All Forum Posts by: Reinaldo Lopez

HI try looking into Intenachi, Ashi or FABI ( Florida Association of Building Inspectors ) the are highly trained property inspectors and stick to a strict standards of practice ( SOP ) that you can count on.

https://www.homeinspector.org/

https://www.nachi.org/certified-inspectors

https://fabi.org/

HI for professionally trained and certified Home Inspector in any area of the nation and Canada you can look in ASHI or InterNASHI.org, This are national associations in the USA.

https://www.nachi.org/certified-inspectors

https://www.homeinspector.org/

you can find good trained and certified inspectors from association itself 

https://www.nachi.org/certified-inspectors

and ASHI

Hi, Hope every one is doing ok, You are in Dallas, no basement I guess, Foundation problems, very common in the Dallas-Fort Worth area because it is very hot and the ground dries up and settle the house. I will definitely ask a professional about this, it could be a deal killer or maker. If there is a problem negotiate a better price then deal with the issue it might not be as bad as you think.

You can have an estimate of cost per job from this website 

https://www.homewyse.com/

you can try this website to have a good idea of repair cost.

https://www.homewyse.com/

HI and hope every one is safe. Home inspectors that are members of national association and state occupational license if required are the best, check out Internachi.org or ASHI for qualified inspectors in your area. Like Mr Winter mentioned, an inspector will do visual inspection and most of the time we can notice other defects with out opening the walls. Some use Infrared Cameras that help a lot or look for signs or damage from water intrusion. 

We will refer to a professional for example, if we suspect foundation problems. This professional are the best to really tell you if it is real bad or simple fix. We do not know it all but from yearly recurrent training we learn a lot. Most of the inspectors are ex-contractors so they know a lot.

https://www.nachi.org/certified-inspectors

https://www.homeinspector.org/HomeInspectors/Find

HI and congrats on your decision, learn a lot from here join some of the local meetups (now Zoom) get yourself a good group of trades men like plumber, HVAC, electrician that will be the most important, mortgage broker ( don't depend 100% on banks) and like Carlos said a good home inspector, you can find some well train at Internachi.org or ASHI, this are national associations and have a very good requirements to be one. Some states require to have a occupational license others not. Also because is dirt cheap doesn't mean it is a good deal.

Good topic that only a few talk about. One way of knowing if you can make good money is to know if your state requires a occupational license like Realtors, Electrician, Etc... otherwise any body can claim to be an inspector.  Yes it is a business unless you work for someone else. . Working for some one else you can make around 40% to 70% of the fee because there is insurance, software, scheduling, and some equipment, like a A/C company or other trades. and the majority don't get it right. I am a part time inspector and investor but there is some good money to make and you c an use your expertise towards buying properties because you will see the inside of a property, and there is a lot of crazy things out there.

tell you friend to start looking in to InterNASHI.org or ASHI this are the biggest national associations and have tons of training.

Thanks I really like this site, it gives a lot of legal rules that most people overlook when investing, I was using loop net to look at demographics and income for areas but I guess the best way is to take a drive in the neighborhood to really feel the area. One question, if you life in a different state, do you have to pay income tax in that particular state where you own the property? because some state have state income tax, here in Florida we do not. also how you test a property management, hit and miss? That could be expensive.