Thread: Home Inspection Cost

What would you charge for a 26,000 sq ft house. No crawl space finished basement, radiant heat. Swimming pool, but I said I don't inspect pools. Built in 04.

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I would have to negotiate the fee. I would start with estimating about $100 / 500 sf making $5200, then round off to $5000. Figuring it would take about the same time as 13 2000 sf houses and the fact they are buying / selling a 26,000 sf home, they can either afford the fee or would squawk. Either way, it's no sence in losing money on the job unless you have other benefits, such as casting some bread.

Buist Langley

Originally Posted by mathew stouffer

What would you charge for a 26,000 sq ft house. No crawl space finished basement, radiant heat. Swimming pool, but I said I don't inspect pools. Built in 04.

$.10 to $.12 a square foot. It depends on the overall price of the home.

I would also give them an hourly rate fee. My hourly fee is $175. With a home this size you should expect to be at the home for two days, or around a 16+- hour inspection.

Wow this is big! big! big! Probably a two days work. My inspection charge is $2,600 based at the rate of $50/500 sq. ft. plus 5% Goods & Services Tax. (from July 1, 2010 the tax will be 12% Harmonized Sales Tax)

Originally Posted by Scott Patterson

$.10 to $.12 a square foot. It depends on the overall price of the home.

I would also give them an hourly rate fee. My hourly fee is $175. With a home this size you should expect to be at the home for two days, or around a 16+- hour inspection.

Scott do you type your reports on site or back at the office ?

I do my report back at the office. This cuts down my time at home.

I could go over a home like in 10Hr or less. But I would have another day or 2 putting the report together. and that would depend on the condition it was in. On some of these 3+2 trash REO Homes I can spend 6 or 7 Hr on one of these things.

Best

Ron

Originally Posted by Ron Bibler

Scott do you type your reports on site or back at the office ?

I do my report back at the office. This cuts down my time at home.

I could go over a home like in 10Hr or less. But I would have another day or 2 putting the report together. and that would depend on the condition it was in. On some of these 3+2 trash REO Homes I can spend 6 or 7 Hr on one of these things.

Best

Ron

I finish the report back at the office. With a large home (over 7,000sf) I like to set my laptop up in the house and input my findings as I go. I have found that this works best for me and also speeds up my reporting process once I get back to the office to fine tune and upload pictures.

With a POS REO home I just take pictures, mental notes and maybe a few written notes of what is wrong and then compile the report back at the office.

I'd quote an hourly rate as well. I did a 5,500 sq ft house yesterday and billed by the hour instead of a flat fee. It's the fairest way to do it when looking at a large home and ensures you don't sell yourself short.

Daniel the largest home I have ever inspected was 8800 sq. ft. It took me 8 hrs to inspect the home and another 6-7 hours to complete the report. The place had a full basement and was built in 1910.

I would plan a minimum of 3 days for inspecting the place and block out enough time on your schedule for 4 days. Depending on what type of report you put out I would personally allow a full day to complete the report. Make sure to take a lunch after 4-6 hours. Any system that is to large and complex for you to fully evaluate and determine if it's working properly should be referred to a qualified specialist for further evaluation. If this place has radiant floor heating I would recommend having a separate inspection done by a qualified radiant heat specialist. Good Luck!

$3900.

$13,000 minimum.

If you do that in two days you are not doing that house, or your clients, the justice both deserve.

Just my opinion, and from having done several similar to that in size (20,000 to 25,000 sf of conditioned space).

Hey just for fun quote them Jerry's price. Then take a photo of their faces after you have quoted them $13,000 for an inspection, then post the photo here so we can determine if we should be raising our rates.

Originally Posted by Jerry Peck

$13,000 minimum.

If you do that in two days you are not doing that house, or your clients, the justice both deserve.

Just my opinion, and from having done several similar to that in size (20,000 to 25,000 sf of conditioned space).

JP: Small wonder you retired . . .ran them all off, did you?

One must re-think the pricing format of .10 -.12 or even .20 cents a square foot when inspecting a home of this size.

I've actually lost inspections on really large homes when basing my prices as such cause these people think your not going to inspect it well at such rates.

You got to remember with a home (palace) of this size, your going to have numerous HVAC units, water heaters, electrical service panels, and probably numerous specialized items to inspect.

I've spent a day and half in a 5K home so a 26K I'd probably just move in there for about a week.

