have solicited locals in his area and made 10 times the money. As said, for every contractor making bank on third party inspections, there are many more treading water on a good day and losing the rest.