Can anyone share pricing techniques. Recently got a call for a 100 year old home 7000 sq. Feet.
The age would currently be a $100 adder to my base price. The size is outside of my standard “size steps” for pricing and would be a custom quote. In that case I would gather more information about the home before giving the quote, such as number of heating/cooling systems, number of electrical panels, occupied or unoccupied, etc, etc, etc.
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That is going to be a time suck. I do not know your pricing in your area, but here in Atlanta I would start at $900 minimum. Of course there will always be an inspector coming in for less if not half. Old homes have a skill set and you can justify your price if you know what you’re doing.
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Need a lot more info than that.
My fee is based upon how long I anticipate the inspection taking, how long to research and generate the report, and how far away the home is for travel… PLUS costs and Profit.
Assuming this home was a run of the mill Victorian with walk-up attic, partial unfinished/finished basement, NO additional crawlspace, (common in my area), and a detached standard garage, (not a carriage house)… located within 15 miles of my office (rural MN)…
My STARTING FEE would be: $950.00
Note: My FEE is also based on TOTAL sq/ft… NOT habitable sq/ft… so, if that 7,000 is just the habitable space, then you are actually inspecting over 9,000 sq/ft! I don’t work for free!!
Like I said… need more info!
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Thanks. Good advice.
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Yes I can. Soak them for whatever you can get.
I do. Yep!
If you provide an excellent all encompassing report .
And you are good !
Yep!
Soak them for whatever you can get.
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$1,400 based an square footage and age. The selling price may up that bid.
Just did a 4500 sq ft 10 year old home 3 weeks ago with mold test for $1,600.
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I’d have to Google research and find out the best I could with the condition of the property. It could be professionally restored, or one that needs a ton of work.
This type would not be a one-size-fits-all for me.
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I was at $1700 cad ($1334.60 usd) + taxes, we were close. 
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Old homes are a lot more work but truth be told, they are also a lot more interesting. I love getting into an unoccupied century home for an inspection. Especially if it hasn’t been f’d up by some handyman or flipper trying to turn it into a modern home.
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A lot of the old farmers around here liked to do their own plumbing and electrical! 
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…Love doing the maintenance on these old systems during their winter off-time. I find many water heaters that are 40+ years old and look and work like new!!
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That’s the fun part, lol. Many a wise old farmer knew how to make things work. Is it always safe by todays standards? Nope. Do I have to put it in my report? Yep. But is still a treat to see it? Damn straight.
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When I meet these flippers, I try to tell them to just leave some of the old craftsmanship alone, the buyers want some of that. Tin ceilings, built in hutches or an old sink will add charm. They all seem to lack imagination. They all use the same plank flooring, same mid grade granite counters and the same stainless hood fan… All out of the same big box stores. Disturbing.
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Same here.
As for pricing, this has a lot to with if the electrical has been monkeyed with.
But the older homes are also the most painful, when wonderful old craftsmanship is butchered and replaced with crap from a certain big orange store that will be landfill long before what they pulled out would have been.
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I get the concept of survivor bias. But even that said, the original work on the old homes is just heads and shoulders above much modern work. Especially on electrical.
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What really bothers me is vintage homes that have been re-stuccoed. They end up in a no-man’s land of styles that does violence to every represented era.
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I’d probably start around $1,000 and go up or down depending on how busy I am and/or how much of a PITA the house looks like (Redfin and Zillow are your friend). In the end you win some and you lose some. Houses can look easy and be a total time suck and they can look terrible and not be that bad. I also factor in how much they want ME (or my company). If it’s a past client that came to me specifically or an agent that appreciates me and my work I’ll keep the price high. If I think I’m competing and I want the job I might bid it a bit more competitively. We do a lot of multi-family jobs and bids are a moving target for sure. Researching upfront so you know what you’re walking into is key but not always possible of course.
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take you base price and then add 20$ for each decade
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With all due respect Jeff, that is light price-wise. I was in the $2,000.00 range seven years ago and got it regularly.
I’m sure it depends on the area of the country, though too.
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I may not have been clear, take your base price for any 7000sf home and then add $20 per decade as an up-charge. You also need to do homework to find what changes were made on record over the years if possible.
Example in my area i might charge $980.00 for a 7K SF home inspection and then add $200 for the age. I would likely recommend additional a sewer scope, a complete electrical inspection & complete HVAC be added to the general home inspection. The total might run $2000.00 or more
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I think we all know what TV show we can blame for that.
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