Figure up your fee you'd think it would be worth and then double it, you'd probably get the job.

13K as Jerry said is not that far off. In Dallas as Aaron said, you'd probably not get it, but it would be worth every dime of it once you finished it.

Personally, I'll take the smaller 3500 sq. footers any day of the week.

JMHO

rick

I guess it all boils down to everyone's expectations. What do they want out of an inspection?

Most big homes have BIG rooms. The last really large home I did was right at 16,000 SF. The master bathroom was over 2,000 SF and it had a toilet, a bidet, 4 sinks, a large tub and a shower that you could fit about 10 inside and still have room. The home also had 6 HVAC systems and 5 water heaters, not to mention the 3 kitchens! This one took me and an assistant 1 1/2 days.

So, after rethinking it I bet you are looking at 3 days for a 26,000 SF home. I would say $5,600. That would give you 24 hours on site and another 8 to write the report. That is if you charge by the hour at my rate. That amounts to around $1,400 a day, and I can live with that!

I agree that I would quote this size only by the hour.

Originally Posted by Scott Patterson

The last really large home I did was right at 16,000 SF.

This one took me and an assistant 1 1/2 days.

So, after rethinking it I bet you are looking at 3 days for a 26,000 SF home.

Scott,

If a 16,000 sf house took 3 days (as you said it did), why would you think you could do a 26,000 sf house in that same 3 days?

Oh, you mean *3 days for 2 people* ... or *6* DAYS ... ?

And then how long for the report? 2 days?

You are now at *8* DAYS.

8 x $1,500 = $12,000

Originally Posted by Scott Patterson

I agree that I would quote this size only by the hour.

That was precisely how I charged.

In the end, on smaller homes (my smaller homes) the price was about $1 sf, and on the larger homes it was about $0.50 sf, when all was said and done.

You will notice that my $13,000 price equates to $0.50 sf.

Square footage of the home plus all the garages, pools, ponds, guest quarters, property lighting, pool house etc plus the factor of price for the home.

I would say Aaron is about the closest to what I would charge.

There are lots of extras with a home that size.

One man roming arpound the property and making a very strong (double for most inspectors even on one of there strong week) weeks pay for a few days worth of work. 2 days to inspect and a lot of it would already be in the computer and another day to finish the report and deliver it. One thing I find on most large homes (no I have not inspected one that big) is there are a lot of call backs that you have to negotiate up front for the return consultation fee.

Just because it is bigger you have to remember the rooms are twice the size as normal so pretty much open space. Plus it is a 5 year old home that more than likely (not always) had maticulous maintenance.

Originally Posted by Ted Menelly

One thing I find on most large homes (no I have not inspected one that big) is there are a lot of call backs that you have to negotiate up front for the return consultation fee.

That reason, along with all your other reasons, is why I charged by the hour with a 3 hour minimum.

The price range I stated above is what the by-the-hour fee averaged when done.

Trust me, on a home that size, $0.50 sf IS NOT unreasonable when all is said and done.

Ok, here are the specifics. The house had 4 boilers, 6 fireplaces, 4 air hanlders, 3 giant attics, 4 condensers, indoor pool, dehumidifier unit, heated driveway, about 22 zones, and a slate roof. I didn't walk the roof which cut down on the time. The basement was 10,000 sq ft and most of it was simple storage or rec room configuration which cut out a bunch of time. I was there from 10am to 6pm and my bother was also there for 4.5 hours. They also had the HVAC contractor there and I made hime turn on all the zones. He was hating life a little. Now I have to do the report But the house was in great shape. However, I may have a few questions. Oh yeah, house cost 20 million. I went with ten cents a foot.

Originally Posted by mathew stouffer

Ok, here are the specifics. The house had 4 boilers, 6 fireplaces, 4 air hanlders, 3 giant attics, 4 condensers, indoor pool, dehumidifier unit, heated driveway, about 22 zones, and a slate roof. I didn't walk the roof which cut down on the time. The basement was 10,000 sq ft and most of it was simple storage or rec room configuration which cut out a bunch of time. I was there from 10am to 6pm and my bother was also there for 4.5 hours. They also had the HVAC contractor there and I made hime turn on all the zones. He was hating life a little. Now I have to do the report But the house was in great shape. However, I may have a few questions. Oh yeah, house cost 20 million. I went with ten cents a foot.

