How much do you charge? Isn’t this usually the firsts question perspective home buyers ask a home inspector? Actually,asking the inspector about their qualifications and experience should be the first questions.

In home inspection, it’s safe to say that one size does not fit all. All homes are different and all home inspectors are different. If your home is an older home, the inspection may take several hours. Many web sites state that a home inspection can run from $175 to $300, but this fee is based on an inspector performing 2 to 3 inspection per day, and while in some instances this is doable and acceptable, you shouldn’t use it as a standard since a thorough inspection and report can take up to 5 to 6 hours. A home inspection price is quoted using several different criteria and methods; quotes can be a flat fee, they can be based on square footage of the living area or square feet under the roof.

Still others will base their fee on the price of your home or how much time they spend inspecting the home. Does your home have an detached garage? An inspector may or may not charge for its inspection, but will include the square footage of it in his overall price. A detached garage can also be considered as an outbuilding and the inspector will charge for its inspection. Every home has its own unique optional items; some inspectors will charge for some of them others won’t charge for options like pools or septic systems. As you can see, there is as much variation in a home inspection as there is in homes themselves.

Let’s talk money and put home inspection fees into perspective. If you’re buying a home in the range of $400,000 and the inspection fee is $700.00, that’s less than 2% of the cost of the house. When you realize that most realtors charge 3% to 6% to sell a home, you’re talking $12,000 to $24,000 for your $400,000 home. Put that way, a home inspection is a real bargain.

If the home inspection doesn’t turn up any problems, then you’ve bought peace of mind; if it does bring to light some serious concerns, you’ve saved yourself many thousands of dollars down the road. There’s really no way you can lose if you have your home inspected by a competent home inspector. You’ll learn the condition of the property and what kind of repairs you might be in for. Your inspector can also educate you on recommended ways to keep the house in good shape and keep all of the major systems running smoothly.

A professional home inspector will identify problems, offer solutions, and give you cost estimates for any major repairs/replacements. This kind of knowledge is invaluable to a homeowner and well worth the money.

There are many Brits that would love to escape our glorious British weather and spend two weeks in a tropical destination! You just need to prompt people you know that you have a Florida vacation villa. The following are the key groups that you should target:

Friends, relatives, and colleagues: This group is an excellent source of bookings. Not only is there a trust element of renting a villas thousands of miles away from an owner that they personally know, but this method is very cost effective. You can easily send an email or Facebook messages to your friends and relatives. At your workplace you can leave a flyer on the staff noticeboard. At social gatherings, such as weddings, Christmas or birthdays mention you have a Florida vacation villa. Offer them incentives like a small ‘friends and family’ discount or provide a ‘thank you’ gift voucher for referring your villa to someone they may know who is planning a holiday to Florida.

Your neighbours: Neighbours are also a good source of bookings. With neighbours why not post low cost flyers in your street informing the neighbourhood that you have a rental villa in Florida. Again, you can offer incentives like a ‘neighbourhood’ discount or provide ‘thank you’ gift vouchers for referring your villa to someone they may know who is planning a holiday to Florida.

Use local newspapers and magazines: There are many free and local newspapers and magazines where you can advertise your villas. The readerships for these papers are still significant, despite the growth of the internet. You can place a low cost advert in the classified section or you can try out a larger ad and place it in the holiday section of the news paper or magazine. However, keep the costs as low as possible with this form of advertising as the cost can quickly spiral! Remember you should have a compelling advert and you can also include special offers, such as ’10% off for January’.

Newsagent / Supermarkets: You can easily place a postcode size advert in your local newsagents window. A good place would be a high street newsagent opposite a tube station or bus stop. Placing a small advert in supermarkets such as Tesco’s, Asda or Sainsbury’s can yield good results. Most supermarkets have notice boards behind the checkout tills or even a designated commercial advertising section. Make sure your postcard advert visually stands out amongst all the other adverts.

Community Centres, Churches, Sports Halls, Libraries: These community based locations usually have high traffic and they may have a general noticeboard. You should place a good quality A4 poster advertising your vacation villa and with any luck, this l may generate some enquiries.

As experienced Florida villaowners, have used these methods to increase enquires and obtain those vital bookings. You just never know when someone is looking to go on holiday and maybe be enticed by your Florida vacation villas!