How many free inspections a year do any of you give out because the person is a friend or family, I am not talking about an actual report because that is always paid for but I am talking about they just want you to walk through a house with them and pretty much tell them what you see. I feel I want to charge something but I don’t know how to offend these people who think they are close enough for me to do it for free. Honestly I should not even care and just charge them for the consultation because there is nothing I will ever need to ask anyone for because I can handle my own in real life situations. You guys are more help to me then the people who are close. Sorry I just needed to vent because I seem to have been hounded lately for charity time.
I hear you Brother, I’ve built 3 whole homes in my family, 1 Brother In-law and 1 for my old Guitar player for our old band. and countless repairs through the years. but nobody is ever around when I rebuild something of mine.
That’s usually the way it works most times. Been down that road to many times. 
Charge them something different, more like a barter…a favor for your favor. Maybe something like game tickets, a fishing pole they own (not an old zebco 404) an old table saw they have, borrow their pressure washer & use the hell out of it, etc. The list can go on…
My brother bought a home in the same town as my mother a couple years back. I took my family down there (about 200 miles one way) & charged him a fee of: Take the family for some BBQ & fill my gas tank before I left.
By the end of this week I will have 15 hours of unpaid time within 2 weeks (home repairs, maintenance and inspecting). On top of that I also run my own home maintenance and repair business and I have homeowners always beating me down on my price. While I am in the middle of a kitchen remodel at my own house I could of used those 15 hours. I realize it’s nobody’s fault but my own, I am not mad at anybody for asking me for help because I feel that is what family should be for, I just feel I have to be the man for 6 different households. My dad was a diesel and auto mechanic, and he was constantly in the garage working on somebody else’s car for nothing up until the day he passed away. That is another one of those tradesman that get used up.
Sometimes I feel never come out on the fair end when I trade work. I stretch carpet throughout a good friends house in return for a website for my business, that was six years ago and he has nicely stretched carpet throughout his house and I do not have a website yet. But yes I know a lot of people that trade work but I just don’t feel that’s for me
Greg my friend, you do these things because that us the kind of guy you are. You would feel worse if you charged your friends or family. Sometimes money is not the only reward. 
You are exactly right, you couldn’t have worded that any better, maybe this is why I posted this was for somebody to tell me I’m not doing wrong
It’s a privilege to be able to do it for those who are important to you. Everyone else pays.
I never charge anyone close to me. But, they always find a way to give me something. Past October I was given 2 tickets to see Andrew Dice Clay at the Count Basie Center For the Arts.
I am more than happy to perform inspections for friends and family. They get the special “Friends and Family Rate” which is 3X normal rate. That about sums up the situation. 
Beside the fact that real estate professionals thought we would be “too picky” when inspecting for relatives when the license law came into effect it may be another reason the lawyers that wrote the law were looking out for us when they said no inspections for those within 3 degrees of consanguinity - the mingling of blood by marriage. It helps the “public”, those buying the place and us!
It’s kind of funny, today I was doing some maintenance work at the Home Savings Bank in my area and a friend seen my truck there and said hey when you get a minute since I live just around the corner can you come over here and replace these lightbulbs for me. I went over and change them out for him, it took me 10 minutes, I did not charge.
I think I would draw the line at changing light bulbs, Greg unless your friend was old or totally inept. But that is just me. 
Yes he should have been able to replace them no doubt about it, but the reason I went over there was thinking maybe he broke the bulb off and could not remove it from the socket, but it was these tiny bulbs that had 2 prongs on the back end and you push up and quarter spin twist and then they drop out. But there was no reason why he could not have figured that out. What do you think these people would say if their boss asked them if they would work an hour or two for free.
You have a big heart, Greg!
Maybe I should plaster free is not an option on the side of my truck, I have a waiting list of free jobs to do for people I go to church with, well they are expecting it to be free.
Yeah, maybe, Greg. Or, at least, use really large lettering. 
Charge them, period. Just like you would professionally, but with a small discount. Truth of the matter is that people who are only using you and don’t care about you truly will mind, those who actually value you will understand.