Hmmm


20,000,000.......................That is a lot of zeros. Was that .10 for the sf of the home only or did you charge for the sf of the 32 garages and guest house and property lighting and and and. They probably would not have complained for double or triple the rate for a 20,000,000 dollar home. Hope you caught everything. An AC guy charging to fix a unit on that home is probably 5,000.00 just for coming to the door

I went through the HVAC system with a fine tooth comb. It took myself and the HVAC project manager about 4 hours. Alone I would have been there forever. I felt the 10 cents was a fair charge.

Originally Posted by mathew stouffer

Oh yeah, house cost 20 million. I went with ten cents a foot.

26,000 sf x $0.10 sf = $2,600

$20 mil x 0.001 = $20,000 if you had priced it using the old rule of thumb pricing from years ago

$20,000
- 2,600
$17,400 is what you lost on that inspection

Have you been following the thread on the History of Home Inspections?

Many inspectors still use 0.001% (that same 1/10 of 1% John Gent talked about).

Originally Posted by Jerry Peck

26,000 sf x $0.10 sf = $2,600

$20 mil x 0.001% = $20,000 if you had priced it using the old rule of thumb pricing from years ago

$20,000
- 2,600
$17,400 is what you lost on that inspection

Have you been following the thread on the History of Home Inspections?

Many inspectors still use 0.001% (that same 1/10 of 1% John Gent talked about).

check your math Jerry. You slipped some decimals.

0.1% of $20 million is $20,000

Without help this would have been a two day job for sure. Jerry I am just curious what you would have charged. If I charged 20 grand you would fine me in the gutter sat morning with three hookers and a bottle of jack If the place was a dive I would have charge 5 to 7 without a doubt, but is was in great great condition.

For me, slab foundation with no crawl, $12,000. Been there, done that and can you folks imagine what the listed selling price is? And to add insult to injury what the RE commissions are going to be?

Who in here has enough E&O insurance that would cover a 20 million dollar home?

I bet not one!

rick

I have two million. Anything over that and it is shut er down

Originally Posted by mathew stouffer

I have two million. Anything over that and it is shut er down

Matthew,

I'm confused as he77 now.

You say you only have 2 million dollars worth of coverage and anything over that is a "shut er down" yet above you stated you inspected this 20 million dollar home anyway.

Who's going to cover your arse on this one? Not going to be your insurance provider.

rick

Originally Posted by Michael Larson

check your math Jerry. You slipped some decimals.

0.1% of $20 million is $20,000

Michael,

Actually it was not my MATH which needed to be checked, it was my TYPING, as in typing out 0.1% as 0.001 and then typing the % sign after it.

That is called a TYPO.

Thank you for pointing it out, I have corrected the typo.

Originally Posted by Jerry Peck

Michael,

Actually it was not my MATH which needed to be checked, it was my TYPING, as in typing out 0.1% as 0.001 and then typing the % sign after it.

That is called a TYPO.

Thank you for pointing it out, I have corrected the typo.

Okay, now go sit in the corner and think about your mistake Mr. Man.

Rick,
Just curious what is your E&O coverage.

3.5 mil. maximum currently

So when you do a 6 to 10 million house do you have your client sign an additional waiver?

plus I can't believe Jerry is still up

After this was posted yesterday morning I got a call from a broker looking for information on my company and about Thermal Imaging. They were asking my price for a 900 SQ Feet home in San Rafeal Ca. with a view of the San Francisco bay. Tiny little house walk in basement no attic flat roof. Around 1 million dollars pad. 3 years ago 1.5 million

So I ask her what they were looking for. I told her that my upper end clients want to known everything thats wrong with the home. These inspection are $ 175 per Hr and it make take me 30 Hr to insp, and do my research on the home. it was very quiet on the other end of the phone. Then I told but for a standard report $ 780.00 for the Home Inspection. Pest Inspection AND Thermal Imaging. We book the inspection.

Funny how they see things if you make them feel like a Million bucks...

I'm going to use this all the time now on.

Best

Ron

Originally Posted by Ron Bibler

After this was posted yesterday morning I got a call from a broker looking for information on my company and about Thermal Imaging. They were asking my price for a 900 SQ Feet home in San Rafeal Ca. with a view of the San Francisco bay. Tiny little house walk in basement no attic flat roof. Around 1 million dollars pad. 3 years ago 1.5 million

So I ask her what they were looking for. I told her that my upper end clients want to known everything thats wrong with the home. These inspection are $ 175 per Hr and it make take me 30 Hr to insp, and do my research on the home. it was very quiet on the other end of the phone. Then I told but for a standard report $ 780.00 for the Home Inspection. Pest Inspection AND Thermal Imaging. We book the inspection.

