Looking to check my pricing

[Marc M]

I am looking to check my pricing. I understand all areas are economically different etc.., but a house is generally a house, right? I don't have all the specifics because i didn't get the inspection but based on what I do know, what would you charge for this? BTW, this is one inspection, on one property. Thanks

2004 2 story 3800 sq ft 5 BR 4 bath - raised foundation (not basement)
2 story guest house 2 br 2 bath - slab
Huge (prob 175' perimeter) Pool / spa / rock slide & features w/aqua link

[Nick Ostrowski]

For the main house alone........$450-$500 depending on how many HVAC zones, fireplaces, etc. The guest house sounds like a small house by itself and I would price it as such.........$300-$320. I don't do any of the other stuff because pools are not standard around here.

I'd be somewhere around $750-$820 total.

[wayne soper]

around 1050 up here. without a pool inspection. Just a visual on the pool walks and surrounds and electricals.
Most inspectors in the area are at around 20-22 cents a sq ft
Fairfield County, CT

[Marc M]

Thanks that helps. I was at $950 and lost it to a guy that was $600-700

[Ken Rowe]

I'd charge $425 for the main house and give them our 2 bedroom condo price on the guest house $245, since I didn't have additional driving or much of a foundation inspection. I don't do pools so the total price would be $670 without the pool.

[Jim Luttrall]

I am looking to check my pricing. I understand all areas are economically different etc.., but a house is generally a house, right? I don't have all the specifics because i didn't get the inspection but based on what I do know, what would you charge for this? BTW, this is one inspection, on one property. Thanks

2004 2 story 3800 sq ft 5 BR 4 bath - raised foundation (not basement)
2 story guest house 2 br 2 bath - slab
Huge (prob 175' perimeter) Pool / spa / rock slide & features w/aqua link

$750-800
including the pool

[David McGuire]

From what ya entered I would have gone 700 -750, no pool. I don't do pools either. But that also depends. If that guest house was over 2000 sq feet my price would be a bit higher. Also, number of A/C and water heaters would effect price. Thats a big house for there not to be a basement. Everything around here that size has a basement.

In the end, doesn't matter what you charge compared to anybody else. All that matters is the quality of the inspection and report. Don't worry about what others charge. Just concentrate on doing a top quality inspection and delivering a top quality report for each inspection. The cost under cutters will either raise their prices or disappear after a while.

I don't do check box inspections, but there are those around here that do. They would have charged a lot less.

[John Arnold]

What To Charge - 2 ***MUST READ*** - InspectionNews.com (http://www.inspectionnews.com/ubb/Forum14/HTML/000382.html)

[Scott Patterson]

I am looking to check my pricing. I understand all areas are economically different etc.., but a house is generally a house, right? I don't have all the specifics because i didn't get the inspection but based on what I do know, what would you charge for this? BTW, this is one inspection, on one property. Thanks

2004 2 story 3800 sq ft 5 BR 4 bath - raised foundation (not basement)
2 story guest house 2 br 2 bath - slab
Huge (prob 175' perimeter) Pool / spa / rock slide & features w/aqua link

I would be around $675 without the pool. Don't do pools....
Should be around a 4 hour job.

[Jerry Peck]

2004 2 story 3800 sq ft 5 BR 4 bath - raised foundation (not basement)
2 story guest house 2 br 2 bath - slab
Huge (prob 175' perimeter) Pool / spa / rock slide & features w/aqua link

I would have been around $3,500 to $4,500 depending on how long it took - you did not give must information on the "2 story guest house" as regards to size (other than it being 2 story).

[Matt Fellman]

I'd be around $450 for the house and a couple hundred more for the guest house. We don't do pools so I'm not sure about that. It also depends on how busy I was and how much I wanted the job.

[Marc M]

I would have been around $3,500 to $4,500 depending on how long it took - you did not give must information on the "2 story guest house" as regards to size (other than it being 2 story).

WOW! I am so under-selling myself...Hey Jerry, just wondering what do people say to your prices? Or do they expect them when they are calling you?
Is it a typical HI, or do you provide other services with your fee?
(legitimate services for those with their minds...somewhere else)

[Marc M]

I would be around $675 without the pool. Don't do pools....
Should be around a 4 hour job.

