Inspecting a 12, 000 sq ft home

[Sam Morris]

Has anyone ever inspected a 12,000 sq ft home or similar in size. Did you sub out anything like HVAC or electrical. I will be charging a sq x .11 fee (age is 17 yrs old), are my fees similar or too low? If I did sub out HVAC how much would you charge or should I discount that fee from my fee ? Thank for comments

[Ken Amelin]

Has anyone ever inspected a 12,000 sq ft home or similar in size. Did you sub out anything like HVAC or electrical. I will be charging a sq x .11 fee (age is 17 yrs old), are my fees similar or too low? If I did sub out HVAC how much would you charge or should I discount that fee from my fee ? Thank for comments

Hi Sam,
If you feel that the mech/elec systems are a weak point based on your experience and that you might not be able to evaluate these systems then you may want to get a sub to help. If you're plan is to get contractors to review the systems then you would need hand hold them so they can evaluate based on your "standard of practice" and then you would most likely be doing the report writing. You would probably need to charge your client "cost - plus" My "plus" cost would be at least 30% more than the subs fee. Sounds like a lot of work.

As an alternative, you may wish to contact a fellow inspector to help you out. It might be easier and more cost effective. Depending on the amount of work they do (inspect and reporting) you may just include their direct cost within your total fee structure. "Peer networking" is a positive thing.

[Gunnar Alquist]

Has anyone ever inspected a 12,000 sq ft home or similar in size. Did you sub out anything like HVAC or electrical. I will be charging a sq x .11 fee (age is 17 yrs old), are my fees similar or too low? If I did sub out HVAC how much would you charge or should I discount that fee from my fee ? Thank for comments

Hopefully, Jerry will chime in here. That was his typical business in South Florida. He routinely inspected obscenely large homes. I believe he did it hourly and it would take him at least a couple of days. But, he went well beyond the scope of a home inspection and his reports were encyclopedic.

If it were me, I would take it on by myself. a 17 year old house should be relatively straightforward. Large, but straightforward. Giving advice on pricing is difficult because CA prices are not going to reflect IA prices. Break the house down into comparable sizes. I.E. how long does it take you to do a 4,000 sq.ft. house? I would figure on taking at least a full day (possibly two) to inspect (using common home inspection standards of practice) and a full day to write the report. Consider what you would make in three full days of inspecting and price accordingly.

[Jerry Peck]

Gunnar gives a good way to figure out your pricing for your area ... as a starting point.

Keeping in mind that you may run into things that you are not familiar with and will spend extra time on.

[Marc M]

I treat it like commercial and sub everything out except the interior obviously. Im like .40-.45 cents per foot.. More if its an old pile of crap

[Jack Feldmann]

I have found that on really big homes, sometimes my clients bring in their own specialists, on their own dime.
On one really odd large home I brought in a HVAC contractor I knew to look at the system, since I was not familiar with it. I knew what it was going to cost me up front, and just added it to the fee.

I don't do pools, so I tell my clients they may want to get their own inspector. Same goes for elevators.

I price my jobs based loosely on square footage and age, but really its more about the time its going to take.

[Jerry Peck]

... but really its more about the time its going to take.

In one way or another, regardless how you price it, it comes down to the "time its going to take" and the value of that time to you and your business.

[Jack Feldmann]

In one way or another, regardless how you price it, it comes down to the "time its going to take" and the value of that time to you and your business.

Glad you agree with me Jerry.