Funny how they see things if you make them feel like a Million bucks...

I'm going to use this all the time now on.

Best

Ron

Funny how they see things if you make them feel like a Million bucks...

Ron.. 30 hrs? Are you sure they didn't hire you because they figured out that they could hire you for $26.00 a hour, instead of the $175 per hr?
If so, you may be put in the class with nickos certified that post everthing they find, and then wait 30 hours to find out how they should write it up.

Originally Posted by mathew stouffer

So when you do a 6 to 10 million house do you have your client sign an additional waiver?

You don't need 20,000,000 in insurance to inspect a 20,000,000 dollar home or 3,000,000 to inspect a 3,000,000 dollar home.

That is what home owners insurance is all about.

If that were the case no inspector anywhere would be inspecting the multi million dollar homes.

S&&t happens. Bad wires in a wall are going to burn a home down.

Even missing foundation movement in a certain part of the home will cost thousands at best not millions.

Light switches go bad

Electric goodies short out.

Gas fired appliances take a mind of their own and burn homes down.

etc etc etc

When you were doing the inspection and walked past the 250 mile per hour Lamborghini your insurance was probably not enought to pay for that.

2009 Lamborghini Gallardo LP550-2 Valentino Balboni - Fast Cars, Cool Cars and Hot Cars at Fast-Autos.net!

Rick 3.5 million.........................Can't see having that much.

They only had serveral piece of crap mercedes

I've spent a day and half in a 5K home so a 26K I'd probably just move in there for about a week.

RH: You should really try B-12 shots or something . . .

Originally Posted by A.D. Miller

RH: You should really try B-12 shots or something . . .

5000 sq ft home has a master suite of maybe 400 to 600 feet. The larger home has a master suite of maybe a couple thousand feet. Does not mean it will take 4 times longer to inspect the larger homes master suite.

__________________________________________________ __________

On another note

Give me a 5,000 sq ft home anyday. One inspection in about the same time as one 2500 sq ft home for twice the inspection fee.

In general that 5000 sq ft home is far better maintained than the 2500 sq ft home.

Half the time the inspection will take longer but the report less time due to fewer findings. Even if you take your time and do a more relaxed inspection you still make out doing one of them a day (and just as much money as 2 of the smaller) with less wear and tear on you.

Originally Posted by Rick Hurst

3.5 mil. maximum currently

Is the GL or E&O? I don't know of anyone who is writing E&O with amounts of $1Mil. Mind sharing who it is???

Scott,
Try CNA, they are out of IL. Also I think there is a company called Sundance Colonial, but they are very expensive.

Originally Posted by mathew stouffer

Scott,
Try CNA, they are out of IL. Also I think there is a company called Sundance Colonial, but they are very expensive.

CNA is resonable. But in saying that I have never checked into multi million dollar policies

This thread reminds me of a number of others which contain figures that are simply unbelievable, at least to me.

You may well be able to charge tens of thousands of dollars to inspect homes in other parts of the world, but not here. Not in my reality. Even the mere suggestion that you are even contemplating charging $13K to inspect a house would get you a visit from the guys with the butterfly nets.

You would then spend all of your time at home - where you belong. Where it is safe for you to wander around untethered. If only we could sever your Internet connections, then and only then, would the rest of us be safe from you!

Additionally, I know of no (cognizant and conscious) inspector who spends days in the average house. This is pure BS and not of the even well-thought-out or creative sort. Just the down and dirty steaming-turd-on-the-floor variety.

Good news from the A ron

I actually thought long and hard the first time ever heard of any inspection for any home taking days on end.

Absolutely impossible.

There is just not enought to take up your time looking at the structure to eval it. The rest is what, the other systems, can only stare at them for so long as well.

Not at all possible and get away with it. There is no way that one could spend that much time in a home before getting found out that you are sleeping in a closet somewhere. Even if you had an internet connection and check out all the manufactured items and system you could not spend days in a home.

Thanks for saying that Aaron. Even a 26,000 sf home could only take x amount of time max. There is just so much to look at and operate.

Apparently there are at least two people who have absolutely no idea how to, and what to, inspect for a house that size.

