AHIT Alumni Stories: Home Inspector Megan Icenhour

Megan Icenhour’s successful future as an AHIT-trained home inspector is off to a great – and busy – start.

The 24-year-old AHIT graduate from Falling Waters, West Virginia completed AHIT’s live home inspector training course last summer. By winter, she had passed the National Home Inspector Exam (NHIE), earned her home inspector license, and married her husband, Grant.

(We did say she was busy!)

Megan has now been active in the field for just a few months, and she’s strategizing her best start in the business. We recently caught up with Megan and asked about her AHIT experience, her goals, and her advice for inspectors in training.

Deciding on a New Career & Finding AHIT

After completing some college and working in various healthcare jobs, Megan envisioned a new career path for herself. She dreamed of a job that was in-demand, well-paying, independent, and flexible. A chance experience with a less-than-stellar home inspection sparked Megan’s interest in the field.

“When we purchased our first home, we had a lot of hurdles,” Megan explained. “It was an 8-month process and when we eventually found the home we wanted to buy, the home inspector recommended to us ended up missing quite a few high-dollar issues. These were things we should have known about up front. After that experience, I thought ‘I don’t want anyone to have to experience these same issues.’”

Megan began thinking about becoming a home inspector. With a little encouragement from her friends – all thought she’d make a great home inspector – Megan found AHIT and enrolled.

“I registered for the live, 8-day classroom course nervous out of my mind,” Megan said. “I thought I would surely be the only female there and probably the youngest.”

To her surprise, she wasn’t, and Megan quickly bonded with her AHIT Instructor, Chris Kjeldsen, who continues to be her mentor today.

“During the course, I accidentally became a teacher’s pet,” she laughed. “I just had so many questions, I purchased every resource recommended to me, and I just felt like I needed to give myself a leg up because of how inexperienced I was.”

Home inspection has historically been a male-dominated field. But that’s changing. Career research firm Zippia estimates that, of the roughly 10,500 home inspectors in the U.S., 14.3% are women, with the percentage on the rise.

For Megan, the flexibility of a home inspection career was a key draw of the field. She told us it will, no doubt, help when she and her husband grow their family in the future.

The Most Helpful Part of AHIT Training

Field training was the most helpful and eye-opening part of Megan’s course. She and her fellow trainees practiced their skills at different homes. They learned how to use their tools and took their inspection report software for a spin.

“Field training made all the difference,” Megan said. “It’s one thing to have classroom knowledge. It’s another to get the opportunity to apply what you learned in the real world.”

Megan’s Goals For Her Business

One of Megan’s goals is to join a multi-inspector company where she can hang her toolbelt, gain experience, and find mentorship. It’s a move many new home inspectors make when they’re just starting out.

“My passion for inspection lies in the opportunity to help other people,” Megan said. “I enjoy serving others and, especially given my and my husband’s past experience with a bad home inspection, I don’t want it to happen to anyone else.”

“I want to be the supplier of the knowledge we needed back then,” she adds.

Megan’s Advice For Home Inspector Trainees

Megan’s advice for anyone currently training to be a home inspector?

“Be the widest pair of ears you possibly can,” she said. “You’re not learning as much if you’re not listening and asking all the important questions you can. And study, study, study!”

Eventually, Megan and her husband plan to build their own home and, potentially, work in real estate together. Becoming a licensed home inspector in West Virginia is only the beginning.

Yearning for a New Career Journey? Consider Home Inspection!

Dreaming of a new career journey? No matter your background, you can become a home inspector! AHIT can help you get there. Learn your state’s home inspection licensing requirements and enroll in an online or live course (or both!). AHIT training equips you with the knowledge and experience you need to work as an expert home inspector from day one and beyond.