You can pay me now, or you can pay me later....

This post was inspired by a comment I left in another blog this morning.

I always tell my Clients that they can call me for any reason any time in the future and I'll help them with whatever they need help with. I'll even take on the problems of their family, friends, and business associates.

Last year I did three inspections for a young woman who was searching for a house that she could remodel into her home, but one that didn't need to be gutted and renovated. She turned down all three of those properties, and I never heard from her again.

I work with her Realtor on a regular basis, and several weeks later I was with her Realtor and we got to talking about all of our work together over the years when he mentioned her. Turns out that she had bought the fourth home without an inspection, telling her Realtor that she was comfortable going through the house herself since she had three of my reports and knew what to look for.

Just a few weeks after talking about her with her Realtor, she calls me needing help. As often happens, people might think they know what to look for, but they don't. Or they don't know what it means when they are looking at something. Or they only know what the problems were in the first three houses without realizing all the other potential problems. Or they just don't go where we go -- roofs, attics, under the house, etc.

I have no problem helping people on the phone, via email, or in an ActiveRain blog, as long as I'm doing it from the comfort of my home office with my home office uniform on. If I have to get dressed into something more respectable and actually leave my home office, I'm charging for my time and you can have my expertise and knowledge for free.

I charge $100 an hour for my time, with a volume discount for home inspections since they are buying several hours at a time. Ultimately, Mrs. Buyer paid me more to inspect, analyze, and find just one problem than she would have by paying for a home inspection to begin with, especially since the problem I found would have been one that I'm certain they would have asked the sellers to repair.

You can pay me now, or you can pay me (and others for repairs) later....

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Be sure to enter the ActiveRain "Nature & Marketing" contest.

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This week's posts

1. San Diego home inspection FAQs: May I attend the inspection? - 7/20/09
2. San Diego home inspection FAQs: How much do you charge? - 7/20/09

Last week's posts

1. San Diego home inspections: Frequently asked questions - 7/19/09
2. SST (Speechless Sunday with Text): Still roaring! - 7/19/09
3. Special birthday announcement - 7/18/09
4. First pictures with my new Sigma 50 mm f/2.8 macro lens - 7/17/09
5. San Diego home inspections: Copper water pipes are so last year - 7/17/09
6. My first anniversary and how ActiveRain has affected me - 7/17/09
7. WWW (Wordless Wednesday with Words): Words of wisdom - 7/15/09
8. Feels just like Texas.... Wait! I'm in San Diego! - 7/14/09
9. Who am I to be so humbled? - 7/14/09
10. Announcing the "Nature & Marketing" contest - 7/13/09

Previous week's posts

1. SST (Speechless Sunday with Text): Even though it's labeled, you can use it for something else - 7/12/09
2. It doesn't have to be SSDD - 7/12/09
3. Thankful Thursdays: A vision of thanks (for all days) - 7/11/09
4. Ivy has its place. Just ask the Ivy League - 7/10/09
5. Wood U like an IV? - 7/10/09
6. Russel's photography for Foto Friday: Yummy. I'll pass, though. - 7/10/09
7. Collecting rainwater is legal - 7/8/09
8. WWW (Wordless Wednesday with Words): A macro flower slide show - 7/8/09
9. Can Realtors and Home Inspectors actually play nicely together? - 7/7/09
10. You never know where you'll find that better mousetrap, or what form it will take - 7/6/09

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