Do you think that starting a business related to real estate should be avoided? You’re not alone. Many who suffered the effects of the real estate crash would never dream of becoming involved in a related business. However, starting a business that’s connected real estate can be extremely lucrative. One such business is the home-inspection industry.
The downturn in the housing market didn’t mean decreasing business for home inspectors. Real estate agents and other businesses involved in real estate took a hit when housing values dropped, but home inspectors kept going strong. The reason is largely due to the increasing number of foreclosed houses on the market. Many of these houses are old and in poor condition. Others have been abandoned and on the market so long that their condition is unknown. Investors and typical home buyers looking for a good deal are snapping up these bargains and creating lots of welcome work for housing inspectors.
Most houses must have an inspection before they can be bought or sold. Mortgage companies won’t lend money on a house with serious structural problems. People who want to buy these houses need an inspection so they’ll know whether it will have to be a cash purchase or if they will have to skip buying the house altogether. Sellers often seek a home inspection so they can learn whether they need to do any repairs before a bank will finance their home for a buyer. The more foreclosures an area has, the more business its home inspectors are going to get.
This is why Bill Redfern moved his A Buyer’s Choice Home Inspections company headquarters from Nova Scotia to South Florida shortly after the real estate crash. He knew that all of those foreclosures would mean big business for him. Florida has some of the highest foreclosure rates in the United States right now, and it shows no sign of changing any time soon. Busy home inspectors can complete 300 to 500 inspections a year.
However, the demand for home inspections is far greater than that right now. That’s why Bill Redfern turned A Buyer’s Choice Home Inspections into a franchise. This way, the company can reach more active markets and meet the growing home-inspection needs of those areas.
Being a franchise is a win-win situation for A Buyer’s Choice Home Inspections. The parent company takes a small percentage of the sales of each franchise and the franchise owners get to make a substantial income working for themselves in a business that shows no signs of slowing down. In fact, the company now has 30 franchises in the United States, 130 in Canada, and several more in Europe, South America and New Zealand. There are plans for expansion into more countries soon, and there is still room in the Florida market for more franchises to grab their share of business.
The real estate downturn couldn’t have been better news for the home-inspection industry. While there was always a need for this service when the market was up, that need has exploded since the market has been down. The home-inspection business is one of the few where market conditions are no barrier to success.
