Job: Home inspector
The role: Home inspectors bring transparency to real estate transactions by assessing and reporting on a wide range of residential systems and structures. According to Alexander Floercke, the director of education for the Canadian Institute of Home Inspectors, their job is “to make sure things function as they should.”
Mr. Floercke says a home inspector typically spends two to four hours on a property, depending on its size and complexity, and another hour or so writing a report that outlines the findings.
“The report will include the exterior – such as the grading, siding condition, window condition, roof, driveway and the garage. You would have structural components in the report, you would have electrical components, talking about defects and deficiencies and recommendations for safety and improvements,” he says. “Other items in the report would be your heating and ventilation, and your structural and interior components.”
Reports can range from 30 pages to more than 100 and often include images. Mr. Floercke adds that the majority of home inspectors operate independently, though there are a small number of home inspection firms and franchises across the country.
Salary: The typical home inspector charges from $400 to $550 per inspection, depending on the location, size and age of a home, according to Mr. Floercke. He adds that competition often drives prices down in densely populated areas, while scarcity drives them up in rural or remote areas. Annual pay also varies based on the volume of work individual inspectors take on in a given year.
For example, Mr. Floercke estimates that part-time practitioners can earn an extra $40,000 to $60,000 per year while maintaining a full-time job. “Those that are sort of established but don’t work overtime, making six figures is by no means a far stretch. I would say a median salary would be about $130,000, plus or minus $20,000, per year,” he says. “The inspectors who work overtime can make $200,000 to $250,000 a year, but they’re pulling 80- or 90-hour workweeks, doing 400 or 500 inspections a year.”
Mr. Floercke adds operating costs are also relatively low. “Fuel and if you carry insurance, those are your biggest expenses,” he says. “Plus a vehicle, but you don’t need a shop. Most work out of the house. You just need a laptop and a camera.”
Education: There are currently just two provinces that regulate home inspectors: Alberta and British Columbia. While there are many college-level home-inspector programs available elsewhere across Canada, they remain entirely optional, and Mr. Floercke warns, “buyer beware.”
In order to become licensed in Alberta, home inspectors must first earn a Certified Home Inspector certificate through an institution accredited by Service Alberta and successfully complete two proctored exams.
“Then you must belong to a home-inspection association and do a practical home-inspection test, so you’ll actually go with an examiner to a test house and do a mock inspection,” says Mr. Floercke. Applicants also need to obtain home-inspector insurance. “Once they have the course certificate, the exam certificate, their association and their insurance, they can apply to Service Alberta to get their licence.”
Home inspectors in British Columbia must similarly complete an educational program approved by Consumer Protection B.C. and pass one of four exams. Candidates must then complete 50 hours of supervised training and obtain a letter of recommendation from their trainer.
“After those requirements are met – the certificate from a training provider, the shadowing and the letter of endorsement – they will still require insurance before applying to Consumer Protection B.C. [for a licence],” says Mr. Floercke.
Job prospects: The home-inspection industry is very closely tied to the real estate market, as the majority of mortgage providers require an inspection before the sale of a property.
“It’s fairly good, depending on your market and how competitive it is, depending on how hungry you are, depending on how great your marketing scheme is or your interpersonal skills; that will dictate how well you’ll do as a home inspector,” says Mr. Floercke.
Challenges: Home inspectors get much of their business through referrals from realtors, but inspectors are responsible for pointing out potential problems with properties realtors are trying to sell, which can put them in a difficult position with buyers and realtors.
“They have to be careful with how they deliver the information to their client, as well as the realtor, because if they make a mountain out of a molehill, it can cost [the realtor] the sale,” explains Mr. Floercke. “It’s just a very fine line that inspectors have to learn to walk.”
Why they do it: For those who enjoy working with their hands and away from a desk, home inspecting can be a more lucrative and less physically demanding alternative to construction or manual labour.
“The heaviest thing they’ve got to carry is the ladder,” says Mr. Floercke. “Besides that, you’ve got a camera, a few tools in your pocket and that’s about it. There’s very little strain on the body.”
Misconceptions: Home inspectors are often confused with similar but distinct professions like code inspectors, who are responsible for ensuring a building meets legal safety requirements; and appraisers, who help determine the value of a property.
Mr. Floercke explains that home inspectors help clients better understand a property but are not responsible for determining its value or whether it meets legally mandated safety requirements.
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