by Nick Gromicko, CMI®
There is nothing better than being your own boss and earning your living with your own two hands. The joy of going out in the morning with a cup of coffee and doing a home inspection, getting paid, and bringing that money back home to your family is one that many people will never experience.
But we single operators must always be conscious that we are all just one sprained ankle away from being unable to put food on the table. And as we get older, the likelihood of being physically unable to perform a home inspection increases. The way to mitigate this risk is to join the Certified Commercial Property Inspectors Association (CCPIA) and become a commercial property inspector.
Commercial property inspections are more profitable than home inspections for numerous reasons:
- Commercial property inspections command higher fees. A commercial property inspector generally makes thousands of dollars per commercial inspection, instead of hundreds of dollars for a home inspection.
- A commercial property buyer is less emotional about the property. It’s a business decision for them. They aren’t moving themselves and their family into the building, so it’s a less emotionally fraught situation, in general.
- Commercial property inspectors have fewer competitors. Because it requires a different skill set and management acumen, not all home inspectors who also offer commercial inspections can compete successfully.
- It’s easier to market to commercial property real estate professionals because commercial property brokers generally specialize in commercial real estate
- And, lastly, a commercial property inspection business is not really an inspection business at all. It’s a management business. After determining what your client wants and their risk tolerance, you and your client will draw up a scope of work agreement for what you’ll inspect. Then, you must hire experts who’ll perform their specific part of the inspection. This may mean that you’ll send in an electrician, a commercial HVAC contractor, and a commercial roofer. You’ll then compile their reports along with the information you’ve gathered to produce the final report for your client. You can almost run your commercial inspection company without ever doing any actual inspecting yourself. Again, you won’t be so much an inspector as you will be a manager. And you can run your commercial inspection company from a desk and a chair with a twisted ankle.
Being a commercial property inspector is the perfect “encore career” for many home inspectors, and you can operate your commercial inspection business long after physiology prevents you from performing home inspections. Don’t wait till then, though – get started today by joining CCPIA.
Additional Commercial Property Inspection Resources:
Types of Commercial Inspection Clients
Types of Commercial Properties
Hiring Independent Contractors