Thread: Average Inspection Fee

We calculated the company average for the year.... not sure why we hadn't done it before. It came out as $361 which surprised me. I would have guessed it lower as most small-ish and/or newer houses are around $335. I guess we get enough biggies to scoot the average up a bit.

Anyone else keep track or care to share?

Similar Threads:

• Home inspection school - Inspection Certification Associiates
• Condominium Termite Inspection and Home Inspection
• Visual Inspection of Concrete. InterNACHI's latest inspection-related article.
• where all the vent pipes are above average
• Average cost of new duct work?

Originally Posted by Matt Fellman

We calculated the company average for the year.... not sure why we hadn't done it before. It came out as $361 which surprised me. I would have guessed it lower as most small-ish and/or newer houses are around $335. I guess we get enough biggies to scoot the average up a bit.

Anyone else keep track or care to share?

I was thinking up north west you would be more with so many crawl spaces and basements and much more to the report as well. Can I ask your average time on the average home for the inspection and then how much time on the report

And here I thought nobody cared that we have to crawl under so many houses

I've actually been calculating my times recently since we're looking at hiring someone and I want to be able to give them an accurate idea of what the job does/can pay on a per hour basis.

My average time onsite is around 3 hours and within that time I write between 1/2 and 3/4 of the report. I've been lucky enough to be pretty busy lately and have been doing 2 jobs most days. I'm usually away from home between 8-9 hours and both reports are done and sent when I pull in.

Often there's a gap between jobs where I have/get to sit and kill 20-30 minutes surfing the net or running errands not directly related to work.

I'd say a good average is 4 hours per job, including some travel time. Of course, that's on a average house which, these days, is pretty much mostly smaller starter homes. On bigger and/or older homes I'm there much longer and take longer writing the reports.

Originally Posted by Matt Fellman

And here I thought nobody cared that we have to crawl under so many houses

I've actually been calculating my times recently since we're looking at hiring someone and I want to be able to give them an accurate idea of what the job does/can pay on a per hour basis.

My average time onsite is around 3 hours and within that time I write between 1/2 and 3/4 of the report. I've been lucky enough to be pretty busy lately and have been doing 2 jobs most days. I'm usually away from home between 8-9 hours and both reports are done and sent when I pull in.

Often there's a gap between jobs where I have/get to sit and kill 20-30 minutes surfing the net or running errands not directly related to work.

I'd say a good average is 4 hours per job, including some travel time. Of course, that's on a average house which, these days, is pretty much mostly smaller starter homes. On bigger and/or older homes I'm there much longer and take longer writing the reports.

Wow, good for you. To be sickeningly honest I was relatively busy until November 1rst and the phone slowed to getting more silent to almost died since the beginning of this month.

Around here the folks almost always come at the end and never had a problem with that but now they seem to want to linger longer and longer it seems. I am spending at least 3 to 4 hours in a home and only completing the picture download and a small percentage of the report. My average per job is lower than yours but I practically never get crawls and most of the homes are 10 or under with the occasional older home thrown in.

I you want a good job from anyone and want them feeling good at what they do then pay them well. How well? as good as you think you can afford.After all you already have the flow of work. The liability is still there but again, that is somewhat protected the more you pay and the prouder they feel. Most E&O will cover multiple inspectors so the cost for that will either not increase or not increase much. Their car, gas, wear and tare, laptop etc etc etc all on them.

Also I doubt if where you are just getting busy enough for an extra man that this person will be working one a day all the time, if that. If they are and you don't pick up anymore work then you are throwing money away just to feed someone else. If I had your work I would be tucking every penny under the mattres because I do not think this ride we are on is done yet and in fact will rpobably go south a bit more once the banks realise that they will finally have to dump all those homes on the market to survive.

Just some late night Friday thoughts wishng I had your 2 a day for a couple months straight.

Originally Posted by Matt Fellman

We calculated the company average for the year.... not sure why we hadn't done it before. It came out as $361 which surprised me. I would have guessed it lower as most small-ish and/or newer houses are around $335. I guess we get enough biggies to scoot the average up a bit.

Anyone else keep track or care to share?

I figured my averages about a month ago, after one full year in business on my own. Average was about $324, average house size was right at 1500 square feet. Not many crawls spaces around here, mostly basements and slabs. Inspection take 3 hours including report time.

fwiw..... I remember you Texas guys going strong a year or so after I/we up here in Oregon had died off. From everything I read the Texas economy should see a lighter blow from the economy (not that anywhere is really "light"). Point being, you were late in and should be late to recover but it will pick up.

Our prices have finally stablizied to some extent and our number of transactions are picking up. As HIs we're on the front lines. By the time the Case/Schiler or even the local MLS "closed sales" numbers indicate anything, we've already seen the uptick.

We're seeing a decent increase in transactions and I'm cautiously optimistic things are at least not going to get any worse. Of course, the increase I'm seeing could also just be due to my charming personality

Just a couple more of the stats I track:
Average miles (one way) per inspection is 18 miles.
11.6% of my clients were previous customers
9.3% came from my website
8.2% came from the ASHI website
24.3% came from referrals from past clients
46.6% came from other referrals, (friends, other inspectors, agents, etc)

I don't track an average fees. I guess if I did mostly SF HI it might be useful information. For my work though I don't see it as useful. Part HI, part consulting. I do a lot of larger multi-unit buildings. 6,12,24,48,72 apartments type stuff. Also did a 167 unit mid-rise this year, technically a highrise since it was over 80 feet. Took 2 weeks. Pricing has remained consistent.
Almost all of my work is in the City so mileage is very predictable.
On a side note, I had a potential client contact me off the website the other day looking for real inspection services. They paid some moron $200 for a so-called inspection on a 3 flat. 5 page report. 2 pages were the contract, 1 page legalize, 1st page intro crap, 1 PAGE actual so-called inspection. I've seen some bad reports but that one really took the prize.