Anyone who thinks those can and should be done in a day are absolutely bonkers and should be sent home to their bedroom where the mattress can be used to make a padded and protective area to keep them from hurting themselves.

Wait, let them hurt themselves, just protect us from them.

Originally Posted by Jerry Peck

Apparently there are at least two people who have absolutely no idea how to, and what to, inspect for a house that size.

Anyone who thinks those can and should be done in a day are absolutely bonkers and should be sent home to their bedroom where the mattress can be used to make a padded and protective area to keep them from hurting themselves.

Wait, let them hurt themselves, just protect us from them.

26,000 would be a couple days and a day for the report and then follow up which, depending on the home, could be another day involvement before you are done.

Ain't not picking on you.

Just think you are kinda smooth to pull it off.

Originally Posted by Ted Menelly

26,000 would be a couple days and a day for the report and then follow up which, depending on the home, could be another day involvement before you are done.

26,000 square feet would be a week plus, then a few days for the report, and the by-the-hour rate basically would always come out to about $0.50 sf on those 15,000 sf and larger houses. If I had charged $0.50 sf the fee would have been right there with the time spent.

On inspections like that, my inspections would leave the proverbial "no stone unturned", while still not being technically exhaustive (which would have cost even more).

Not smooth to do those, just leave my clients feeling I did more than they expected and their referrals would lead to more similar work. In fact one builder of those homes ... this is what he told me ... instead of getting mad, he got embarrassed, so he hired me to inspect the homes as they were being built, then a final inspection just before closing. He paid for my final inspection but gave the report to his client buying the house, he and they then went over my report and he addressed everything in the report.

I would not mind doing that here, but that market does not exist here (although I am trying to create it here as we do have some expensive ocean front homes here, just not as expensive as down in South Florida, and no where near as many).

Originally Posted by Scott Patterson

Is the GL or E&O? I don't know of anyone who is writing E&O with amounts of $1Mil. Mind sharing who it is???

Scott,

That is a umbrella policy I have that covers my PC & HI business. Coverage is for GL and E&O together.

Excessive yes. But I have it to protect personal family assets.

rick

Jerry is on the right track.A $20,000,000 house 6% real estate commission is $1,200,000.
The people buying this house will spend thousands on a few bottles of wine,on their kids birthday parties,it's beer money.Bring you own tradesmen with you,you pay them,do not nickel and dime with call back fees.Build them into your fee,how many and how long is up to you to built into the contract.Big houses = big fees[might need big balls to ask]One every month would be ok

michael,
It was five percent sothat's only a cool million. so each agent gets about 350k

Apparently there are at least two people who have absolutely no idea how to, and what to, inspect for a house that size.

JP: Quite unlike Flahdah - the Underbrush State - here in Texas we have had a rule book since 1991. Upon the publication of that rulebook the Broker/Agent/Lawyer commission which wrote it managed quite deftly to set the expectations of the home-buying public as regards what constitutes a home inspection.

I have inspected houses up to 25,000 s.f. and have a pool of contractors from which to draw in those cases. There is not much of that business to go around though because the large engineering firms in town have insinuated themselves quite handily into that market. So yes, in fact, I do know how to inspect larger homes. You may feel that you are the sole repository of HI information, but I beg to differ.

Anyone who thinks those can and should be done in a day are absolutely bonkers and should be sent home to their bedroom where the mattress can be used to make a padded and protective area to keep them from hurting themselves.

JP: I never said a house like that could be inspected in a day by one person. It could, ostensibly, be inspected in that amount of time given the right team and set of circumstances. What my post referred to, if you have even a passing interest in the truth of the matter, is that someone (RH) mentioned spending multiple days on houses of the 5,000 s.f. variety. That I find roll-around-on-the-floor-and-foam-at-the-mouth amusing.

Anyway, I won't belabor this. We've been down this conversational path before - more than once. I will only ask you this: illustrate to me where there is even one licensed home inspector in my service area who is performing inspections for >$0.50 psf and I will become a believer in your fairy tales. Until then . . .I brought you this little present. A tool that you surely can put to immediate use polishing your presentation of just such matters as the one at hand.

Originally Posted by A.D. Miller

managed quite deftly to set the expectations of the home-buying public as regards what constitutes a home inspection.

Oh ye with closed eyes in your invisible box ...

... no wonder it is dark all the time where you are ...

... all you need is to open ye eyes and your invisible box is not really there.


