Independent Property Inspectors?

Hi all. Firstly, has anyone heard of Independent Property Inspectors or had experience with them? Their site seems to be legit.

A family member of mine who runs a manufacturing business recently received a letter from Independent Property Inspectors (IPI). He came to me for my advice saying he was interested. I must say that I was am a skeptical person and immediately assumed spam/scam/get rich quick scheme upon reading even the first sentence which was "You are sick and tired of riding the cash-flow rollercoaster and keeping up with industry compliance as a building professional". Also, I think the addressing of the letter was quite poorly written, although it might be an average standard in this field? I have no idea about the real estate/trade industry. This thread isn't intended to tarnish the reputation of IPI in any way.

Anyway, the letter states that IPI is expanding across the country and is looking for an inspector in the area. Looking at the site, it appears that there is one inspector for the whole of Victoria! The letter mentions the word "you" multiple times (we are looking for you, we want you, so easy for you, etc) and appears to be generic. There is no specific mention of the name of the person or the company itself. The letter goes on stating what the new business is going to look like:

  1. Great cash flow.
  2. You can get paid every day.
  3. Earn over $1,000* per day.
  4. Very flexible home-based business.
  5. Very small start up costs.
  6. Very small overheads.

The founder of IPI then introduces himself as Leon Cupit describing his experience and wealth (lol)… Found his profile on LinkedIn which at a glance seems sufficient.

A link is provided where you can enter your details. I haven't visited the site myself but the letter states to fill out your first name and email address and they will send you a Licence Kit immediately. Not sure how they will send it without a street address but okay. Maybe the site has an actual field for street address or maybe the will contact you via email for confirmation or something.

Another link is provided to watch a Youtube video, which is unlisted. I haven't watched the whole video nor do I intend to at this point but in at 1:16, he claims that IPI is a part of "the fastest growing and most successful business model in the country" or at least, you can be a part of it…

Then this is written at the bottom of the page: "Warning!! (I don't think this is the correct use of the word unless it is a scam) This is not a franchise. We provide licensees and business opportunity".

Some details about the program is given over the page. I'll include some of the text here:

Take advantage of our 30-day fast start marketing program. - In this program, you will receive.

  • Complete roadmap to your business success in 30 days.
  • Understand what takes most business owners a lifetime to find out.
  • We uncover all the shortcuts to your paying clients fast.
  • Discover the untapped potential in your new life right now.

Lastly, it states that "I'm so confident with this business opportunity, that if, after your due diligence, you're still not convinced. I'll even fly you to Hobart for a day to prove it to you and show you first hand how easy it really is."

So… what are your impressions after reading this? I may have come across bias as I wouldn't do it myself but like I said earlier, I have no idea or interest in this. I'm not sure what helpful feedback I could relay back to this family member.

Sorry for long post.

Regards,
Gummi.

Comments

  • -1

    not sure what the point of it is.
    real estate agents re regulated by dept of fair trading in nsw etc.
    others who do that work might be illegal!
    check with fair trading.

    even if legal then what?
    agents give 'free' opinions
    who would pay you for one?
    why?

    there is no business model for this in real estate
    agents are very strong and will drive you out of the industry if they see you as a threat.

    • Point of this was to elicit responses from those who may have experience in these fields, with which I would then relay to my family member.

      For what it's worth, I did not neg your comment.

  • +1

    You wouldn't be competing with real estate agents — they do not typically do this type of work (and even if they did, they would not be able to claim 'independence' with a direct conflict of interest); rather you would be competing with ArchiCentre and countless other building inspection professionals, of which there are likely to be hundreds of operators in your area. Of course, this might be a solid opportunity, but unless IPI has great radio/TV marketing and or top 3 results on Google (for eg. "pre-purchase inspection"), they would have very limited options for attracting customers on an ongoing basis. For what it's worth, their fees seem very high, but there are always potential customers who don't bother shopping around to see what's fair price for service.

    • Thank you for your input.

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