Markus, how did you get to see that $200 inspection report?

Nick, client sent me the report along with copies of other property info to review.

I've only been keeping really close records since 2003.
I am way down on number of inspections and dollars for 2011. I will finish the year slightly behind 2010. As of the end of November my average fee this year is $404, last year it was $401, 2009 was $392.

Just looking at the numbers from past years it ranged from $334 to $550 (based on the monthly numbers). Without looking, I'm guessing the $550 must have been when there was some expert witness work.
2004 was average of $355 based on end of year numbers, but had a high of $394 for December (26 inspections).

The numbers surprise me as well, since our starting price is $325.

Originally Posted by Jack Feldmann

I've only been keeping really close records since 2003.
I am way down on number of inspections and dollars for 2011. I will finish the year slightly behind 2010. As of the end of November my average fee this year is $404, last year it was $401, 2009 was $392.

Just looking at the numbers from past years it ranged from $334 to $550 (based on the monthly numbers). Without looking, I'm guessing the $550 must have been when there was some expert witness work.
2004 was average of $355 based on end of year numbers, but had a high of $394 for December (26 inspections).

The numbers surprise me as well, since our starting price is $325.

If you don't mind me asking, are your fees just for the home inspection or a combination of the home inspection and termite inspection and ???

Originally Posted by Ken Rowe

Just a couple more of the stats I track:
Average miles (one way) per inspection is 18 miles.
11.6% of my clients were previous customers
9.3% came from my website
8.2% came from the ASHI website
24.3% came from referrals from past clients
46.6% came from other referrals, (friends, other inspectors, agents, etc)

This is another one I was looking at but I really don't keep good enough records to know for sure. Since the "crash" a couple years ago I've put a lot of emphasis into our webiste and got us up near the top of Google for the 2 major markets I'm in. I'm embarrased to say prior to that we were at least 10 pages down

Anyway, I'm amazed at the relative hassle the general public is/are. They call/email, ask a million questions, call back ask some more, haggle on price, get you to schedule an inspection at a time you otherwise wouldn't and then call back and cancel!

This comared to the referals who just call and take whatever time you have. I guess I'm spoiled to have got my start with a big company and be able to have built up a referal base. I just couldn't imagine starting a company from scratch and dealing with nothing but the internet leads and price shoppers.

If I had to guess I'd say for the last year it would be about 80% referal from past clients and agents and 20% website. A big part of that past clients is recent past clients....as in they walked on the first dump foreclosure and are looking at another one.

Those inspection fees are a sad commentary on the return for what it takes to perform a professionally conducted property inspection when you consider the consummate knowledge, physical and legal exposure that comes with it.

Originally Posted by Jerry McCarthy

Those inspection fees are a sad commentary on the return for what it takes to perform a professionally conducted property inspection when you consider the consummate knowledge, physical and legal exposure that comes with it.

Absolutely, positively correct. The price of a home inspection has dropped year after year. Some will say that their average has gone up over the past five years but not relating it to they could have made double 20 years ago.

It is a sad state of affairs. Due to the absolute Realtor involvement over the past decade and a half or 2, those getting their work outside the Realtor realm have been slammed the hardest. Year after year as of late the calls from outside the Realtor realm have been price shoppers for about 50% of those and the other 50% are going past the Realtor realm due to the possibility of a conflict.

I just had a call yesterday for the exact point that they loved and trusted their Realtor but just for the fact that the inspector may have been trying to keep the Realtor happy or because of the fact that the Realtor stood to make 6,000.00 off of that sale they wanted to get there own inspector to put all those possibilities to rest. What happened with that deal was that they chose me but then with the other calls they made they found a few inspectors that were not tacking anything on for the crawl space for the 1962 home. They had three inspectors with fairly reasonable prices and also found a few with foolish pricing anywhere from 50 to 100 dollars less as in slab pricing. Their reasoning was for going for the lesser price was that is half were at the lower price then the other half must have been too high. They were getting a home inspection with a crawl and the termite inspection all inclusive of that 50 to 100 dollars less. The upper three were within dollars of one another.. Caller number 2 also called around and pretty close to the same scenario played out with the exception of the crawl. That one was a free termite inspection , with, the already too low priced home inspection. A minimum of 75.00 lower than the reasonable (way too reasonable) top three. At least 3 inspectors doing the giveaway and all three of those inspectors are only techs and do not do the treatment on their own and would have to pay the company they are licensed under if termites showed up. How absolutely stupid is that. Anywhere from a 200 spot treatment to the entire home being treated and depending on the home it could cost you a grand.

In the land of slabs it is absolutely foolish not to up charge for a crawl. The pricing is already too low for the slabs as far as what really should be charged so to add insult to injury the flood of inspectors degrade themselves even more and don't charge more for their extra time on the inspection with huge liability of a crawl and the extra time reporting all the findings in the crawl.

For those reading this from the DFW or North Central Texas area. I am admittedly too low on my pricing and that is based on you charging so much less that I would not consider doing an inspection for that price. One has to somewhat align themselves with the pricing in the area they are in,but listen. Your liability does not change. The less you charge the worse you feel as in lowering yourself into another pay grade. If work slows down then you need more money to survive per inspection, not less. If you continuously lower your prices it only does one thing. It makes it tougher to get more money when things pick back up. You literally have Realtors giving some kind of range of what to expect in pricing. The lower you drop that price the lower the Realtors keep suggesting for that range. You are fighting a losing battle. The only thing you are doing is driving industry pay levels down with you.

