Sell your home inspection business.

The referral book is the franchise until a realtor retires

A home-inspection company is a license, an E&O policy, and a set of agent relationships that may or may not survive your name coming off the report. Buyers underwrite concentration: if six agents send most of the work, that is the diligence conversation. Ancillary radon, sewer, mold, and thermal work help when they are invoiced and staffed. They do not rescue a one-inspector shop whose calendar is really the founder’s cell phone.

Housing-market volume moves the ticket count. A year that rode a hot spring does not get treated as the new run-rate. Buyers want inspections per month across a full cycle, not a peak-week annualization.

Who is allowed to sign the report

State licensing, association credentials, and E&O claims history sit next to the P&L. If you are the only person who can legally sign, the buyer is hiring an inspector on day one—or buying a job. Multi-inspector shops with a scheduler and a report platform are a different asset than a sole practitioner with a great reputation and no bench.

Software, photo libraries, and whether the reports are the company’s work product or yours personally need to be clear. So does any non-compete you already signed with a franchise or a training outfit.

Claims, seasonality, and a clean handoff to agents

Loss runs tell the story faster than marketing. A recent claim, a gap in E&O, or a report template that a lawyer already disliked will show up. Seasonality follows the local listing calendar. Prepare a referral list with volume, a simple schedule of who can cover a Saturday, and the license and insurance file. That is enough to tell you whether you have a transferable inspection company or a personal practice.