Those rules and regulations are nothing to setting expected standards as compared to hundreds of other inspectors setting the standards - both of which are MINIMUM standards.

I don't recall having used the word MINIMUM in my post ...

In Texas, your rules set legally required MINIMUM standards, any smart person can take those and EXCEED those to the level to which they wish and create a market for those better inspections, along with a suitable price.

Or are you telling me Texans are too stupid and too cheap to recognize and be able to separate "good", "better", and "best"?

No, wait, if that were true there would not be any large million dollar and up home ...

There is not much of that business to go around though because the large engineering firms in town have insinuated themselves quite handily into that market.

That is because no home inspector in your area as yet worked up into that game, based on you own statements.

It is quite possible that HIs themselves as established the engineers as THE inspectors for those homes as the HIs themselves feel to confined to a MINIMUM inspection routine, which does not say you cannot do more.

Oh ye with closed eyes in your invisible box ...

... no wonder it is dark all the time where you are ...

... all you need is to open ye eyes and your invisible box is not really there.

JP: I see you've once again donned your gay apparel and are doing your best Old King Cole impersonation. Love the powdered wig. Suits you.

Those rules and regulations are nothing to setting expected standards as compared to hundreds of other inspectors setting the standards - both of which are MINIMUM standards.

JP: I have not inspected to mere minimum standards since my first time out of the gate.

I don't recall having used the word MINIMUM in my post ...

JP: There is rarely anything minimum about your posts, I agree.

In Texas, your rules set legally required MINIMUM standards, any smart person can take those and EXCEED those to the level to which they wish and create a market for those better inspections, along with a suitable price.

JP: You will only get partial agreement from me on this one. Exceeding the minimum SOP is not difficult, that is if you discount the legal fees I've paid over the years combating the TREC, ICC, and local AHJs who resent and intend to deflect real inspections. The problem lies in the public's perception that the minimum is the norm. I am a one-man show. I do not have unlimited resources to fight tooth and nail with the above-named entities, spur a multi-million dollar marketing plan to re-educate the clueless home buyers, and still run my day-to-day business.

Or are you telling me Texans are too stupid and too cheap to recognize and be able to separate "good", "better", and "best"?

JP: Can you spell R-E-D S-T-A-T-E? How about B-U-C-K-L-E O-F T-H-E B-I-B-L-E B-E-L-T? Enough said?

No, wait, if that were true there would not be any large million dollar and up home ...

JP: Like all home buyers that translates to big, bigger, and biggest, or expensive, more expensive, most expensive. Good, better and best are mere hypothetical constructs which are not for undiscerning minds.

Originally Posted by Scott Patterson

$.10 to $.12 a square foot. It depends on the overall price of the home.

Hey, Scott.

What does price of the home have to do with it?

After reading some of prices that people would charge to inspect a 26,000 square foot house I'm going to have to up my prices. Regardless of if a person prices by sq ft, cost of the house, ect. aren't we really charging for out time and knowledge ?

If a person looked at the sq footage, number of furnces, ACs and so forth and thought you know it might take me 2 full days to inspect and 1-2 days for the report, plus I'll throw in an extra day as a safety net. I believe that most people would agree that this could be done in a 40 hour work week. At $ 13,000 divided by 40 hours = $ 325 per hour, and if you knock it out in 32 hours you knock down a cool $ 406 per hour. I lilke the sound of it but I like the thought of unicorns and mermaind also.

If a person charged $ 75 per hour (including travel time and report writing) and works 50 weeks a year and 40 hour weeks they would make $ 150,000 a year. I myself would have charged between $ 75 -$ 100 per hour based on how bad I needed the job. If the condition is as I understand I would have bid $ 3495 ($ 87.47 per hour based on 40 hours).

The difference between someone bidding $ 13,000 and my bid of $ 3495 is that they would be looking at the phone waiting for it to ring and I would be doing the job making a fair wage.

Don't get me wrong I'd love to make $ 13000 but I'd also like to win the lottery. If I am under estimating what a home inspector should make in a small to medium market please educate me oh Jedi Masters.

Originally Posted by Allan Davis

After reading some of prices that people would charge to inspect a 26,000 square foot house I'm going to have to up my prices. Regardless of if a person prices by sq ft, cost of the house, ect. aren't we really charging for out time and knowledge ?

