How to price home inspections

To price a home inspection, start from what an hour of your time has to earn to cover your costs and pay you, multiply it by the hours a typical inspection really takes (on site, travel and report writing), and then check the result against what other inspectors in your area charge. Adjust from that base price for size, age, foundation type and add-on services. Prices vary widely by market, home size and services, so there is no single correct number; there is only a number that works for your costs and your clients.

The rest of this post walks through that method with a worked example you can repeat with your own figures.

Why not just copy what other inspectors charge?

Looking at local prices is a useful check, but it is a poor starting point. Another inspector's price reflects their costs, their speed, their reputation and their volume, none of which you know. If they write reports quickly and run two inspections a day, their price may not cover your costs at one a day.

Start from your own numbers. Then use the market to decide whether you can charge more, need to get more efficient, or need to change what you offer.

Step 1: What does your business cost to run each year?

List everything you spend to stay in business for a year. If you are new, estimate; if you have a year behind you, use your books. The post on tracking the costs of running an inspection business goes through the categories in detail.

A typical list includes:

Insurance (errors and omissions, general liability, vehicle)
Licensing, association dues and continuing education
Software, phone and internet
Vehicle costs: payments or depreciation, fuel, maintenance
Tools and equipment, plus replacements
Marketing: website, printed materials, agent office visits
Accounting, legal and bank or card processing fees
Office costs, if you have them

Add a line for the salary you want to pay yourself, and a line for taxes on it. An inspection business that only covers its expenses is paying its owner nothing.

Step 2: How many inspections can you actually do?

Estimate how many inspections you can complete in a year, not how many you hope to book. Be honest about:

Working weeks, after holidays, vacation and sick days
Seasonality: many markets slow down in winter
Days you spend on marketing, training and admin
How many inspections a day you can do well (see how many inspections you can do in a day)

If you are starting out, your first-year volume will be lower than your capacity. Price for the business you are building, but plan your cash for the volume you will really have.

Step 3: How long does one inspection really take?

Time every part of a standard inspection for a few weeks. Most inspectors underestimate the hours outside the house.

Part of the inspection	What to count
Before	Scheduling calls, agreement, reviewing the listing
Travel	Round trip from your base or the previous inspection
On site	Arrival to departure, including the client walk-through
Report	Writing, photo selection, review and publishing
After	Client and agent questions, payment follow-up

Add these up for an average home in your area. That total, not the time on site, is what the price has to pay for.

Step 4: Work out your base price

Now combine the numbers. Here is a hypothetical example; replace every figure with your own.

Say your yearly costs, including the salary you want and the tax on it, come to $120,000. You expect to complete 400 inspections in the year. Then each inspection must bring in an average of $300 just to hit your target.

Now check it a second way. Say a standard inspection takes 5 hours in total once you count travel and the report. At 400 inspections, that is 2,000 hours a year, so your effective rate is $60 an hour. Ask whether $60 an hour is enough for skilled, insured, liable work. If not, either the costs, the volume or the price has to move.

Then add a margin for the things that go wrong: cancellations, reinspections you don't charge for, slow months. Many owners round up rather than down here.

That gives you a base price for your standard home. Everything else is an adjustment from it.

Step 5: Check the price against your market

Now look outward. You can see what others charge by checking inspector websites in your area, looking at online booking pages and asking agents you work with what their clients typically pay. Note what each price includes, because a low headline price with every add-on extra is not comparable to an all-in price.

Then decide where you sit:

Below your calculated price and below the market: you are leaving money on the table. Raise it.
At your calculated price, near the market: compete on service, report quality and turnaround.
Your calculated price is above the market: look at your costs and time per inspection before you assume you can't charge it. Clients who value a careful inspector and a clear report will often pay more, especially when agents trust you.

Cheapest is rarely a good position. It attracts clients who choose on price alone and leaves no room for the extra hour a difficult house takes.

How should the price change from home to home?

A flat price is simple, but homes differ. A large, old house with a crawl space takes longer than a new condo, and your price should follow the time and risk. Common adjustments are:

Square footage, in bands rather than per foot
Age of the home, since older homes usually take longer
Foundation type, with crawl spaces often taking more time
Distance, through a travel fee or a service area
Add-on services, such as radon testing, sewer scopes or wood-destroying organism inspections

Each of these is covered in its own post: pricing by square footage, age and foundation type, travel fees, and bundling inspection services and add-ons.

How do you present the price to clients?

The way you show the price matters as much as the number.

Show it before the booking. Clients and agents want a number quickly. If you price by size and age, a booking form or a simple table lets them see it without calling.
Say what is included. List what the inspection covers and how the report is delivered. A clear scope makes a higher price easier to accept.
Itemize add-ons. Show the main inspection and each add-on on its own line, so the client sees what they are choosing.
Be consistent. Agents talk to each other. Quoting different prices for the same home erodes trust.

Example wording for a quote:

Home inspection for a 2,400 sq ft home built in 1978 with a crawl space: $X. Includes the full inspection, an online report with photos within 24 hours, and a walk-through of findings at the end. Radon test (48-hour): $Y.

When should you revisit your price?

Recalculate at least once a year, and whenever a cost changes noticeably: a new insurance premium, a new vehicle, a new hire. If you are consistently booked out weeks ahead, that is also a signal that demand will bear more. The post on how and when to raise your inspection prices covers how to do it without losing your agent relationships.

A pricing checklist

Yearly costs listed, including your own salary and tax
Realistic yearly inspection count
Total hours per inspection timed, not guessed
Base price calculated two ways (per inspection and per hour)
Local market checked, with what each price includes
Adjustments decided for size, age, foundation and travel
Add-on prices set and itemized
A date in the calendar to review prices next year

If you take bookings online, iSpector lets you book the main inspection with its add-ons and turn those services into invoice lines, so the price the client saw is the price they pay. Plan details are on the pricing page.

Key takeaways

Build your price from your own yearly costs, salary and realistic volume, not from a competitor's number.
Count the full hours per inspection, including travel and report writing, not just time on site.
Use the local market as a check on your calculated price, comparing what each price includes.
Adjust from a base price for size, age, foundation, distance and add-ons.
Review your prices every year and whenever a major cost changes.