Often when our phone rings in the office, the first question asked is “How much do you charge for a Home Inspection?”. Perhaps, the more appropriate question might be “How much is your Home Inspection worth? Though most people are necessarily searching for the cheapest price, they are often searching for the best deal.
First, someone who inquires about cost as the primary factor has very likely assumed that all Home Inspectors are created equal and that they offer the same product?it just isn’t so. Experienced, professional Home Inspectors don’t offer cheap “bargain basement” pricing because to do so would short-change their years of experience and dedication to the industry and to their previous clients.
Secondly, let’s do some basic math…
Let’s assume that you are buying a $250,000 home.
- Real estate agents charge between 3 and 7 percent commission to help you find the home of your dreams….so you might pay between $7500 and $17,500 for their services
- You’ll pay upwards of $300 for an appraisal that the bank requires but that you may not ever even get to see.
- You’ll probably pay a significant amount to the closing attorney and there will likely be hundreds, if not thousands of dollars in total closing costs…and then there’s the Home Inspection.
If an Inspection fee for that $250,000 house were, say…$400.00…then that would be 0.16 percent of the purchase price…that’s a fair amount for a reasonably new home…if it were an older home and the fee were 500.00 then that would amount to 0.2 percent of the purchase price.
When pondering how much you should pay for a Home Inspection, you would do well to consider the relative value and all the professionalism, experience, and credentials of the Home Inspectors that you might be considering. After you’ve figured out what a Home Inspection is worth to you…and after you have narrowed down your choices to one or two professional inspectors…then go for the best deal.