I was $950 with the pool and figured it would be a 6-8 hour inspection, depending on if the buyer was tagging along ...

[John Dirks Jr]

Stick to your guns and quote what you think you are worth. No matter what you charge, there's always someone who'll do it cheaper. You don't want them setting your prices do you?

I sometimes tell potential clients that they'll find cheaper quotes than me if they call around. I warn them about the broad range of quality out there. I remain confident and don't try to keep the "price shoppers" on the phone. I just tell em good luck and call me back if you need me. More often than not, they call back.

[Chuck Lambert]

Thanks that helps. I was at $950 and lost it to a guy that was $600-700


And that guy will loose it to some moron (association sounds like a chip) for $295.00-450.00.

You know the prices run the gammet out here in California.

Chuck

[Ted Menelly]

WOW! I am so under-selling myself...Hey Jerry, just wondering what do people say to your prices? Or do they expect them when they are calling you?
Is it a typical HI, or do you provide other services with your fee?
(legitimate services for those with their minds...somewhere else)

There is no home inspection worth that kind of money. Maybe once upon a time but no more. That is why he no longer does home inspections. Not picking on him but he is dreaming of days far gone by and the day when buyers could easily be taken advantage of.

Buyers are much more savvy today. Buyers are aware today that they can get an overblown inspection with all the other forms of tests from home inspectors thrown in for that home, guest house and pool for 2800 less than Jerry's lowest price from any inspector in the country. You notice Jerry said "I would have been" That just don't happen anymore.

[Marc M]

And that guy will loose it to some moron (association sounds like a chip) for $295.00-450.00.

You know the prices run the gammet out here in California.

Chuck

Agreed 100% ...There will always be newbies, part-timers and guys who spam email for a "flat fee inspection". I was actually going to price that at over $1000.

[Mike Schulz]

$750.00 for the 2 structures, I don't do pools but be glad to take it for a test swim.

[Chuck Lambert]

Thread Drift: For those of you who do not do pools...Why? Just curious..

Thanks,
Chuck

[Bruce Breedlove]

Thread Drift: For those of you who do not do pools...Why? Just curious..


I am not well-versed in pool inspections and don't feel the need to be because there are not many pools in Colorado.

[David McGuire]

Thread Drift: For those of you who do not do pools...Why? Just curious..

Thanks,
Chuck

I don't do them because I do not fully understand the various methods of ground prep, footing/foundation and construction. Maybe if I went and worked with a crew on a few I might be willing to add pools into my packages. Most inground pools in this part of Kansas have serious issues after just 10 years. The clay soil is awfully expansive and for some reason it doesn't seem as if pool installers for one reason or another have ever mastered the art. Then you have all of these above ground pools. Been a resurgence in recent years where too many homeowners have been buying them an installing them. Mostly wrong. You'll see them a year, maybe 2 later and they have collapsed.

Then there is my mom's pool. I can't stand to help her with it just so I can justify my showing up once or twice a year for a swim. I don't see where the maintenance involved is worth it. Especially with a giant public lake 10 miles away. I can park a pontoon and swim all day.

So, more than any other reason; personal bias. Don't like them, don't want to do them. Maybe I lose and inspection or two, maybe I don't.

[Mike Schulz]

Not many homes with pools so I never wanted to learn about them. Seems like another disclaim form will be needed. Leak? who knows, have to check water line and come back in few days and check again.

[Scott Patterson]

Thread Drift: For those of you who do not do pools...Why? Just curious..

Thanks,
Chuck

1st reason is that I just see the liability issue as being a little bit too much

2nd reason is that to properly inspect a pool it really needs to have no water in it and or you need to get into it to properly see everything. I have been to numerous pool training sessions and I have learned enough to know that I do not need to be inspecting them.

3rd it is very common for pools in my area to be in the $75,000 to $150,000 range. I just see the liability issue as being a little bit too much.

4th local pool service and contractor companies are much better equipped to inspect and then tell the client want needs to be corrected.

[Jim Robinson]

very few pools around here, and half of them are inside.

Out of curiosity, what length of time does it take to do a normal pool for those of you that do them?

