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Any advantage to using a company that just does radon tests and mitigations and a separate home inspector, vs one home inspector who does both the radon and home inspection?
Depends on the inspector. My inspector charges $150 but uses the canisters. Another inspector I use charges $130, but he hires a person who uses the machine. If you book with that person directly it's $115. He charges the extra $15 for him to schedule it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by carcrazy67
Are you in this area???? If your inspectors are here and charge less than $300 he/she is leaving a lot of money on the table! Most I know (and I know most), wouldn't charge less than $350 and if it is older, (1990's or before) the price would be more. Of course a 100 year old house would be substantially more.
Nothing wrong with canisters IF you can control the environment, however the machines allow you to look at readings on an hourly (or more often) basis to determine if there are any anomalies present. A canister (2 required) only provides an average. One nice thing about most of the machines is they will register if someone attempts to move them.
Yes I am. I have two inspectors that have the same prices and have been in the business for 15+ years and do a great job. I don't feel they are under charging, because their prices are in line with others in the area. It's all about the square footage. They are obviously not charging $275 for a 6,000 square foot home. 1,500 and less is less than $300.
Why is this? Is an old house somehow more difficult to inspect?
Never owned an old house? Electrical systems that are a combination of every type of fuse, breaker and wiring used in prior decades. Circuits that are difficult to trace. Dead end wires that are still live. Few grounded outlets and no GFCI. Plumbing systems that mix copper and iron. Decades of DIY repairs to every kind of system and structure. Etc.
Electrical systems that are a combination of every type of fuse, breaker and wiring used in prior decades. Circuits that are difficult to trace. Dead end wires that are still live. Few grounded outlets and no GFCI. Plumbing systems that mix copper and iron. Decades of DIY repairs to every kind of system and structure. Etc.
Oh wow, this is a collection of horror stories. Now I understand the higher inspection fee. It would take hours just to write a comprehensive report!
Depends on the inspector. My inspector charges $150 but uses the canisters. Another inspector I use charges $130, but he hires a person who uses the machine. If you book with that person directly it's $115. He charges the extra $15 for him to schedule it.
Yes I am. I have two inspectors that have the same prices and have been in the business for 15+ years and do a great job. I don't feel they are under charging, because their prices are in line with others in the area. It's all about the square footage. They are obviously not charging $275 for a 6,000 square foot home. 1,500 and less is less than $300.
I've been around the business for a very long time. My wife owned her own real estate company for many, many years and as a GC, I see a lot of the reports and the associated prices week in and week out. I can tell you for certain, very few experienced inspectors charge the prices you are saying. Whether they realize it or not they most definitely leaving money on the table but then that is their choice. Personally, if I was in their position I would raise my rates, as the market will accommodate it.
Sometimes it is not so much the size of the house but the age that makes it more difficult to inspect (or work on). Older houses tend to have a different set of problems which may require significantly more time on site and writing the report (plus they often have really low crawlspaces). Time is money.
Never owned an old house? Electrical systems that are a combination of every type of fuse, breaker and wiring used in prior decades. Circuits that are difficult to trace. Dead end wires that are still live. Few grounded outlets and no GFCI. Plumbing systems that mix copper and iron. Decades of DIY repairs to every kind of system and structure. Etc.
I used to watch This Old House every week. That was enough to teach me I never wanted to undertake that particular set of worries.
No.
Oh wow, this is a collection of horror stories. Now I understand the higher inspection fee. It would take hours just to write a comprehensive report!
.
Bingo!!!
The inspectors I know spend hours after the inspection has been performed writing reports. Like most service businesses, the public never really sees all that is involved. This is why I don't understand why an inspector would inspect a 1500 sq. ft. house for $300 or less. Doesn't make any sense to me. By the time you factor in travel time, gas/vehicle expense, on-site, report writing, administration, taxes, etc. There wouldn't be much left over.
We charge $125 for radon, and most houses start at $375 for inspections. We do not steeply raise the prices from there though for the average house. In my opinion, our prices are exactly right as we stay booked up 10-14 days out. I get to see a LOT of inspection reports and prices from competitors from either supplied pre-listing inspections when representing buyers, or for our crawlspace business when the reports are sent to me from our Realtor friends for review of the issues. I have seen inspectors charge a little less than us and do a good job, but also have seen inspectors charge far more than us and miss a lot of issues. In general though, an alarming number miss very obvious problems in all price ranges and saving $25 or $50 is really not that important. Even if they miss one simple item, it will cost you more than that to fix it.
Furthermore, you cannot necessarily go by how long they have been in business. I come in after guys that have been around for 25 years and cannot believe they are able to keep getting work. I see newer inspectors that are extremely thorough and have obvious contractor/engineering backgrounds. What I am getting is, it is very difficult for someone not well versed in construction to quantify our performance. I would honestly say only ~20% of the inspectors are able to give homeowners their moneys worth and find all the issues consistently. There are over 300 inspectors in the triangle, so just a little food for thought on the odds of finding a good one. Listen to your agents recommendations, they already know who is trustworthy.
I used to watch This Old House every week. That was enough to teach me I never wanted to undertake that particular set of worries.
Haha, exactly. Watch any season of This Old House and you'll quickly see the amount of work involved. They have episodes up on PBS Video if anyone is interested for free.
I've been around the business for a very long time. My wife owned her own real estate company for many, many years and as a GC, I see a lot of the reports and the associated prices week in and week out. I can tell you for certain, very few experienced inspectors charge the prices you are saying. Whether they realize it or not they most definitely leaving money on the table but then that is their choice. Personally, if I was in their position I would raise my rates, as the market will accommodate it.
Sometimes it is not so much the size of the house but the age that makes it more difficult to inspect (or work on). Older houses tend to have a different set of problems which may require significantly more time on site and writing the report (plus they often have really low crawlspaces). Time is money.
There's not much more I can say. The inspectors I use do a great job and their pricing is identical to what I posted. I've seen reports from other higher priced inspectors and didn't notice a single difference between them. I've been in this business for 11 years and have dealt with a lot of inspectors. I only use people who I trust and do a good job.
I know it's hard for some people to realize, but it is possible to get a very good job done and not pay top dollar. Lets put it this way. If I were buying a personal residence, I would also use him to inspect the property. I would hire the other company for radon for $115, and another company for termite. Depending on the age I would probably have a dedicated HVAC company come out to inspect as well, since HVAC issues seem to be the biggest issues in homes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by carcrazy67
Bingo!!!
The inspectors I know spend hours after the inspection has been performed writing reports. Like most service businesses, the public never really sees all that is involved. This is why I don't understand why an inspector would inspect a 1500 sq. ft. house for $300 or less. Doesn't make any sense to me. By the time you factor in travel time, gas/vehicle expense, on-site, report writing, administration, taxes, etc. There wouldn't be much left over.
I'm sure he wouldn't charge his fees and not make money for himself. He doesn't drive a Bentley, but he does very well for himself. Once you do the same report time and time again it wont take hours unless it's a very large home, very old, or has a lot of issues.
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