Home Inspection: A Field that Could Help You Start Your Contracting Career

Home inspection is a busy career that allows you to work with real estate professionals, homeowners and buyers to determine the condition of a target property. Since you’re not required to have a contractor’s license in California to be a home inspector, it could be a great way to get into the industry. Here’s how it works.

What Is Home Inspection?
When people want to buy or sell a home, it’s common for them to arrange for a home inspection. Real estate agents strongly recommend that buyers make a home inspection a part of their purchase contract. This is because it’s hard to tell the condition of a home just by looking at it in a brief visit.
When they schedule a home inspection, a qualified person goes to the home in question. They spend a few hours inspecting the structure of the home and its systems, such as:

• Roof
• Foundation
• Exterior
• Insulation
• Plumbing
• HVAC

The inspector goes through each aspect of the home, as it is available, and tests it out. Whatever they see, good or bad, they put it into a comprehensive report that is delivered to the client. The home inspection helps buyers determine if the property is going to be a good investment for them.

How Do Home Inspectors Work?
Home inspectors may work independently or as part of a business. Clients pay for home inspections at the time of service, and home inspections usually cost a few hundred dollars. If you join a business that offers home inspections, you may get paid a regular salary.

What Is Home Inspection Like?
As a home inspector, you’ll spend your time doing a variety of tasks. During the work day, you will move from one location to the next. Having a commitment to timely work and communication is key to fulfilling the obligations of the task at hand, as well as impressing real estate professionals. Be prepared for physical work, like climbing up into the attic or taking a peek inside a crawlspace. Computer skills are a necessity, because you will need to create a report with images and text for clients to review and keep as a record. Since real estate transactions often hang in the balance, home inspectors are expected to be thorough, efficient and prompt in delivery of the results.

Why Is Home Inspection a Good Place to Start in Construction?
If you’ve been thinking about getting into construction but you aren’t sure where to begin, home inspection could be a good way to survey lots of industries. You don’t need a contractor’s license, which usually takes years of work to build up the qualifications just to apply. To become a home inspector, you must have a broad knowledge of residential construction and local guidelines for buildings. Many people love being a home inspector and decide to stick with it. As you learn more about each part of a home, you might discover a greater interest in one particular field. That could help guide you into another rewarding career.

How Can I Become a Home Inspector?
Starting this career path requires training in the things you’ll look at as a home inspector, with tips on how you can do it efficiently and effectively. In our training course, we offer the education people need to perform a comprehensive inspection on a home. We also provide opportunities to practice these skills and write reports that will be useful for clients. Once you have trained as a home inspector, you have a valuable skill set that will help you market your services.

Home inspection is an important part of residential construction, and it can be a wonderful career choice, too. For more information about home inspection and other courses we offer, visit CSLS today!