The days of a male-dominated home inspection industry are fading into history. Women aren’t just entering the field, they’re developing their own business models.
The same hurdles that men face also exist for women. Getting a home inspection business off the ground takes time and marketing know-how. Running a small business doesn’t come easily or naturally for everyone. But women face other issues that are more gender-specific.
Bias is probably the most common problem. In a traditionally male industry, some potential customers might view a woman’s abilities with more skepticism. But the same was once said about women doctors and lawyers. As with any other industry, it only takes time for women to settle in and become part of the family.
Here’s how two women home inspectors did it.
Carolyn Cassidy: Engineer, Banker, and Home Inspector
Benchmark Home Inspection’s Carolyn Cassidy has worn many hats. Her college career revolved around civil engineering, which led to her first career as a structural engineer. From there, she became a banker and then a “full-time mom,” says ASHI Reporter.
Several years later, she helped a neighbor resolve a property dispute. It was that experience that led her to home inspecting. While she was researching and working with a local building inspector, he said he thought she’d be good at it.
Apparently, she is.
Carolyn knew very little about home inspecting. She tells ASHI Reporter that she’d hired inspectors before. But like many homeowners, she didn’t notice how they worked or how they prepared a home inspection report. After some investigation into the industry, she decided to give it a shot.
That’s how Benchmark Home Inspection, LLC, was born. Her take on the industry is through the eyes of an engineer. That’s her Unique Value Proposition or UVP. Most inspectors don’t think about code violations, but that’s part of her service.
Her advice to women who want to join the ranks? Get to know the people you serve. Every customer has different needs. She says, “Find out what’s important to them, especially about the type of home they want to purchase.”
Anyone can train to be a certified home inspector and build her own career.
Welmoed Sisson: Marketing Director, Home Inspector
Welmoed didn’t enter home inspecting as a first pick. Her husband started the company, Inspections by Bob, in 2003. The company website says she learned a little about the industry through what he shared with her. As his business grew, she took on a larger role.
First, she worked as an inspection scheduler, then as a marketing director. That was in 2010. When she attended the 2010 InspectionWorld conference in Vegas, she decided to dig in deeper. She earned continuing education credits at the conference, months before sitting for the national exam and almost a year before earning her home inspector license.
Now she teaches home inspection students at a local community college. She has also taught at annual ASHI conferences.
Welmoed looks at home inspecting differently. She says that’s because of her experience with living in “challenged homes.” She’s not intimidated by anything. But she also understands that home buyers might not share her fearlessness as it applies to home systems and the myriad defects that might exist.
She understands contractors, knows her way around power tools, and feels comfortable breaking down what her customers need to know in a way that’s not overwhelming to them. Welmoed’s approach is to take confusion and replace it with basic knowledge. The more home buyers know about the home, the better they’ll be able to maintain it.
The industry might have comparatively few women, but that’s changing. There’s no reason it shouldn’t. Bias will probably remain an issue for a while. But as more women shake off industry norms and blaze their own trail, the idea of growing up to be a home inspector or switching careers later won’t be such a strange thing for girls and women to consider.
As home inspector Cassidy said, the technology that you use can make a real difference. That’s why we developed a home inspection reporting app that’s straightforward, easy to use, and with as small a learning curve as possible. Download the home inspection app for Android or get it for your iPhone today.