Money Magazine has rated the home inspection industry as one of the "Top Ten Highest Income Home Businesses," and Entrepreneur Magazine calls home inspection "one of the best opportunities?"
And now, you can build a solid, rewarding career in the home inspection business by teaming up with A-Pro® one of the fastest growing inspection franchisors in the United States.
I. About Us
A-Pro® Home Inspection is a family-owned company founded in 1994 by Greg Mangiaracina, a longtime home inspection professional, Vice Chairman of the Louisiana Licensing Board for Home Inspectors and co-author of "How to Market a Home Inspection Business."
The philosophy that Greg built for A-Pro® is simple: to deliver fast, fair and balanced service that our customers can rely on with confidence, and to build a nationwide team of business owners who strive together toward the common goal of success and professional integrity.
Our tremendous growth has allowed us to offer franchise opportunities to like-minded professionals that want to take advantage of this booming industry. The A-Pro® team prides itself on standing behind its inspectors day in and day out providing the training, logistical & marketing support they need to successfully grow their businesses without limit.
II. Dedicated Support Team
When you become an A-Pro® business owner, you gain instant, around-the-clock access to our staff of engineers, technicians, copywriters, designers, technical support personnel, computer programmers and information managers all of whom work with you to develop and grow your business.
We also save you time, money and effort by providing professional marketing materials like brochures, postcards, and self-mailers, coupled with a solid marketing plan, so you can concentrate on inspections, and not operational headaches.
In addition, our staff provides live online and telephone support anytime it¹s needed, in case you have a question, a problem, or just need a little added guidance in any particular area.
III. What Makes Us Unique?
By teaming up with A-Pro®, you¹ll be able to offer your customers a myriad of features, benefits and added value that other inspection companies simply cannot match, including:
- A free warranty evaluation included with every inspection.
- A free 90-day inspection warranty for the homebuyer that clearly tells our customers that "If We Don¹t Report It, We Repair it."
This feature assures the buyer that you are competent and your services are backed by a National Home Warranty provider.
- Our exclusive 120-day warranty for the seller.
This feature helps move the seller¹s homes more quickly and efficiently because the buyer knows that the home has been pre-inspected, and is already warranty-protected against potential problems.
Both warranties include free structural and roof coverage at no cost to our customers. A huge advantage that no one else in this business offers.
- In approved states, we also offer three different extended home warranty plans for homeowners to choose from all of which guarantee no pre-existing conditions on the home.
- The All-in-One Plan, which guarantees no third party inspectors are needed after the inspection.
A common practice of the home inspection industry is performing a visual inspection, then, if a possible problem exists, recommending a further evaluation from a specialist (e.g., electrician, plumber, etc.). This means added time, expense and headaches for all parties the homebuyer, the seller and most importantly the real estate agent. We eliminate that problem with our unique All-In-One plan.
- We also provide a Foundation level survey with a CAD drawing to our clients. Again, this is something that other inspection outfits just aren¹t doing for their customers.
What all this basically means is that all A-Pro® inspections are covered by warranties or guarantees that protect both our customers and our inspectors in the event that the inspector omits a problem in his findings. And that¹s not only ironclad protection for the inspector; it¹s also a strong selling point to prospective customers when they¹re choosing an inspection firm to team up with.
In a nutshell, most inspection companies focus simply on price, whereas we focus on quality and benefits and that keeps our customers coming back, year in, year out and puts more profits in our inspector¹s pocket.
IV. Vast Customer Base
As an A-Pro® Inspector, you¹ll be getting about 95% of your business directly from your local realtors, who once they get to know you will refer clients directly to you on an ongoing basis. In fact, once you¹ve earned their trust, chances are you¹ll be the only home inspector they¹ll ever use. That's why we guarantee all of our franchisees a protected database of 500 licensed and active real estate agents.
The other 5% of your business will come from responses to the advertising and marketing program we provide to you, and of course, word of mouth once you begin to build your customer base.
One of the great things about the home inspection business is that it truly builds upon itself with every inspection you perform. And when you consider that 20% of Americans move into a new home each year, you can imagine the number of new client opportunities you¹ll have every day. Your customer base is always fresh, and it¹s virtually unlimited.
V. Strategic Marketing Support
A-Pro provides its business owners with a fully-scripted, strategic sales approach to maintain an effective, consistent message across all their marketing efforts.
Regardless of your past experience in marketing, our full-time staff of copywriters, designers and production specialists combine their years of expertise to help you achieve success, virtually from day one. And you don¹t pay anything extra to have these professionals at your disposal. They serve as a full-time extension of your operational and marketing team.
Normally, a full-fledged marketing program for any company would cost thousands of dollars to develop and produce. But our program is included, and it¹s yours to use from day one.
In addition to printed marketing materials we also provide our inspectors with business leads through what¹s known as a predictive dialing telemarketing program. This service provides announcements directly to your exclusive territory each quarter during the first year to help you get off to a fast start.
VI. State-of-the-Art Reporting System
Our Inspection Reporting System is by far the best the industry has to offer. Our proprietary system was personally developed after studying dozens of the others and combining the best, most useful features of each into the patented A-Pro® report. And because it¹s based in a Microsoft Word platform, it¹s very fast and easy to use.
The system is designed to report the home¹s condition in a fair and balanced way, allowing you, as the inspector, to highlight the positive aspects of the home as well as pointing out the potential problems. Most off-the-shelf reporting systems that others use focus solely on the negative aspects if a home, which many times can be a deal-breaker for everyone involved the buyer, the seller AND the realtor. Our system has a built-in failsafe to avoid that type of situation.
What the positive information in our reports does is add intrinsic value to the home, giving the prospective buyer yet another incentive to close the deal. That makes the buyer happy. It also makes the seller happy. And maybe most importantly, it makes the realtor happy.