One more thing on pricing. I have had three realtors in the past 4 months ask if I do pre listing inspections and of course I do. They asked what I would charge and I told them the same as any inspection. All asked me why so much. I asked them why I should charge less for the same inspection. All of their answers were the same. "I know a few inspectors that will do walk thru inspection for pre listing inspections for $100.00"

Yes, you know who you are. The even tremendously sadder part of it is that those inspections are illegal. Why? Because you are not even giving a report so there has to be no disclosure. You will lose you license or at the minimum be charged a couple grand if not more for your illegal actions. How many home inspections is that fee worth? None of the three Realtors would give up any names. The day you miss something on one of those inspections and someone complains and turns your name into TREC it will slowly be the end of you working as a Licensed Professional Real Estate Inspector in the state of Texas.

Enough of my morning rant. Just some food for thought folks. In the 80s I was getting almost twice what the going rate is now. That has slowly dropped to the "sad state of affairs" as it is today.

In Washington almost all of us are Structural Pest Inspectors also. So my fee start at $400 and go up from there.

But I spend 4hr+ on-site often. A clean home with no crawl maybe 3hrs. I have about that much in report writing also. So an average inspection is a 8hr job for me.

Our state regs require us to map the home for a SPI inspection. If you are doing what the minimum is I can not see doing an inspection quicker that 3hrs.

I know I do much more than the standards require though and most of the time I do additional research for my clients.

Ted, That is sad. I know of several inspectors that can get $500 to $600 an inspection in their markets and they are worth every penny of it. These guys are professional and very knowledgeable.

I think as an industry our standards should be higher. I put a lot of work into my inspections so that my next client will benefit from what I learn on the previous one.

I see as a learning curve that will never stop. I sure know that I do not know everything. But I try to surround myself with resources that can help compliment me.

Good inspectors should be paid for what they do.

I would not be so quick to blame the real estate agents, but rather the entire home inspection industry. The requirements to be a home inspector in states requiring a license are ridiculously silly and just look at some of the internet associations! Out here in California all you need is a certifiable pulse.

Jerry, You have a great point we all need to be better and our industry should demand more out of us. There are so many very good inspector here and other places and should be paid for what they know.

I feel a good inspector combines knowledge with communication skills to educate and protect.

But I must say there are plenty of RA's out there that really do not want it to go that way.

I have had it put to me right in my face "You are one of them picky inspectors". I replied, well no... but I am thorough ; )

Think I will get a referral there?

Originally Posted by Jerry McCarthy

I would not be so quick to blame the real estate agents, but rather the entire home inspection industry. The requirements to be a home inspector in states requiring a license are ridiculously silly and just look at some of the internet associations! Out here in California all you need is a certifiable pulse.

I did not just outright attack Realtors as I do on many of occasions. I did blame it on the inspectors first and then it went to the Realtors.

I am constantly asked by Realtors that call me directly after seeing my info, report, hearing comments from Clients etc "Well, how much do you charge for an inspection Ted? Nope, not even about a particular priced home or sf or what city etc. Just a flat out how much do I charge. I tell them where the prices start from, and it is way too reasonable, and then I never hear from them again. I talk it up nicely. I give them my background. I ask them if they want testimonials from past clients that have emailed there thanks and appreciation and have referred many a client. The answer to that is always, "oh, that is really not necessary". It always comes down to price. I could give them a list of the past 20 or 100 clients with fantastic come backs from every single one of them and it seems makes no difference. I don't get and have never got the entire Realtor referral thing. One would think that if they could pick any time frame or group of clients of their choosing and all had great comebacks that it would be enough for a Realtor to start referring.

That is what is the most important part for a referral. All happy clients, future clients, referring clients, right? Courteous. Polite. Professional. Thorough. Very happy clients. Tons of experience. Tons of very lengthy background........ right? Isn't that what this is all about.

As far as states that license being silly. I will say right off that I came to this state incorporated as a home inspector with decades of experience and knowledge behind me. I still had to take a full course (which was only 180 hrs at that time) and with tests all the way thru on every section and then the state test. All proctored tests and all classroom. Not sure if they required classroom at the time but I did anyway. At least they somewhat tried unlike many other states. We also all need E&O insurance. The history and background should have been delved into a whole lot more but they did not want to know any history. It was either their accepted course or none at all. Now the hours may be 480 but as you know they are not real hours. I am not sure they really add up to 2/3rds of that.

Ted, it's all about filling the public trough through license fees so that our legislators can grovel up to it enabling them to it to support their favorite charities, i.e.; voting constituency. The saying “follow the money” is right-on as it's always been.

As far as the Realtors they, as a whole except for a very few, are not our friends and when I was in the trenches and got the typical phone call from an agent asking, "How much do you charge?" my normal response was, "Wrong question because you should be asking about my qualifications, but apparently you're not interested in that, but only somebody that never finds anything wrong with the home you currently have in escrow." Invariably I heard the "click" as they disconnected.

Every successful home inspector that I've known in my 24 year career got most of his/ her inspections from agents who put their client's interests first. Unfortunately there are not enough of those to support the majority of the home inspectors to survive in our current market place. That in the long run may be a good thing?

Ted,

It is too bad that Realtors do not see us as insurance policy for them. A good inspector is protecting everyone involved in the transaction.

Also if they are so worried about their clients money why do they not go to a flat fee system?

I feel for the buyers they have been nickeled and dimed throughout the process.