If a person looked at the sq footage, number of furnces, ACs and so forth and thought you know it might take me 2 full days to inspect and 1-2 days for the report, plus I'll throw in an extra day as a safety net. I believe that most people would agree that this could be done in a 40 hour work week. At $ 13,000 divided by 40 hours = $ 325 per hour, and if you knock it out in 32 hours you knock down a cool $ 406 per hour. I lilke the sound of it but I like the thought of unicorns and mermaind also.

If a person charged $ 75 per hour (including travel time and report writing) and works 50 weeks a year and 40 hour weeks they would make $ 150,000 a year. I myself would have charged between $ 75 -$ 100 per hour based on how bad I needed the job. If the condition is as I understand I would have bid $ 3495 ($ 87.47 per hour based on 40 hours).

The difference between someone bidding $ 13,000 and my bid of $ 3495 is that they would be looking at the phone waiting for it to ring and I would be doing the job making a fair wage.

Don't get me wrong I'd love to make $ 13000 but I'd also like to win the lottery. If I am under estimating what a home inspector should make in a small to medium market please educate me oh Jedi Masters.

If you crawled or slithered on your belly dragging a 300 lb ball and chain around to inspect that home it still would not take a week for the inspection and report.

I recently inspected a 50,000 square foot apartment building. Termite report and inspection was 5,500 dollars. It only took a few days. The termite folks charged me 500. My take came to 208 an hour.

A sheet report. A bunch of small 2 bedroom apartments. List whats wrong with each. Actually had to go under the entire building (that was not fun but I was mostly on my feet under there). Large square with a huge court yard in the middle. 2 story. One thing that helped was the 500 for the termite folks they had there man stick with me for a day. He took notes.

Now 300 to 400 an hour for for that home for a total of 13,000 ???????????? 3 days.... 4300 a day = 537 ph

Originally Posted by Russel Ray

Hey, Scott.

What does price of the home have to do with it?

The higher the selling price the higher the rate! Might not work in all situations but it works most of the time for me. I have several good examples in the Nashville area. You could have a 5,000sf home selling for $2.5M in one subdivision and a few miles down the road a 5,000sf home selling for $450,000 to $550,000.

It has been my experience that the higher priced homes usually have more fixtures, systems and ammities. So it is logical that it will take a little longer to do them.

Originally Posted by Scott Patterson

The higher the selling price the higher the rate! Might not work in all situations but it works most of the time for me. I have several good examples in the Nashville area. You could have a 5,000sf home selling for $2.5M in one subdivision and a few miles down the road a 5,000sf home selling for $450,000 to $550,000.

It has been my experience that the higher priced homes usually have more fixtures, systems and ammities. So it is logical that it will take a little longer to do them.

How true. But, have you noticed how absolutely cheap some of the folks with money are. I have an easier time getting 500 from the cheaper home than the larger home. Of course both could vary wildly in what I would charge but in general most folks don't have money because they gave it away easily.

As far as crawling, slithering and dragging a chain with a 300 lb ball .....lets leave me wife out of it LOL. If you read my statement I said that I felt I could do the inspection based on my understanding of the houses condition in about 2 days and 1 day maybe a little longer for the report, so I was thinking 3 days but billing for 5 as a safety net. So if I do get done in 3 days that worksout to $ 145.62 per hour. But whether its 3 or 5 days total work, I would be compensated fairly (in my mind anyway). I get the feeling that some people here wouldn't roll out of bed for $ 87 an hour, darn I wish I was that well off.

If you crawled or slithered on your belly dragging a 300 lb ball and chain around to inspect that home it still would not take a week for the inspection and report.

TM: Though I would not persoanlly try this, I agree.

The higher the selling price the higher the rate! Might not work in all situations but it works most of the time for me.

SP: Situationally ethical pricing structure?

Excuse me but I think you may be in violation of federal anti-trust guidelines by discussing price here.
Bob

Originally Posted by Bob Harper

Excuse me but I think you may be in violation of federal anti-trust guidelines by discussing price here.
Bob

I don't think so as we are not colluding to set prices or control prices.

But I do not know for sure.

Originally Posted by Bob Harper

Excuse me but I think you may be in violation of federal anti-trust guidelines by discussing price here.
Bob

You can talk about your rates, we just can not decide as a group to charge the same rates or set rates. This would then fall under the anti-trust laws.

IMHO, everyone should raise their rates. If you don't know how much it cost to do business http://www.costofbusiness.com/ you should check out Brian's site.