Inspection Pricing Details

Hey guys!

I’m rounding up the last bit of details prior to starting my inspection company (have to work on website and some other marketing avenues).

I have a question for all of you who have been in business for awhile. What fees do you charge for a base residential inspection, and how do you determine pricing for additional sq ft and add on services? I feel like pricing varies greatly and I’m not sure what to charge (I don’t want to undersell myself but I also don’t want to go too cheap and scare away potential clients).

Any tips or info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks everyone!

You need to first tell us your total $$$ of doing business. That number needs to include EVERYTHING that costs you any money throughout the year, such as Business Insurance, Vehicle Insurance, Health Insurance, Licenses, Association Membership Fees, etc… etc… etc… Hopefully you have a Business Plan written out for reference.
That number plus your preferred profit margin will give you your base inspection fee that you MUST charge to survive!!

If you’re not scaring away some prospects, you’re underpriced. Your personal pricing depends largely on your cost of doing business and your ability to convince others of your value. Your value will be very much predicated on the quality of your work. That probably puts you somewhere between $179 and $600 for a basic TREC inspection on a new smaller home, with no add-ons.

How much revenue do you need from each inspection to cover your fixed and variable costs and make your target profit? How much are you worth?

The cost of doing business plus profit factored into your business plan. As you said, “cost of inspection varies widely”. Specific discussion of pricing is probably against the law. Current proposed TREC law changes are empowering them to investigate anti-trust allegations. I am confident they are aiming for bigger game than home inspectors but still not a good idea to discuss pricing on a forum. I’ll end with what an old foundation repair guy told me 30 years ago. I asked, “how do you determine price”? He said, with a grin, whatever I can get out of them". The business plan model sounds better but I am sure the majority of inspectors use that old-timer’s model.

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