We really need to some how educate the public on what they should expect in a inspection so those like you can charge a fair price for the work performed.

By the way my state is licensed and though it is not perfect to is a start. The teachers I had think that the HI industry should have more training and apprenticeship.

I know it takes years to truly become versed in this job.

Originally Posted by Jerry McCarthy

As far as the Realtors they, as a whole except for a very few, are not our friends and when I was in the trenches and got the typical phone call from an agent asking, "How much do you charge?" my normal response was, "Wrong question because you should be asking about my qualifications, but apparently you're not interested in that, but only somebody that never finds anything wrong with the home you currently have in escrow." Invariably I heard the "click" as they disconnected.

Same here.

When was asked that question I would reply that you cannot afford me, try calling other inspectors who work cheap.

Many times the agents would respond that their clients asked them to call and schedule the inspection, that they were just asking about price - I would ask why, are you paying for the inspection? Most would respond with no, that they were just curious, to which I would respond that I was curious too - how much are you making on the sale? The end result would usually either be a click or they would say that they just will have their client call me.

When their clients found out that the agents were interfering with the inspection and trying to find out how much the inspection was (which was no business of the agent), some of my clients would drop the offending agent and complete the purchase through another agent.

When I used to have an in-column Yellow Page ad, it said "We are your Best Friend, their Realtor's worst nightmare." - usually kept the price shoppers from calling to check prices - I would tell them they could not afford me, which usually ended in the same 'click' you referenced.

The other first question which lead to a short comment and a 'click' on their part was 'Do you have insurance?', right then and there I knew there was no way I would do an inspection for them, so I told them a price even higher than my regular prices were, chased them off right away.

Originally Posted by Jerry McCarthy

Those inspection fees are a sad commentary on the return for what it takes to perform a professionally conducted property inspection when you consider the consummate knowledge, physical and legal exposure that comes with it.

It's my experience to to charge a fee the market can support. In other words its better to do 300 inspections @ $324 each than 0 inspections at $500 each.

All I can say is this--I don't think most of you guys are charging enough. It's not easy work, and sometimes can be both dirty and difficult. I was in the business for 10 months, worked my butt off (probably being too thorough), and was called a "deal breaker" by more than one real estate agent. My flat rate in the Durango, CO area was $400 per inspection.

Went back to doing bridge inspections--slightly less money, but not having real estate people involved easily made it a blessing.

Originally Posted by Ken Rowe

It's my experience to to charge a fee the market can support. In other words its better to do 300 inspections @ $324 each than 0 inspections at $500 each.

I agree with Ken. I know what the median threshold is in my area and I know some buyers will let a $10-$20 difference decide who they hire. I don't like it but it is what it is. I'd love to charge more but I know how buyers are around here.

Sometimes your reputation isn't even enough. When you come referred by past clients, you have a good lengthy dialogue with the buyer on the phone, and they still want you go cheaper, it's out of your hands. At a point this summer when I was pretty busy and availability was limited, I had one of those calls from a buyer who came referred by past clients who were very happy with my work. The buyer called back a couple days later and left a message saying that he found an inspector who was charging $25 less and wanted to know if I could match that. I didn't even bother calling him back and moved on to people who didn't want to dicker. The buyer called back again and I was there to answer the phone. I told him I had slots a couple days ago but you left that message saying you found somebody cheaper so I assumed you went with them and now my schedule is full. He wanted me to squeeze something in for him and said he'd be happy to pay $25 extra to work with me. ???????????? That's not what his message said. Sorry, no availability. Good luck with everything.

Sometimes, the pricing game works in reverse.

Here is the issue about the price point.

Every market has an average price. But the sticker is that that price is skewed by those inspectors that are willing to do cheap, quick work and do not really care about the client or truly continue working on their knowledge base.

So it is like hiring a handy man to do all of your electrical work. He may do some of the job right but really does not fully understand all this is involved in the system and why the requirements are there.

I just know in my state, if the inspectors are doing what the SOP's states (remember almost all of us are SPI's- Pest inspectors, also) then you can not do an inspection in 2-3hrs unless it is a condo.

If you miss something and did not specifically exclude it you are open to major litigation.

This is where the true professionals of our industry need to get our act together and educate the public on what should be expected. It is the only way to weed out the Rift-Raff.

I understand that it is better to do $325 inspections and be inspecting vs $500 and not inspecting but the truth is we should all be getting $500 or more and be inspecting.

Here is a thought, what if we put together an independent board that would audit inspectors, their reports and thus certify them. We can create a standard that would ensure a higher standard.

I think many in our industry do not want to raise the level because they are fat and happy do sub-par work and getting a bunch of inspections because of it.

I go to the conferences all the time hear you have to do 3 inspection a day and charge what ever the low end of the spectrum are.

I base my work on one inspection a day and putting a lot of work into it, to help my client and educate them. And yes some Realtors will not hire me.

I know several who do this model and are very busy. I was busy all up to Nov. then it hit the skids but I am not the only one in this boat.

Anyway, that is just my opinion.

Originally Posted by Don Hester

Here is a thought, what if we put together an independent board that would audit inspectors, their reports and thus certify them. We can create a standard that would ensure a higher standard.

There is already an association that does this. It's called ASHI. As an ACI your initial reports are audited, your continuing education is audited, and the certification process is verified by an independent third party. Not to try to start another association war, but what I'd love to see is a combination of ASHI and Nachi. One with the requirements of ASHI and the education of Nachi.

Originally Posted by Ken Rowe

It's my experience to to charge a fee the market can support. In other words its better to do 300 inspections @ $324 each than 0 inspections at $500 each.