[Ted Menelly]

very few pools around here, and half of them are inside.

Out of curiosity, what length of time does it take to do a normal pool for those of you that do them?

Not very long. You can only inspect what you can see. To inspect a pool it does not have to be empty as some say. A pool company will follow the exact same routine we do when inspecting. . It does not stop at the pool or pool deck but equipment, fencing, gates, doors windows etc. But in the general scheme of things it is a pretty easy almost all visual job.

[Jerry Peck]

WOW! I am so under-selling myself...Hey Jerry, just wondering what do people say to your prices? Or do they expect them when they are calling you?
Is it a typical HI, or do you provide other services with your fee?
(legitimate services for those with their minds...somewhere else)

My clients expected them, and, yes, they were *my* "typical" HI fees ... of course, though, *my* "typical" HI was not a "typical" HI as done by others, which is why I was also there 2-3 days or even longer, with a day or more for the report (the longer I was there, the longer the report would take too). I averaged $1250-1,500 per day.

My reports typically included several hundred photos, each one with an explanatory comment below it describing what was being shown in the photo.

Also, probably 90-95% of my items had code references quoted with the item. I.e., this is what is wrong and why, and here it the code to beat the opposing party over the head with should they think about challenging the item. :D

[Jerry Peck]

There is no home inspection worth that kind of money. Maybe once upon a time but no more. That is why he no longer does home inspections. Not picking on him but he is dreaming of days far gone by and the day when buyers could easily be taken advantage of.

Buyers are much more savvy today. Buyers are aware today that they can get an overblown inspection with all the other forms of tests from home inspectors thrown in for that home, guest house and pool for 2800 less than Jerry's lowest price from any inspector in the country. You notice Jerry said "I would have been" That just don't happen anymore.

Ted,

Apparently you are not aware of what people who buy multi-million dollar mega homes want and will pay for.

Would my market still be there (I retired from home inspections at the beginning of 2006 when I moved up here and did not want to stall all over again)? There are two answers: My market does not exist UP HERE. My market still, as far as I know, does exist DOWN THERE.

My clients were not "pretenders", you do not buy a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th house which will cost you about $100k per month just so you can spend a week or two per year there unless you have some serious money. Yes, their money is now likely less, but I suspect it is still "serious money", and "serious money" is what 'makes money' in times like these.

[Jerry Peck]

Is it a typical HI, or do you provide other services with your fee?
(legitimate services for those with their minds...somewhere else)


I had an infrared camera when they were still considered 'playthings' (some inspectors still think they still are 'playthings'), and I can tell you for a fact that that infrared camera brought in more high end work faster than anything else I had done.

I took it out and used it on EVERY inspection, not for 'mold' or even 'moisture', but for construction problems (insulation, wall framing, missed filled cells, you name it), and THAT showed my clients, and me, more than I could every have thought possible without it.

I charged by the hour, so the more my clients wanted me to do, the more I did, the longer I was at the inspection, the more it cost. :D

[David McGuire]

Also, probably 90-95% of my items had code references quoted with the item. I.e., this is what is wrong and why, and here it the code to beat the opposing party over the head with should they think about challenging the item. :D


Jerry I also insert the code on my reports. It sure has a tendency to cut out a lot of B.S.

[Marc M]

Ted,

Apparently you are not aware of what people who buy multi-million dollar mega homes want and will pay for.

Would my market still be there (I retired from home inspections at the beginning of 2006 when I moved up here and did not want to stall all over again)? There are two answers: My market does not exist UP HERE. My market still, as far as I know, does exist DOWN THERE.

My clients were not "pretenders", you do not buy a 2nd, 3rd, or 4th house which will cost you about $100k per month just so you can spend a week or two per year there unless you have some serious money. Yes, their money is now likely less, but I suspect it is still "serious money", and "serious money" is what 'makes money' in times like these.

Agreed. Those who carry an American Express "Black Card" do not usually worry about HI fees when buying their 3rd-4th-5th house. I also agree that $1200 is a great price for a days work. One must consider that the day does not end once you get home. The report (+ research if any), for me at least takes one hour to manufacture for every hour spent at the house or whatever.
Hey Jerry, is that a "submarine" and an " electric panel" on your avatar?