That¹s why realtors quickly come to appreciate the neat, organized and balanced format of our reports, and one of the main reasons why you¹ll be so successful in securing their repeat business. The realtor knows the system is fair, honest and objective and they know you¹re looking out for everyone¹s best interest with every inspection you make.
VII. The Industry¹s Best Training
A-Pro¹s training program is conducted under the auspices of the International Training Institute of New Orleans (ITI), and has been recognized by the Louisiana State Board of Home Inspectors as among the very best in the business.
As a Louisiana Licensed Engineering firm, ITI stresses the importance of whole-house inspection, starting with a foundation level survey and then working up through every system and component of the home.
The ITI program is overseen by Professor Bill Springer, a licensed professional engineer, author and national TV guest expert who is also a former inspection business owner himself. Professor Springer is considered one of the top home inspection authorities in the country, and as such serves as president of the International Society of Home Inspectors (ISHI).
The training begins with an online course that prepares you for the most complete home inspection examination in the country. Following the online course, you¹d fly into New Orleans, where ITI would provide you with a comprehensive field-training course at their state-of-the-art campus.
The six-day training curriculum consists of basic introductory home inspection training. It gives you an overall understanding of the home inspection process, and earns you Certified Home Inspector or "CHI" designation to use behind your name, much like a doctor uses M.D., or a dentist uses D.D.S. This is real-life, hands-on training that will teach you about entire inspection process, inside and outside, top to bottom.
Again, the course covers every aspect of a home¹s systems and components, including exclusive training on spotting potential problems before they occur. That¹s something no one else offers, and it will give you a distinctive professional edge in the field.
Then, to apply what you¹ve learned in class, your final field exam will include a real inspection at our on-site residential property, including preparing a full-blown report.
ITI also offers light commercial, marketing and new construction inspection training as well. This training not required, but is available during your visit, should you decide you¹d like to take advantage of it. During the advanced training, you¹ll also receive mold sampling certification as well as (PHI) Professional Home Inspection certifications that allow you the use of the trademarked designations PHI for use behind your name once you pass our national exam.
VIII. Earning Potential
The home inspection business is among the most secure corners of the franchise industry. Real estate interest rates are stable, the housing market is strong, and people are relying more and more on highly-trained inspectors to help them make their homebuying decisions. The fact is that virtually every home bought and sold these days has a professional inspection performed on it. That makes for a virtually limitless customer base.
Now, while federal law prohibits giving out earning projections for ANY franchise opportunity, we can tell you how to accurately gauge your earning potential in the home inspection business:
Included in your UFOC document package will be a list of all of our A-Pro® business owners. We invite you to call as many of them as you¹d like and ask them for their insights not only on earnings, but on our company as a whole; the support we provide, the marketing, everything.
Also keep in mind that what you get out of your own business is what you put into it. If you¹ve the entrepreneurial drive that our other owners have, we believe that, like our other franchisees, you¹ll be extremely successful.
IX. Franchise Investment & Benefits
A-Pro¹s initial investment is just $23,900 significantly lower than many of our competitors, although we offer a whole lot more. The total, turnkey A-Pro® franchise package includes:
- Your own exclusive territory of approximately 200,000 potential customers that¹s as big or bigger than most others.
- A comprehensive training and certification program at the ITI campus in New Orleans a 00 value on its own.
- Your own tablet computer with cursor pad and hands-free voice command software pre-loaded with A-Pro¹s home inspection management system AND the complete proprietary reporting software.
- Your own custom-designed web page to help you get top exposure in your market.
- An array of home inspection tools and supplies, including gas detection equipment, laser thermometer, foundation level survey equipment and more.
- Uniforms, vehicle magnets, patches, business cards and other materials to establish your business.
- Free membership in ISHI, one of the most respected trade organization in the home inspection industry.
- A complete arsenal of marketing materials, including a strategic print, e-mail and telemarketing program targeted to your local realtors.
- Complete marketing support from our copywriters, designers and strategists.
- A full set of home maintenance guides, reference manuals, business forms and all software licenses.
- A subsidized business insurance plan up to 0.00 for your first year.
- 90-day or 120-day free warranty rights on all inspections probably the key ingredient that sets A-Pro apart from any other home inspection company in the country.
- Access to affordable group health insurance, health savings accounts, disability & life insurance plans.
- Access to prescription drug coverage, eye care coverage and even pre-paid legal services through our extensive group network.
- Toll-free phone and online support anytime you need it.
All told, our package amounts to a TOTAL, TURNKEY system that sets you up to run your own successful home inspection business virtually from day one. And there are NO hidden franchise fees and NO surprises.
X. A Word About Royalty Fees
Other home inspection companies charge what¹s known as a "royalty fee" based on their franchisees¹ monthly sales; i.e. the more their franchisees earn, the more the franchisers take off the top.
At A-Pro®, We do things differently, offering our franchisees a simple, flat fee royalty system that eliminates quotas and lets you concentrate on building your business instead of bookkeeping.
We¹ve seen what a stumbling block that escalating royalty structures can be, and we¹ve nipped the problem right in the bud. Our fee is a flat $125 per week. That¹s less than half of what our inspectors earn on a single home inspection. And don¹t forget that $125 fee comes with complete staff support, anytime you need it.
XI. Taking The Next Step
Since 1994, A-Pro has taken great pride in becoming the most innovative and respected home inspection company in the nation bar none. We exercise exceptional care when interviewing our franchise candidates and awarding our exclusive geographic territories. Once we do award a franchise territory, we follow through on a truly dedicated partnership basis providing our business owners with the experience, support and professional insight necessary to become successful.
For more information, and to schedule a private interview, please contact Marilyn Olson at (877) 443-0167, or log onto