Depends ...

I found it better to do 70 inspections at $2,500 than "do 300 inspections @ $324 each", but maybe that was just me.

Originally Posted by Jerry Peck

Depends ...

I found it better to do 70 inspections at $2,500 than "do 300 inspections @ $324 each", but maybe that was just me.

That is what most the Inspection field does not understand. With prices always dropping I have to do twice as many inspections than I used to for the same money. Who the heck would not want to do 200 inspections a year instead of 300 per year. With the liability of things today and the years of knowledge and background I am not sure why inspectors just keep dropping prices. Less work should bring higher prices to compensate. Not lower prices to have to work twice as much.

You know. Unions can say what they are going to make as a group. Why the heck are the laws still on the books where plumbers or inspectors or any trade or profession cannot sit around and come to terms on at the very least a minimum price. After the minimum price the sky is the limit. Not really price fixing because anyone can have at it from that minimum. If one falls short and drops prices below the minimum then we just send Vinni to see him.

Shoot, the unions negotiate sick days, holidays, retirement, pay levels but anyone not in a union cannot do the same. Dam, the oil companies all fix their prices. If one is selling for 100.00 per barrel they all are.

In another thread I said change is not always good. In this case it would be very good.
Shoot, one said every market has an average price. Well, yeah. In this area the minimum could be 400 or 200. There is an average in any set of numbers. So half way is 300 down the middle. But when they call a half dozen folks and happen to get mostly the low end of the spectrum with those calls then you look the fool for charging so much and don't get the inspection

I just lost one today to price. I priced it reasonably, Client wanted the inspection tomorrow but then dropped the "oh, I have another inspector that will do it for $270. ($70 less than me).

My response was, " Oh, I'm NOT the cheapest inspector out there, just the best" and "You get what you pay for"

Maybe he found a good inspector... but he certainly did find a cheap inspector.

Originally Posted by Jim Luttrall

I just lost one today to price. I priced it reasonably, Client wanted the inspection tomorrow but then dropped the "oh, I have another inspector that will do it for $270. ($70 less than me).

My response was, " Oh, I'm NOT the cheapest inspector out there, just the best" and "You get what you pay for"

Maybe he found a good inspector... but he certainly did find a cheap inspector.

I am sure that the price was termite inspection included. That seems to be where I lose so many. Under three hundred seems to be the going rate now adays for both the home and the termite. When one is at mid 3s to upper three minimum then you will lose them all day long. I was about 4 for a home and termite and added for the crawl in Mesquite which I thought for the area was way too reasonable. 1950s home. I lost it by 100.00 and they included everything and of course threw the useless guarantee in as well.One guy that advertises all over DFW is 200 right now including a termite for homes up to 3000 sf. He does it every winter.

Oh well, enough complaining for me. I just landed another for the moment. Lets hope for an extremely strong finish for the year. Not much year left.

Originally Posted by Jerry Peck

Depends ...

I found it better to do 70 inspections at $2,500 than "do 300 inspections @ $324 each", but maybe that was just me.

I would assume the $2,500 is not for a general home inspection, so your figure isn't helpful at all.

Here is a great stat counter for your websites and its free: StatCounter - Free Invisible Web Tracker, Hit Counter and Web Stats.

Originally Posted by Ken Rowe

There is already an association that does this. It's called ASHI. As an ACI your initial reports are audited, your continuing education is audited, and the certification process is verified by an independent third party. Not to try to start another association war, but what I'd love to see is a combination of ASHI and Nachi. One with the requirements of ASHI and the education of Nachi.

Ken, I am not poking at ASHI because I do think they are good group. But I can tell you I know many ASHI inspectors that I would not even think about having anyone hire.

This is not about ASHI or NACHI or NAHI, there still is minimal auditing of work once someone is certified.

I still think there is a general resistance to bring the industry up to what I would consider an acceptable standard. (Hey maybe we can get half of what Jerry is getting ; ).

(Jerry this is no shot at you because if you can demand that then the power to you. From what I read of your post you are probably worth it every penny.)

I do not know how many reports I have seen are really not worth the paper they are printed on.

My own opinion is that a well versed home inspector should get $500 to $800 (or more) dollars depending on structure size, age, complexity etc...

I absolute agree with you on the ASHI/NACHI comment. But I think the standards should be even higher as well as more uniformity in reporting.

Also the industry needs a true mentoring program to help new inspectors. Not just from anybody who held a license but an accredited mentor. I know I sure could of used more.

This is just my opinion, but I think it is a great discussion we should all be having.

Originally Posted by Frank Adame

Here is a great stat counter for your websites and its free: StatCounter - Free Invisible Web Tracker, Hit Counter and Web Stats.

I've been using this for a few years now.

Originally Posted by Jerry Peck

Depends ...

I found it better to do 70 inspections at $2,500 than "do 300 inspections @ $324 each", but maybe that was just me.

Jerry: With all my employees I could only manage an average of around $735. I, on the other hand, had a higher average for my personal inspections. I have always maintained that the downfall of our "profession" is that all the new guys coming in have nothing to sell but price. I always charged a percentage of the selling price until the competition started to cut prices. In fact, most of the ASHI charter members used that formula back in the late 70's and early 80's. I got 1/10th of 1% so a one mil house in the mid 80's cost 1k to inspect. That's how I got enough gelt to retire. I see one mil now being inspected for 350 to 450.

I don't understand why HI's think their services is worth so much. They inspect other trades work that they could not do themselves. If a HI wants to see how qualified they really are...apply for a job with your local inspections office and see how far you get with no experience except HI experience. I average about $350 per inspection. I could make more doing trades work but home inspections are less physical work. This is my opinion...YMV.

