FRANCHISE·WATCH·DESK

Verified — real FDD extraction

Not found in the SBA Franchise Directory under this name — though SBA loans to its franchisees exist; verify eligibility with your lender

NATIONAL PROPERTY INSPECTIONS

Real Estate · independent · est. —

National Property Inspections provides residential and commercial property inspections. Inspectors evaluate the condition of homes and buildings — structure, systems, and components — usually for buyers, sellers, or owners, and produce detailed reports. A franchisee operates an inspection business, performing or managing inspections in a territory.

NATIONAL PROPERTY INSPECTIONS net unit count declined -6.7% from 20222025 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

0
STABLE

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

6.7%

vs 9.9% across 16 real estate systems

Cost to open

$41K–$55K

Item 7 total investment range

SBA loan defaults

Too few resolved

12 loans exist; too few resolved to rate

Behind the verdict

the record, factor by factor · Item 20

hi-1.0.0
Net unit growth35%

3-yr trend · Item 20 Table 1

Weak
Exit quality25%

terminations + ceased-ops vs. all exits · Table 3

Weak
Transfer / churn15%

transfers vs. base · Table 3

Strong
Promise-keeping10%

actual vs. projected openings · Table 5

Strong
Transparency15%

Item 19 disclosure + completeness

Strong

Systemwide units

2022–2025

-6.7%
2092022203202319420241952025

Survival record

FDD Item 20 · outlet status by year

In fiscal 2025, 13 of 194 franchised outlets left the system — a 6.7% annualized exit rate, vs 9.9% across 16 real estate systems. Not every exit is a failure — but this is the measurable floor.

Show the outlet tables
Status (FTC)2022202320242025
Outlets at start221214203194
Opened1911514
Transfers3374
Terminations81096
Non-renewals8946
Reacquired by franchisor0000
Ceased — other reasons15311
Outlets at end209203194195
Net change-12-11-9+1

The lender's view

SBA 7(a)/504 loan performance · FY1991–present

Banks have made 12 SBA-backed loans to NATIONAL PROPERTY INSPECTIONS franchisees since 2003. Most are still open, so there is not yet a resolved cohort large enough to rate.

Charge-off rate

7 resolved · too thin to rate

Loss given default

avg. charged-off $ ÷ approved $

Expected loss

default rate × loss severity

Avg. loan · FY2020+

$244,850

what recent franchisees borrowed

Median time to default

54 mo

approval → charge-off, defaulted loans

Lenders · FY21+ vs FY16–20

2 vs 3

distinct banks still lending

Charge-off rate by loan approval year (%)

SOURCE: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA LOAN DATA (DATA.SBA.GOV), FY1991–PRESENT · MATCHED TO NATIONAL PROPERTY INSPECTIONS BY FRANCHISE NAME · RESOLVED = CHARGED-OFF + PAID-IN-FULL

What it costs — and what it drags

FDD Items 5–7 · fees, investment, royalty

Buying in means a $35K franchise fee (Item 5) and a total investment of $41K–$55K (Item 7). The franchisor publishes an earnings claim (Item 19) — read its methodology closely.

To open (Item 7)

$41K–$55K

all-in investment range

Franchise fee (Item 5)

$35K

upfront, one-time

Royalty (Item 6)

8%

of sales, ongoing

If a unit does this in annual sales…$1M/yr

Your figure — cross-check against this brand's Item 19 and current-owner validation.

Royalty you'd pay / yr

$80K

8% of sales, before profit

Over a 10-yr term

$800K

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 NATIONAL PROPERTY INSPECTIONS with an independent CPA

Modeled risk

FDD Risk Score · modeled from the public record

Elevated

The public record puts this brand toward the riskier end of the systems we score — but the evidence is thin, so treat it as a range, not a number.

Risk percentile (range)

59–83 / 100

Directional

Modeled SBA charge-off

15.7%

Observed SBA charge-off

28.6%

Top drivers: Investment ceiling (log) (raises) · Item 3 litigation (log) (raises) · Net unit growth (raises) · System size (log units) (lowers). Thin loan history — treat this as a range, not a number. 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 NATIONAL PROPERTY INSPECTIONS. That's a good sign — but it reflects news coverage, not a guarantee.

10 questions to ask a NATIONAL PROPERTY INSPECTIONS franchisee

Built from this brand's own disclosures · take it to your validation calls

The franchisor will give you a list of owners to call. Most buyers ask whether they like it. These are the questions built from what NATIONAL PROPERTY INSPECTIONS has actually disclosed — each one carries the number it came from, so you can tell whether the answer squares with the record.

