Everyone rests easier when a home is safe and sound.
You can set your watch by home buying season. Without fail, buyers line up each spring and summer to tour open houses, meet with mortgage brokers, and schedule home inspections. While those with their home inspector certification know this pattern all too well, many are left wondering how to support their businesses in slower months. Thankfully, there are ways to market your services regardless of real estate trends.
Home maintenance inspections could be an overlooked tool in your business-building arsenal. When the real estate market is thin or local competition is high, adding this service to your roster gives you one more way to market your business and help it grow. Anyone currently practicing or considering how to become a home inspector should factor maintenance inspections into their business plans for the future.
Are you ready to up your game? Here are a few reasons why it’s a good idea:
Homes Need Checkups, Just Like People
The good condition of a house at the time of an inspection is no more permanent than a clean bill of health at your family doctor. As time marches on, problems can emerge. In fact, home inspections can be compared to the ritual yearly physical checkup, says Reuben Saltzman of Structure Tech Home Inspections.
Just as an annual checkup helps give peace of mind and also warns about health problems, a maintenance home inspection either lets homeowners know that everything is OK, or gives them a heads up that there’s a problem. Those with their home inspection certification know all too well the risks of letting maintenance go by the wayside. It doesn’t take a licensed home inspector, however, to know the value of regular cleaning and repair work!
Your investigative skills help save customers money in the long run.
Maintenance Home Inspections Protect Investments
A home is a major investment, so it only makes sense to protect it. With a maintenance home inspection, owners can learn about problems and potential problems before they require expensive repairs, and long before they lead to extensive structural damage.
Most homeowners address problems such as a plumbing leak or a faulty outlet as they arise. But by the time a homeowner sees mold on a bathroom wall or notices a few missing shingles, the property will need a lot more attention than if it had been detected sooner. Annual home inspections allow you to help homeowners take care of what they’ve worked so hard to keep.
While handy homeowners may try to fix issues as they occur, many turn a blind eye to home maintenance problems. Whether due to budgetary constraints, lack of knowledge or inexperience, too many homeowners ignore minor issues that can lead to long-term challenges. The good news? They don’t need to become a home inspector themselves to learn how to better care for their house! By educating consumers about the importance of maintenance inspections, you’ll earn more business and keep your clients happy.
Many Homeowners Need Maintenance Guidance
DIY blogs and home renovation shows have inspired countless Americans to take their houses into their own hands. It isn’t until they’re elbow-deep in sawdust that they realize many home projects are harder than they appear. Those with their home inspector certification can educate homeowners on what tasks are better left to the professionals.
Of course, swinging too far the other direction can be dangerous, too. Some homeowners never attempt DIY projects, nor do they fully understand what it takes to maintain their property. When you become a home inspector, you often take on the role of educator, too. Helping clients understand what routine maintenance is necessary to protect their investment is crucial to this side of the business.
Maintenance home inspections cost pennies when compared to repairing a longstanding problem.
The Cost is Minimal Compared to Potential Risks
Another reason maintenance home inspections are a highly marketable tool for you is because the cost is so small for homeowners. This is especially true when compared to what they might pay for repairing a creeping problem that has worsened for years.
For a few hundred dollars, the homeowner either learns that he’s in good shape for another year, or he’ll find out about a condition that really needs to be tended to. Peace of mind is priceless. But when you think about it, so is learning about a problem in time to prevent widespread damage or a safety threat to everyone living in the home.
Most homeowners have a home inspection just before buying a house. This gives the buyer and finance company some peace of mind about the condition of their investment, which makes you, as a home inspector, a vital part of the real estate world. But if you want to grow your business, you can nudge that along on your own. You don’t have to wait and hope for a real estate market boom.
Maintenance home inspections are one more way for you to provide a service to your community. If you’d like to learn more about becoming a home inspector, click here to get a demo for free and see one of our courses up close and personal. 