Originally Posted by James Duffin

I don't understand why HI's think their services is worth so much. They inspect other trades work that they could not do themselves. If a HI wants to see how qualified they really are...apply for a job with your local inspections office and see how far you get with no experience except HI experience. I average about $350 per inspection. I could make more doing trades work but home inspections are less physical work. This is my opinion...YMV.

You are not just inspecting their HVAC system. You are not just inspecting their electric or plumbing or roofing system. You are inspecting the entire property and if you miss anything you are liable for it. You don't just have to know HVAC. You don't just have to know how to wire a home properly. You don't just have to know about foundations and what to look for before the pour.

I do not just say "You don't JUST have to know HVAC”. Just is a pretty big word in any one of the trades I mentioned. There is not a tradesman on the planet that knows everything we do about every system unless they worked everyone of them for a good period of time.

Why do you think, and here comes that just word, you are JUST worth what a tradesman can earn. Why do you not think you are worth more? How many tradesmen are responsible of getting just about everything right on the entire home?

That is what all that are saying they are worth more are talking about. I agree with you that there is a limit to the madness of price but I also agree that no home inspector should walk out his door and be responsible for so much for so little. What would be a good bottom dollar for JUST the home inspection? I mean only the home inspection. I am not talking about taking on the liability of a wood destroying insect inspection. I am not talking of and IR inspection with the home inspection. I am not talking about a radon inspection with the home inspection.

Bottom line. Just the home inspection minimum fee. Pick a number. How about everyone puts a number in their head like, I don't know, maybe 300 for an absolute minimum. Now add a real fee for the liability of a termite inspection. Radon inspection. etc etc etc

You say average of 350 so you do some smaller ones for less and some larger ones for more. What do your Inspections in a home include? A termite, a radon, pull the IR out? My guess is that you are adding something in there. If so then you are or would be well below 300 for the smaller homes for JUST the home inspection and then whatever gets added to that.

I am not singling you out at all James but the industry as a whole. If so many inspectors truly feel they are just are not worth very much then that is the industries problem and it should change.

Think of every single thing you know that has to be known to do an inspection on every home. It is immense not matter how hard or what way you look at it.

No one is putting money aside for your retirement. You are not getting paid sick days and holidays. You are not getting a yearly bonus. No one is paying for you medical insurance and the deductibles for that. Get hurt (maybe you have not yet) and you have no workers comp. You get sick or hurt and cannot work or work bottoms out and there is no unemployment paycheck or workers comp pay check. No one is paying your business insurance, office supplies, auto repair, crazy gas prices, computer replacement, and outings to conferences, continuing education.

Are you getting sick of thinking of everything I am typing and really starting to think of how much you really make?

Being responsible for an entire home and surrounding property is only worth ..... ??????300.00.? 350.00? How much?

How about we kick it up a notch and think of the absolute ridiculous amount of money you are saving the vast majority of your clients so they do not fall into that money pit.

Think of all the homes you inspected this past year. Just how much do you think you saved your clients in total for the ones that did not buy that money pit and all those that negotiated a lower price or the sellers fixed without question.

Why do inspectors think they are worth so much?????

Apparently you do not think they are worth very much. I can honestly say I saved my clients hundreds of thousands. How much should I have gotten paid this past year?

I can think of one home a client was going to buy. This home would have cost them 80,000 alone if they bought it as is and did not have an inspection. There mental note to me up front was the house is in absolutely great shape but they decided to at least find out what kind of maintenance items they needed fixing. I did not have to dig very far to get to that amount. They got prices for all those items that outwardly at a home buyers glance looked minimal.

That was one client off the top of my head in the past couple months. The rest added up to a very serious amount, all toll. And that is not even looking into things. I don't know. Maybe a couple hundred thousand all toll in a couple months.

Just how much should I have been paid? How much am I really worth???????

Just thought of another one. A 4200 sf home in a pricey neighborhood in Southlake just on the Border of Westlake TX. That home alone was maybe a hundred grand. He was thinking 50,000. So I saved him 50,000. Add that to the 80,000 and then all the rest of even the piddly savings of a few thousand and 10,000 and 1000 and 20,000 on the four HVAC systems in another home.

I am starting to get sick of thinking of how much I am worth.

Yes. A home inspector is worth more in the light of savings he offers his client than a plumber, electrician, HAVC man. And once again. I am not knocking any of those guys in the slightest. All those folks cost them money. We save them thousands.

bridgeman

$400 is a great price--but did you charge that for everything--condos--townhomes-that is high for here in denver. $400 for a 3600 sq ft house here-- so i can't think durango can be any higher--what sq footage DID you inspect. 10 months--i think it was your pricing and not deal killer label, that doomed you-- please explain $400 fee--what did it include--i hope radon

cvf

Originally Posted by James Duffin

I don't understand why HI's think their services is worth so much. They inspect other trades work that they could not do themselves. If a HI wants to see how qualified they really are...apply for a job with your local inspections office and see how far you get with no experience except HI experience. I average about $350 per inspection. I could make more doing trades work but home inspections are less physical work. This is my opinion...YMV.

The way I look at it is not that you are inspecting any given "thing" rather you are the last stop to protect a very large investment that many people stretch to make. You get paid for your overall expertise, not because you know how a furnace works. You should have the ability to look past what everyone else sees and see the things that will make the house become a money pit. (or not.)

I agree with Ted on this. The amount of liability we take on dwarfs the fee we collect. A well written inspection agreement does help to decrease that liability but it's still there and out of proportion to what the going rate is for a home inspection.

