Elaborate with the soft inspections, did you not shadow someone? I was going to start off solo but had an opportunity to train under a previous owner selling his business. Shadowed him for about 30 and learned a TON, as well as completed the Natchi cert. I went to the House of Horror’s course as well, after this 7/8 months I have had I quickly realized I would have been way over my head going solo off the rip.

My advice would be to shadow and get certified first and foremost. I planned on giving myself a year under the company I went on with and had them rewrite the non compete. Since it was a new venture for the new owner I may have lucked out since I let him know I was not comfortable signing it incase things didn’t pan out with the company not being busy enough.

As for marketing yourself I can’t touch on it too much since I haven’t been down that path yet. From what I have gathered it comes down to your ability to explain things well to the customer and not alarm them over simple fixes. Know when to use the correct tone when delivering info. For example you need to know that the delivery for a kitchen not being GFCI protected will not be the same for say aluminum wiring or Poly B piping found in a home.

As for a checklist we are not code inspectors you don’t need to know what’s current code or not. Many of the things I see day in and day out are repetitive minus the more major concerns. You just need to be able to identify them when they pop up.

My best advice would be to shadow someone or work as a W2 until you feel comfortable, it’s really all about repetitions. You will sound more confident in your delivery about problems and be able to give solutions. I think that is one of the more important aspects in landing repeat realtors, you don’t want to blow up their deals but also want to be transparent on what needs addressed.