Verified — real FDD extraction
SBA-eligible · directory code S0814 since 2017
HomeTeam Inspection Service
Other · independent · est. —
HomeTeam Inspection Service is a home inspection franchise that sends a coordinated team of inspectors to evaluate a property in a single visit. A franchisee runs a home-based inspection business serving homebuyers, sellers, and real estate agents, with referral relationships driving most of the work.
HomeTeam Inspection Service net unit count declined -11.3% from 2013–2015 per its FDD Item 20.
New to franchising? Start here
A franchise is a business where you (the franchisee) pay a company (the franchisor) for the right to open and run a location using their brand and system — think a local Anytime Fitness or Taco John's owned by a small-business owner, not the corporation.
Before you can buy in, U.S. law requires the franchisor to give you a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) — a long legal filing covering its fees, finances, and history. The numbers on this page come straight from that document:
- Franchise fee — the one-time cost to buy in.
- Royalty — the ongoing cut of your sales you pay the franchisor.
- Item 20 — how many locations opened and closed, the basis for our verdict (from Proven & strong down to Distressed — or Too new to judge).
The verdict
Proven & steady
Distress
A real track record with an unremarkable region of the ledger: neither the growth nor the exits stand out, for better or worse. The main concern in the record: the system is shrinking.
Exit rate · latest year
8.6%
fiscal 2015, per Item 20
Cost to open
$39K–$72K
Item 7 total investment range
SBA loan defaults
32.0%
25 loans resolved — directional only
Behind the verdict
the record, factor by factor · Item 20
3-yr trend · Item 20 Table 1
terminations + ceased-ops vs. all exits · Table 3
transfers vs. base · Table 3
actual vs. projected openings · Table 5
Item 19 disclosure + completeness
Systemwide units
2013–2015
Survival record
FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year
In fiscal 2015, 12 of 140 franchised outlets left the system — a 8.6% annualized exit rate. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.
Show the outlet tables ↓Hide the evidence ↑
| Status (FTC) | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Outlets at start | 159 | 151 | 140 |
| Opened | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| Transfers | 2 | 0 | 1 |
| Terminations | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| Non-renewals | 6 | 13 | 6 |
| Reacquired by franchisor | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Ceased — other reasons | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Outlets at end | 151 | 140 | 134 |
| Net change | -8 | -11 | -6 |
The lender's view
SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present
Banks have made 46 SBA-backed loans to HomeTeam Inspection Service franchisees since 1995. Only 25 have resolved so far — too thin for a reliable default rate, but 8 of them charged off.
—
25 resolved · too thin to rate
—
avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $
—
default rate × loss severity
$102,400
what recent franchisees borrowed
53 mo
approval → charge-off, defaulted loans
6 vs 5
distinct banks still lending
Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)
Loan performance by state
SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO HOMETEAM INSPECTION SERVICE BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL
The owner's side of the deal
FDD × federal loan record
Who finances it
United Midwest Savings Bank National Association
39.1% of this brand's loans
That lender charges off 35.0% of its loans to other franchise brands, vs 14.8% nationally.
Who buys it
80.5%
first-time franchise owners
The rest already owned at least one other franchise. Across the corpus, brands bought mostly by repeat operators charge off at roughly 10% versus 17% for brands sold mostly to newcomers.
Does experience help here?
Not enough resolved loans to split
Computed from 46 SBA 7(a)/504 loans to HomeTeam Inspection Service franchisees joined to the brand's own FDD. Debt service assumes level amortization at the average disclosed term and rate. A lender's rate excludes its loans to this brand, so it reads the lender, not the brand.
What it costs — and what it drags
FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty
Buying in means a $25K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $39K–$72K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.
To open (Item 7)
$39K–$72K
all-in investment range
Franchise fee (Item 5)
$25K
upfront, one-time
Royalty (Item 6)
6%
of sales, ongoing
Your figure — cross-check against this brand's Item 19 and current-owner validation.
Royalty you'd pay / yr
$60K
6% of sales, before profit
Over a 10-yr term
$600K
royalties alone, excl. ad fund
This is not profit. It's the only money the FDD actually pins down — what you put in, and the royalty you owe on every dollar of sales. Your real take-home depends on labor, rent, food cost, and ramp-to-breakeven, none of which any FDD discloses.
Build a real pro-forma for HomeTeam Inspection Service with an independent CPAModeled risk
FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record
Modeled from the public record, this brand looks riskier than 98% of systems we score.
Risk percentile
98 / 100
Loan-corroborated
Modeled SBA charge-off
30.7%
Observed SBA charge-off
32.0%
Top drivers: Share financed by high-loss lenders (raises) · Investment ceiling (log) (raises) · Single-lender dependence (lowers) · Item 3 litigation (log) (raises). 15+ resolved loans stand behind this estimate. A linear scorecard built from this brand's own disclosure figures plus the federal loan record behind its franchisees; full spec and cross-validated accuracy on the methodology page. A score is context, not a verdict.
Distress signals
news-sourced · bankruptcies, closures, lawsuits
No recent closures, bankruptcies, or major lawsuits found in the news for HomeTeam Inspection Service. That's a good sign — but it reflects news coverage, not a guarantee.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. An independent CPA is paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing HomeTeam Inspection Service's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →HomeTeam Inspection Service franchise questions, answered from the filings
What percentage of HomeTeam Inspection Service franchises closed last year?
In HomeTeam Inspection Service's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2015), 12 of 140 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 8.6%. That counts terminations, non-renewals, and "ceased operations — other reasons." There is no official failure rate, and not every exit is a failure, but this is the measurable floor.
How much does a HomeTeam Inspection Service franchise cost?
Per HomeTeam Inspection Service's 2016 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $25K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $39K–$72K (Item 7).
What royalty does HomeTeam Inspection Service charge?
HomeTeam Inspection Service charges an ongoing royalty of 6.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2016 FDD.
Does HomeTeam Inspection Service disclose earnings (Item 19)?
Yes — HomeTeam Inspection Service makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2016 FDD. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.