So, what's the solution. . . a national union?

Seriously, we can moan about the competitive pricing range we operate within, and stress release is a good thing. More productive would be if we, or one of us, can figure out how to change the competitive price range for a nation wide industry. Anybody have an idea?

every area and state is different. the price of gasoline in california and new york is way higher then here in colorado, and so are inspection prices.
a handle of capt morgan here is $21--in new york $28

cvf

Actually, the normal inspection range, according to posts on this forum, appears to be in the $275 - $400 range. Our challenge is not to narrow the range, it is to raise the range to maybe $400 - $525. If it is a can of worms, it is certainly a worthwhile can of worms. Any ideas?

Originally Posted by CHARLIE VAN FLEET

every area and state is different. the price of gasoline in california and new york is way higher then here in colorado, and so are inspection prices.
a handle of capt morgan here is $21--in new york $28

cvf

Charlie, I was just up in New York after the Thanksgiving holiday for the PA deer season and the handle of Captn was $36.00.

Originally Posted by Robert Humphries

Not without sounding like I'm suggesting price-fixing. The inspection industry suffers from a somewhat unique challenge in that it is often realty agents who validate or deter consumers from believing whether a quoted inspection price is good/fair or not. The, "I've got another inspector who can do the same job cheaper," syndrome is rampant in this industry; and there's no way to stop it.

What it boils down to is simply raising your rates and becoming the guy to whom people are willing to pay higher rates. I don't foresee a way to simultaneously narrow rates on a national level when you consider realty agents and screw-up inspectors will persistently force rates down by simply being alive.

....and no, I'm not suggesting we kill them.

Robert, These are good points. And back to what is a fair price. I think most of us out here in the field know if we do our jobs right we will save our clients more than the fee we charge.

I do not know exactly what the number is but I know for a fact that most of my clients will receive some moneys for issues found during the inspection.

I know being a pest inspector that I may be a bit different than many here, but I work pretty darn hard for my money and think I am worth every penny of what I charge and more.

I am reading between the lines here, bit I think many here that provide info on these posts are probably worth every penny they charge and more also.

And back to the point of HI's not be qualified to do AHJ work, what does that say something about how the industry is perceived. Many of us could study and become code officials. I am even considering it right now and may go get my R5 cert.

To me $400 should be the bottom. Educating the Realtors and the public on what is to expected should be a priority. I know that in my State that the Realtors and homeowners/buyers do not even know we have SOP's and what is to be inspected.

Also I know that there are those on the State board that refuse to increase the Standards and fight and claw to keep the State from upping the requirements.

We should be perceived as a trade, not just a bunch of Joe's that went and got a $25 dollar cert and call it good.

In many industries, including realtors, the major industry associations do national advertising campaigns that increase awareness, identify value provided and improve image for their members. Perhaps the major inspector associations could pool resources and provide this service for us.

My fee for just about everything I do is based on my hourly rate range of $145 to $175 an hour. The range in fee has to do with the age, location and the price of the home. I know just about how much time I will spend on most homes in my market and I have a good idea of just how long it will take to write the report.

When I do commercial work my hourly fee goes to $225 an hour.

This has worked well for me over the years and I honestly do not keep track of what my compatition is charging. I know what I need to make to pay the bills and make a profit.

My average home inspection is in the $400 range.

Originally Posted by Darrel Hood

In many industries, including realtors, the major industry associations do national advertising campaigns that increase awareness, identify value provided and improve image for their members. Perhaps the major inspector associations could pool resources and provide this service for us.

That is not going to happen. One specific groups owner does not play well with others.

With around 50,000 or so home inspectors in the country and about half of that number working at it full time, you just do not have enough money in the kitty to pay for national advertising. ASHI does what it can and has fairly good success with PSA's, national media interviews and a full time lobbyist in DC.

We need more ideas since Scott says the associations aren't as good as other professional associations.

Originally Posted by Darrel Hood

In many industries, including realtors, the major industry associations do national advertising campaigns that increase awareness, identify value provided and improve image for their members. Perhaps the major inspector associations could pool resources and provide this service for us.

Originally Posted by Scott Patterson

That is not going to happen. One specific groups owner does not play well with others.

Originally Posted by Darrel Hood

... Scott says the associations aren't as good as other professional associations.

Darrel,

That's not what Scott said.

Scott said "One specific groups owner does not play well with others."

Originally Posted by Robert Humphries

In my former life, I worked in consumer e-metrics a bit as part of marketing management job. One thing I learned was that a large percentage of the "other referrals" can be greatly influenced by your Website.

In other words, you show that 9.3% of sales came as a DIRECT result of your Website, but it is nearly impossible to show how many sales were achieved as indirect result of your site being online (without an indepth study).

There were a lot of instances in my study wherein we learned that a person ordering a service was asked how they heard about the company. They often replied with, "My [friend, brother, mother, etc.] told me about you guys." By inquiring further, we learned that the [friend, brother, mother, etc.] looked up the company via its business Website and forwarded the company's contact info to the caller/customer.

So, the caller never saw the site and said that a "friend" referred them, but the referral from the "friend" would never have happened if the Website had not been up.

Just my two cents.

This is an excellent point and one I can confirm happens a lot. Buyer calls, talks about your website and how great they thought it was and schedules a job. Then, at the inspection, they say something that indicates they got a preliminary "nudge" to your site. Co-worker, family member, etc.

Overall, it's still a good thing because they were ultimately sold on you based on your website but it was only out of a pool of a few as opposed to all of the HIs in your area.

