Home Inspection companies offer discounts. You must be willing to ask for one. They tend to be in the $10-$20 range due to profit margins ranging from $30-$70 on most inspections. Home inspections typically begin in the upper $300 range.

New Inexperienced Inspectors. There are inspectors that will provide quotes for $250. These are usually new home inspectors that have not been in home inspection business for long and have not realized the expense of being in the home inspection business. They are providing low prices just to get businesses. They are also the most inexperienced inspectors and have a lot to learn about home inspection. They will miss a lot of deficiencies due to inexperience.  To become an experienced inspector takes at least 3 years of doing 8-10 inspections per week. So an experienced inspector is one with a minimum of 1,500 inspections.

Part-Time Inspectors. “Lowes Inspectors” There are inspectors that do inspections on weekends and after work for extra income. They can charge cheaper prices because it is not their primary job. It may be someone that works as Lowes or some other place in the home industry. Being an inspector is a profession that requires dedication. If a home inspector doesn’t do enough inspections to work at it full-time, then inspections are not their primary focus. If I need to pick a surgeon, I would much rather select one that performs surgery as a profession and not a part-time job.

Homes are expensive and inspections are important. Choose an inspector based on experience and expertise, otherwise you may end up with a “Dollar Store” quality inspector.