Common first questions I get are……. How much do I charge? When can we schedule my inspection? (days, times etc.), and Do you do inspection in X town/city?
Price – My prices vary. $285 is a good general idea though very often I charge less ($200-$250) for a number of reasons. For example if I already have another inspection in the area on that day or if it is really not far from home for me. Or if it is for an Agent that uses me over and over, Also I take the house itself into consideration along with how busy I am. For instance if it’s a basically new home in an area that I am close to then I may drop the price, or if the home is small. Now I don;t just shoot from the hip on pricing, I have some very specific questions – For example I will always ask where the house is, the age of the house and the square feet. See a 1800 sq ft home built in 2001 is a different price than the same size home built in 1930 (you can imagine the reasons) And I always try to schedule it to where I can give a price break if possible. After all I am in the business of repeat business and referrals.
Scheduling – I think I covered that but I try to meet every need of my client or agent. Now sometimes I just cant seem to find a date and time that works for everyone and then it just is what it is but I do often go WAY out of my way to get the business….example: I recently gave an agent 5 different dates and times and nothing seemed to work so I missed the job…I was bummed but I did my best…. But please don’t call an inspector and say “I’m calling to schedule an inspection next Thursday and 9 am” That’s not nice
Where will I go? Anywhere – But at a certain point I have to really consider drive time and miles. That being said I have had plenty of calls that were a long distance and I simply factored that into my quote and it was fine…Hey if you really need the inspection done right now and are willing to pay then I’ll be there.
Conclusion – I charge what is appropriate, I do my best to schedule to everyone else’s needs, and if you got the money…I got the time.
I will always provide a quality inspection and a fair price and I try to get to them in a timely manner.