I often try to think of how I'd shop for an HI if I were a buyer. I'd likely ask those close to me for any good (or bad) past experiences and names to narrow it down to a small list. Then, check out the websites and make a call or two. Just venturing onto the net without a clue would be a last resort.

If I twisted Scott's intent, I am sorry. My intent is to encourage a brainstorm session about a problem that we all repeatedly whine about on this forum, prices. It will probably come to nothing, but maybe someone in the group will have the one doable idea that enables us to do something about this circular firing squad we have built for ourselves.

Originally Posted by Darrel Hood

Seriously, we can moan about the competitive pricing range we operate within, and stress release is a good thing. More productive would be if we, or one of us, can figure out how to change the competitive price range for a nation wide industry. Anybody have an idea?

Without referring to any price fixing you first should do a thorough analysis of your cost of doing business, see where you stand and if you are not banking sufficient profit you need to raise your prices so you are profitable. I suggested this to an inspector who had a good business in the Midwest but was just on the edge of being able to put any money away. He raised his prices and never looked back. The small amount of business he lost was negligible and he now makes and saves money. Too many inspectors operate in the "range" of competition rather than charge what they should. I'm sure you all have a following of sources for your work that would continue to follow even if you raised your fees slightly. If they don't follow you then they weren't interested in your good work, just your fees.

If you aren't able to put at least 6k per year minimum in the bank you need to be in another line of work.

Originally Posted by Jerry McCarthy

I would not be so quick to blame the real estate agents, but rather the entire home inspection industry. The requirements to be a home inspector in states requiring a license are ridiculously silly and just look at some of the internet associations! Out here in California all you need is a certifiable pulse.

Well said Jerry.

Originally Posted by Darrel Hood

Actually, the normal inspection range, according to posts on this forum, appears to be in the $275 - $400 range. Our challenge is not to narrow the range, it is to raise the range to maybe $400 - $525. If it is a can of worms, it is certainly a worthwhile can of worms. Any ideas?

Our minimum for example, is close to $400. It seems the part timers here will do our minimum for half, or $200. I don't see any way to correct this. Its just gravy for these guys.

I have to agree with Jerry. When the demand drops off, the lack of marketing skills drives the uneducated inspector to use the only leverage in his bag -"price" to capture business. Then you have the ripple effect going through the area further eroding price.

When I interviewed Mike Holmes recently his feeling was that everyone should be charging $1,000 or more for an inspection. His feeling was that due to the lack of profit, inspectors were zipping through inspections. His price list has a basic and extended inspection. Yes, his company is charging over $1,000 for the extended inspection for a single family home.

Wish I could get that around here!

//Rick

Originally Posted by Rick Bunzel

Yes, his company is charging over $1,000 for the extended inspection for a single family home.

Wish I could get that around here!

//Rick

I have an extended inspection as well but nobody ever wants to pay for it! I wonder how many they are selling at Mike's company? I would venture to say about 5-10% if that..

Originally Posted by Scott Patterson

I have an extended inspection as well but nobody ever wants to pay for it! I wonder how many they are selling at Mike's company? I would venture to say about 5-10% if that..

Hey Scott, question... I thought about doing extended inspections but just wanted to ask; does anyone ever say, "what.., you're going to charge me MORE for a job you should be doing anyway" or "isn't that what I'm paying for"? How do you rebut that?
Also, what more does your extended inspection offer that the traditional inspection does not? (aside from more of your time) I mean how do you close that deal?
Thank you

As to Holmes Inspections, the work is subcontracted out. Holmes takes up to half of the fee. ( I believe the minimum fee is somewhere around $600-700)

The consumer feels they are getting a really good inspection for the price, but its still an inspection carried out under accepted industry SOP's.

Mike was gung ho to have the standards changed to his standards. When I questioned him on this aspect (radio show (CFRB) about our current SOPs which are recognized by courts, and how he would change the standards he got all huffy, hummed and hawed and the line went dead.

Personally I don't think Holmes Inspections are any better than what the rest of us professionals are. The only difference is the consumer is paying a premium for a name.

As I have said before...a home inspection is not a big deal. You go into a house, apply your knowledge, and write a report. The variable here is the knowledge of the inspector. The typical consumer does not have a clue as to what constitutes knowledge so they are going with the luck of the draw as to what they get when they hire an inspector. A higher price does not mean you are getting a better inspection...it only means you are paying more.

As far as marketing goes....if you are able to convince somebody to buy your services by shrewd marketing that does not mean that you are suddenly a good inspector. It means you are a better BS artist that the other person.

I do a really good inspection because I have been in the trades for over 30 years doing the work I am inspecting. I don't have to lie because what I am selling is the truth. If you have to market your services due to lack something then there lies the problem. You are trying to sell an inferior product.

BS artist produce BS reports and it is nothing to be proud of to be able to convince a person that you are worth $2500 when all you are doing is inspecting a house....and anybody who does that should be ashamed since they are the used car salesman of the home inspection industry.

Your views may vary.

Originally Posted by James Duffin

Your views may vary.

Like the disclaimer.

Originally Posted by James Duffin

BS artist produce BS reports and it is nothing to be proud of to be able to convince a person that you are worth $2500 when all you are doing is inspecting a house....and anybody who does that should be ashamed since they are the used car salesman of the home inspection industry.

Your views may vary.

There is a reason you can chose between a Mercedes Benz, an Audi, a Lincoln, a Cadillac, a Ford/Chevy, a Toyota, or a Kia ... the Yugos fizzled, and for good reason.

Not all automobiles are the same, not all houses are the same, and anyone who continually thinks that all houses are the same probably l-o-v-e-s their ... Yugo.

And, yes, the "view" certainly does vary.