  1. 01

    NATIONAL PROPERTY INSPECTIONS’ own Item 20 shows 13 of 194 franchised outlets left the system in fiscal 2025 — about 6.7%. Do you know any of those owners, and do you know why they left?

    A franchisor will call these “transitions.” An owner three doors down usually knows whether they sold at a profit or handed the keys back.

    FDD Item 20 · FY2025

  2. 02

    4 units transferred to new owners in fiscal 2025. When you look at those, were they people cashing out a good business — or getting out of a bad one?

    Transfers count as neutral in every ranking. They are the single easiest place to hide distress.

    FDD Item 20 · FY2025

  3. 03

    The system went from 209 units to 195 over 4 disclosed years. What's the explanation you've been given, and do you believe it?

    A shrinking system means fewer owners funding the ad fund and support staff you're paying for.

    FDD Item 20 · FY2022–FY2025

  4. 04

    Item 7 says the low end to open is $41K, but the average recent SBA loan to a NATIONAL PROPERTY INSPECTIONS franchisee was $245K. What did you actually spend to open, all in?

    Lenders size loans to real project costs. A large gap between the disclosed floor and what banks actually fund is the most common way buyers get underfunded.

    FDD Item 7 vs SBA approvals FY2020+

  5. 05

    You pay 8.0% royalty on gross sales, plus the ad fund, before any of your own costs. On your actual revenue last year, what did you take home as the owner — not revenue, take-home?

    Royalty is charged on sales, not profit. This is the number the brochure never shows and the one your life actually runs on.

    FDD Item 6

  6. 06

    NATIONAL PROPERTY INSPECTIONS makes an earnings claim in Item 19. Does your unit look like that number — and do you know which units they included to build it?

    Item 19 is legal to build from a flattering subset. Ask whether they excluded new units, closed units, or company stores.

    FDD Item 19 · 2026

  7. 07

    How many months did it take to cover your own costs, and how much cash did you burn getting there?

    Ramp-to-breakeven working capital is the most underestimated line in any franchise purchase, and the most common reason otherwise-good units fail.

    Not disclosed in any FDD — ask an owner

  8. 08

    What does the franchisor charge for that you didn't expect — required tech fees, mandatory remodels, approved-supplier pricing?

    Required spending appears across Items 6, 8 and 11 rather than in one place, so buyers routinely miss the total.

    FDD Items 6, 8, 11

  9. 09

    If your agreement came up for renewal tomorrow at current terms, would you sign again?

    The single most predictive question you can ask. A hesitation is the answer.

    Ask every owner you speak to

  10. 10

    Who else should I call — including someone who left?

    The franchisor's list is curated by definition. Former franchisees are where the unflattering truth lives, and current owners usually know how to reach them.

    Ask every owner you speak to

Want this as a checklist you can take to the calls?

I'll email you the printable version, and tell you if NATIONAL PROPERTY INSPECTIONS’ numbers move — a new filing, a rising exit rate, a distress signal. Unsubscribe in one click.

Before you sign anythingfree · 30 min · no commission

A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. I'm paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing NATIONAL PROPERTY INSPECTIONS's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.

Don Drummond, CPA — Virginia #43775 · what I charge

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This page is what buyers see before they call you for validation. If the record above is wrong — or right in a way the numbers can't show — say so. Corrections are checked against the filings; nothing you write is published with your name unless you agree to it.

NATIONAL PROPERTY INSPECTIONS franchise questions, answered from the filings

What percentage of NATIONAL PROPERTY INSPECTIONS franchises closed last year?

In NATIONAL PROPERTY INSPECTIONS's latest FDD Item 20 (fiscal 2025), 13 of 194 franchised outlets left the system — an annualized exit rate of 6.7% — compared with 9.9% across 16 real estate systems tracked here. 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 NATIONAL PROPERTY INSPECTIONS franchise cost?

Per NATIONAL PROPERTY INSPECTIONS's 2026 FDD, buying in requires an initial franchise fee of $35K (Item 5) and a total initial investment of $41K–$55K (Item 7).

What royalty does NATIONAL PROPERTY INSPECTIONS charge?

NATIONAL PROPERTY INSPECTIONS charges an ongoing royalty of 8.0% of gross sales, per Item 6 of its 2026 FDD.

Does NATIONAL PROPERTY INSPECTIONS disclose earnings (Item 19)?

Yes — NATIONAL PROPERTY INSPECTIONS makes a financial performance representation in Item 19 of its 2026 FDD, reporting a median unit volume of $90K. Read it closely: franchisors choose which units and which metrics to include.